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Because ONE is the loneliest number - that's why Sideshow Collectibles decided to sell the 1/6 scale Infantry Battle Droids as a two-pack set. And for that, I say "Thank you, Sideshow" because these two droids look so much better together :)
During the process of writing the original Star Wars, George Lucas reportedly realized that the story he had written was too vast in scope to be covered in one stand-alone film, and thus, the original film was meant to be the introduction to a much wider story arc that could be covered by sequels if the first film turned out to be successful. The original movie eventually evolved, from being the first movie in the sequence, to a film actually belonging to the second trilogy in the saga. So when Lucas began production of "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" in 1997 after he had concluded that the science of movie special effects had advanced to the level of what he wanted for his fourth film in the Saga (16 years after the 1983 premiere of the previous film in the saga, "Return of the Jedi" and 22 years after the first ever Star Wars film), a lot of people (including yours truly) were really excited, to say the least.
The Phantom Menace received mixed reviews from film critics. Some aspects of the scripting were criticized, especially the character of Jar Jar Binks, who was regarded by many members of the older fan community as purely a merchandising opportunity rather than a serious character in the film. I was looking out for the precursor to the Stormtroopers but saw none of that. Instead, these Trade Federation Infantry Battle Droids were the main enemy force in the film. Not really impressive (too thin to be intimidating or threatening) although the Droideka, or Destroyer Droid were a delight to see. The destroyer droids can transform, appearing first in a "wheel" state allowing rapid movements and easy storage, then unfold into insect-like attack-robots with a slow three-legged gait. In their walking state, droidekas have powerful twin blasters on each of their arms, extreme accuracy at close range, and a personal shield generator.
