Battle of Yavin (Part III):  Red Squadron Figures and Toys

[Editor's Note: This article was updated on 10/26/2022 with images of VC149 R2-D2, VC158 Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) and VC Luke Skywalker's X-Wing Fighter.]

We've already taken a look at the starfighter squadrons that assaulted the Death Star. We also went through the list of pilots for Red Squadron, and how they've changed since the Expanded Universe purge in 2014.

If you missed any parts of the series, click below...

PART I: Alliance Forces at Yavin 6/18/2018
PART II: Red Squadron Pilots 6/19/2018 (Updated 11/11/2022)
PART III: Figures and Toys of Red Squadron 6/20/2018 (Updated 10/26/2022)
PART IV: Gold Squadron 6/21/2018
PART V: Blue and Green Squadrons 6/27/2018 (Updated 10/26/2022)

Now we get to see how our action figure and toy collections match up. Note that many (not all) of the characters made into action figures were done several times over the years. The ones that will be shown were chosen as they are currently the best version of that character available, though perhaps not necessarily definitive in nature.





Garven Dries: TLC - Scramble on Yavin - Battle Pack [2009]
Wedge Antilles: TVC - VC28 [2011]
Biggs Darklighter: TBS (orange) - #04 [2013]
John D. Branon: TLC - Rebel Pilot Legacy (Series III) - [Walmart - 2009]
Luke Skywalker: VC158 Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) (TVC) [2019]
Jek Porkins: TPM3D - Yavin Pilot Pack [2012]


None of the 3 pilots that were booted in the purge were ever made into action figures. This is both good and bad. It's good because they're not wasted, it's bad because for the purists out there, we may never see them. One saving grace for Rue, Quersey, and Chan is that, as we covered previously, they were re-canonized as present at the Rebel Base at the Massassi Temple. So they were not only rescued from Legends hell, but they survived the battle (assuming they weren't killed by dropping a hair dryer in the tub after the victory celebration.). Along with those three former members of Red Squadron, don't forget about "Fake Wedge", Col Takbright. Those four pilots would make a neat limited release multi-pack from Hasbro.

An outstanding Luke Skywalker was released in TVC in 2019's SDCC exclusive Luke Skywalker Destiny set, but was later released in the main line as VC158





*R2-D2 is currently the only canonically named droid in Red Squadron, as everything else went with the purge. While none of the other astromechs having been re-canonized, they've not been officially overwritten either, so for the sake of this discussion, we'll go with what we know from Legends, and wait for them to become official, hopefully in the near future.

R5-K6: TLC - Scramble on Yavin - Battle Pack [2009]
R2-A3: TLC - Wedge Antilles' X-Wing Starfighter [Target 2009]
R2-Q2: TSC - Astromech Droid Pack Series 1 [Entertainment Earth - 2006]
R2-D2: Take your pick.
R5-D8: TPM3D - Yavin Pilot Pack [2012]
R2-X2: TLC - BD52 [2009]

Names, colors, and assignments of Red Squadron's astromechs are a lot more vague than the pilots. A tremendous (Legends) resource for astromechs can be found on Angelfire.com

Let's take Garven Dreis's astromech, R5-K6. The black and red domed R5 unit can be seen behind Garven Dreis in the cockpit, but it can also be seen in the back of a Y-Wing in the hanger. A scene cut from ANH shows a droid that is identical to Hasbro's all black and red R5-K6 rolling in the halls of the Death Star. Additional reference shots show that the droid that accompanied Dreis actually had a white and red body, not black and red. It's possible that Hasbro got the photos mixed up, and mistakenly produced and imperial droid for R5-K6. The chances of that being revisited, and either confirmed or corrected are probably about zero, so we'll have to go with the one we already have. To further complicate matters, some shots in the film of the X-Wing marked as Red Leader show a black domed R2 unit, instead of R5-K6. The only explanation offered (which is feasible) is that these shots are actually meant to be of Blue Leader, which likely had some sequences that survived the blue screen debacle. Other behind-the-scenes model shots exist of the "Red 1" starfighter with either a blue or grey domed astromech.

Reading through the Angelfire Droid page is incredibly informative, and yet, almost overwhelmingly frustrating. Due to scheduling conflicts, production shortcuts, and logistics challenges, it seems that in many cases, domes were created for the purposes of being in certain starfighters, but were either switched for varying reasons during filming, or were replaced with repurposed droid props from other scenes in the film. One notable example being that Biggs Darklighter's astromech is often believed to be R2-Q2, but that droid is the one seen being taken prisoner after the capture of the Tantive IV. Either R2-Q2 escaped and rejoined the Alliance at Yavin, or Biggs just has a droid with a dome that looks identical to R2-Q2, and may or may not have a different body color scheme. It's all quite overwhelming, not just for fans, but for Hasbro as well.

Of note, Angelfire gives some evidence that Red 4, John D. Brandon, has an R4 model with the same dome as R4-M9 (seen on Tantive IV), and that Red 12, Puck Naeco, has an orange domed R2 unit.





Red 1: TSC - Red Leader's X-Wing Fighter [Toys R Us 2004]
Red 2: TLC - Wedge Antilles' X-Wing Starfighter [Target 2009]
Red 3: TVC - X-Wing Fighter [Toys R Us 2013]
Red 5: SOTDS - Death Star Trench Run [Toys R Us 2011]

Finally, we get to the starfighters themselves. Hasbro gave us ships/decals to go with Red Leader, Red 2, Red 3, and Red 5. It would be interesting if Hasbro decided to re-issue an X-Wing (sized appropriately, not that budget stuff!) with decals that could designate any ship you wanted. One problem: does anybody know what the visual format for Red 7-12 wing identification would be? We are familiar with the red markings on the wings that that correspond to Red 1-5 (and 6 is easy, even though we never see it), but I am not aware of any shots (BTS, comics, or otherwise) that actually show how the pattern looks once you go past 6. My guess is that there was no plan, because Red 7-12 were re-designated from Blue 1-6 in the early scripts. Lucas's original idea was probably to have each color group be a max of 6 X-Wings. Pilots other than Red 1-6 are seen only in the briefing room, inside their cockpits, or in bit of a production gaffe, confused with one another when exploding in fiery death.

































So we can see that the change in canon source material pretty much had no effect on our collections. The three pilots that were grounded and replaced were never made into figures. While some of the droids are not yet canonized, at least they've not explicitly been vaporized.

Hasbro has a lot of work to do. We're missing 6 pilots, 6 droids, and, well, 8 X-Wings. It would also be great if we could get the 3 grounded pilots, along with Fake Wedge. Those 4 wouldn't need astromechs or star fighters, but the figures would complete Red Squadron. One thing's for sure, we have a complete set of figures, droids, and starships for the survivors of the battle.

Next up, we'll take a look at Gold Squadron...

PART IV: Gold Squadron

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