Thursday, February 12, 2015

Kotobukiya Star Wars R3-A2 & K-3PO ARTFX+ Statues: Are these the droids you're looking for?

News of the impending release of the next installment in the Star Wars franchise "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens" has resulted in Star Wars toys and action figures being released all over the place, in anticipation of more of the things to come.

Back in the day, George Lucas' decision to accept a lower salary on the film in exchange for full merchandising rights was considered a fool's gamble on his part. Toys based on movies had never been major money-earners (though some movie-toy combinations had done moderate retail returns) because of the long gap between when a movie would go through its theatrical run and when any products based on it would be available. Star Wars, however,was such a phenomenon that it reached the holiday 1977 sales period in full swing, and changed the way movies were merchandised forever. Look who's laughing all the way to the bank now!


A Kotobukiya Japanese import! The famous duo of C-3PO and R2-D2 weren’t the only Droids that found their skills put to use during the Rebellion’s struggle against the Galactic Empire. Among the other often unsung heroes include R3-A2 and K-3PO.

R3-A2 served alongside other Astromech Droids, serving the Rebel pilots as a navigator on their fighters and helping to keep their ships in top shape when not in flight, while K-3PO’s vast database and knowledge of military tactics served him in good stead as the coordinator of all droids at Alliance High Command up until his unfortunate destruction at Echo Base during the Battle of Hoth.

Scroll down to see all the pictures.
Click on them for bigger and better views.




K-3PO stands over six inches tall, his white metal casing showing damage from a previous engagement. Both Droids feature magnets in their feet for extra stability on the included base, and assemble in seconds with the ARTFX+ line’s easy, snap-fit assembly.


R3-A2 stands nearly 4 inches tall in 1/10th scale, includes alternate pieces allowing for display standing upright on two legs or inclined on all three, and comes with a special collector’s coin featuring the logo of Industrial Automation, the manufacturers of Astromech Droids.


Related posts:
February 20, 2011 – USPS Star Wars R2-D2 Mailbox Coin Bank posted on my toy blog HERE
November 5, 2010 – Thinkway Toys Star Wars C-3PO and R2-D2 Electronic Talking Bank posted HERE (with video)
February 24, 2010 – "I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations. And this is my counterpart R2-D2." posted HERE
July 16, 2008 – Hasbro Star Wars 1/6 scale C-3P0 and R2-D2 droids (pictures HERE)

1 comment:

Astro Galaxy said...

This is indeed tempting. Cool looking!