Droid Factory Playset

 Droid Factory Playset

Disney - Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

Shop Disney continues to deliver the goods to Star Wars fans in the flyover states!  The Droid Factory playset is a new spin on the vintage Kenner Droid Factory.  I guess Disney figured they had done the build-a-droid thing to death and decided that water and color change features should be the ticket?  Meh.  I’m not so sure about the gimmick....but the set still looks nice.

I like the cleaner shape and colors.  Not as dingy as the used-universe model, but still sci-fi and tech-y.  There are some nice, clear markings designating the various stages of torture cleaning you can put your slaves droids through.  I take that last strike through back...you can’t sugar coat the “restraining bolt” station.

Your droids first go up a ramp to a conveyor belt and some sort of detector gate.  Are they scanning for breakages to address repairs?  Weapons?  Secret messages for the Empire/Rebellion?  Who knows...but it’s fun, and triggers some sound and light features when rolling the belt along.

From there, I guess some droids are allowed to walk or roll to the next area on their own.  Or a crane comes in for those in dire need of attention.  Either way, bath time!

There are two tanks.  One has a lowering mechanism, with robo-arms to assist in access and cleaning.  The other just straight up dunks them like clowns at a county fair.  “Thank the Maker!  This oil bath is going to feel-“ *DING!* *SPLOOSH!”

 

Now drag your metal carcass out of there and get over the drying fans!  There is a drip pan under the playset to catch water, but the fans dont actually move on their own.  This may be the one detractor.  It would have been nice to have some motorized fan action, even if they dont necessarily get the drying done.

Final station, as mentioned before, is the restraining bolt area.  They keep this one out around back as to not disturb the public with any metallic screams, or the unsightly business of having to shock or remotely restrain a droid during application.  Also on the back is the conveyor belt dial and several buttons that have a multitude of factory sounds and droid beeps and whistles.  You have to supply the screams, though.

The set comes with a gonk droid, but I purchased one of two offered 4-packs to get more out of the color-changing “fun.”  Not so much fun when your droid only goes from gray to dark blue or blue to black...cant see much of a difference.  Drastic changes, like white to red is where its at.  Overall, I would have preferred less solid washes for the color-changing.  Instead, I would have liked smaller applications resembling dirt, rubbing, carbon scoring...battle damage, if you will, that “washes” away with warm water.

    

The gimmick may leave you cold (or at least room temp), but at least the droids have the pull-apart build-a-droid components to swap around. This is still available online at $50.  I feel that is about $10 too much for what you get, but they do often run some good sales deals.  I think I got mine for 30-something.  Overall, I’m glad to see any play sets on the market.  Like some of the larger ships/park exclusives, one thing Disney is doing right with Star Wars is filling some gaps for us old school 3 3/4 inch figure collectors.

Take a look back at a couple of Disney exclusive ships/play sets:

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/search?q=Sandcrawler

Bucket (R1-J5)

Bucket (R1-J5)

Star Wars Resistance - Hasbro

"Resistance" isn't that difficult for me when it comes to new Star Wars media nowadays. (Thanks, Rian Johnson!)  But who doesn't love a new astromech droid every now and then?  Especially one with a very different aesthetic.  Finally, Episode 1 Threepio has a buddy for the droid nudist colony on Malastare!

I have no idea what Bucket's story is, nor do I care to know.  He looks cool and has an interesting range of motion for a small figure.  His middle "leg"  can be extended and contracted (watch out, droid nudist colony), tilting "feet", his "neck" is on a ball joint that can tilt and swivel, and he has ball-jointed "shoulders."   Shoulders on an astromech?  I guess the outer casing is movement prohibiting for fully fleshed-out droids.  It definitely gives him more expression for an animated series character.

The pilot helmet is not removable, but the guy he came packed with is.  Into the junk drawer, loser!  If you like the Resistance show (why?) or collect droids, Bucket alone is worth picking up.  He's the new co-pilot for my Star Tours Speeder!

Spider-Mobile

Spider-Mobile

Disney Toybox

As much as I hate to admit it, Disney still manages to surprise me now and then (without having to subvert expectations).  I really have no need for yet another style and scale of some of my favorite properties (until they manage to get their shit together with Indiana Jones), so the Toybox line is lacking for me in that department.  But then along comes a spider...buggy...and I needed it....badly!  It’s pretty comic accurate, goofy, colorful, comes with a Spider-Man figure, and is only $30.  And best of all...you can fudge it just enough to work with six-inch figures!

The Spidey-decaled wheel roll and are almost a thick rubber.  It’s pretty rare to get a vehicle like this that doesn’t have hollow plastic tires nowadays.  It can seat 2 figures and probably a few tag-alongs (watch out for hop-ons) in the back.  There are some foot pegs for figures to stand on the trunk.  Oh, and the trunk pops open for some storage.  This feature, along with 2 sound and light activated buttons on the hood, was a complete surprise.  The packaging did little more than show off the vehicle and left the features out.  Weird.  I scared the hell out of myself in pushing one of the buttons by accident and hearing the rather loud ignition sound fire up.  The headlights accompanying the sound are also pretty bright.  One button cycles through several “car” sounds, while the other has some of your expected Spidey catchphrases. “Friendly neighborhood” yada yada yada.  

I almost forgot about the action feature!  There is a hook and winch on the back that you can pull out and attach to things.  There is a button for quick retraction action.  Unnecessary, but another welcome bonus to this instant buy.

I dogged the Toybox figures at the start, but having one in hand, I have to say that they are quite nice.  I wasn’t expecting so much articulation for a kid-aimed line.  I might just pick up a few of these after all, especially the true Disney properties like Mickey and pals.

The only gripes I can muster about this toy is that the web detailing might look more accurate in black and the blue is more powder than royal blue.  That’s it.  So, if you’re a Marvel Legends collector, snap this up.  It’s too good to hold out hope that Hasbro will make one for the Legendary Riders line and if they do, it will cost far more.  Seriously, the most surprising toy from Disney compatible with my collections since the Star Tours Speeder.

As an added bonus to this review, I recently picked up a Hot Wheels Spider-Mobile to go with my ever-growing collection of tv/movie/comic/novelty cars.  Along with Spider-Ham and H.E.R.B.I.E., it seems to be the year for obscure comic references in the toy aisles!