Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Review II: Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars 1/6 scale 12-inch Infantry Battle Droid "Roger"

continued from the previous post...

In this toy blog post, I'll be posting more pictures of the exceptional 12-inch robot figure that is one half of the Sideshow Collectibles Militaries of Star Wars Series 1/6 scale Infantry Battle Droids 12-inch Figure two-pack. Although the Trade Federation Infantry Battle Droid are often called "Clankers" by Galactic Republic clone troopers because of how easily they fall, this Sideshow Collectibles 12-inch Battle Droid is one of their most stable figures yet. So much so that Sideshow didn't even feel that they needed to add a 12-inch figure display stand, a norm by now for all Sideshow 12-inch figures. On the contrary and quite ironic is that Sideshow Collectibles Clone Troopers are the ones that are weak at the ankles and are not able to hold most of the poses at all, requiring the figure display stand to help them stay upright or else they will be taking a dive off from the display shelves Tsk Tsk.


As I also mentioned in my part 1 review of this Sideshow Collectibles 12-inch Infantry Battle Droid, the articulation on this figure is pretty amazing. Sideshow claims that the Fully Articulated Battle Droid Bodies have over 20+ points of articulation and while I didn't bother to confirm if that is true, I was most pleasantly surprised at what this 1/6 scale Battle Droid robot figure could do :) Whichever pose I wanted to put it in, it could strike that very pose without any problems at all. The way the arms and fingers / claws could articulate and be moved and posed to hold onto its weapons was a delight.




Point to note: I saw some pictures of this same Battle Droid where the reviewer had failed to extend the neck fully, thus resulting in a rather awkward looking Battle Droid that wasn't realizing its full potential. Its chin was touching its chest and it looked like it was hunching at its shoulders :( it wasn't a very pretty picture.


This Sideshow Collectibles 1/6 scale Infantry Battle Droid has a swivel and pivot head joint, pivoting neck joint, pivoting as well as swiveling shoulder joints, pivot biceps, pivot elbows, swivel forearms, and swivel and pivot wrists with joint movement in its claws / fingers (ball jointed thumbs and pivot knuckles).


It also has ball jointed torso, ball jointed hips, pivot knees and ball jointed ankles! The ball joints on the ankles allows this Sideshow Collectibles 12-inch Infantry Battle Droid robot figure to strike some pretty sturdy poses and it will not just stand ramrod straight which would have been very disappointing. An example of that would be the Hasbro 12-inch Battle Droid figure which wasn't very articulated at all :(


This 1/6 scale B1 battle droid was just a lot of fun to tinker with and I'm really glad that Sideshow in its wisdom decided to sell this as a two-pack because one would have been very lonely and miserable whereas two seems to be just right. Of course, two more wouldn't hurt either haha


In the Star Wars universe, B1 battle droids were battle droids - also referred to as war droid or killer droid designed for combat - that made up the backbone of the Trade Federation Droid Army and the Separatist Droid Army.


B1s were perhaps the most numerous — and expendable — soldiers in galactic history, and, unlike most organic soldiers, they were capable of action in hostile environments like underwater or in space.


They were designed, for the most part, to defeat their enemies through sheer numbers, not through their ability to think (they were very vulnerable to tricks) and utilize combat skills (unlike clone troopers).


B1 battle droids' heads were designed to imitate the shape of a Neimoidian's skull after death. In this way, they were intended to strike fear into an enemy's heart. In addition, their bodies vaguely resembled those of the Geonosians.


Sideshow Collectibles Militaries of Star Wars Series 1:6 scale Infantry Battle Droids 12-inch Figure two-pack included two (2) Detailed Backpacks with droid identification numbering (which were different from each other - this one is 6-2-8-7 while the other backpack had the Galactic Basic Numbers 7-8-2-8) and extending antennae (longer one for signal reception and shorter one for transmitting).


Here are some close-up shots of the Battle Droid's imitation brain sac. When left unburied and unburned, Neimoidian brain mantles wither to dried sacs behind the top of the skull. They are actually specialized movement processors and sampled movement cycle memory processors.


General command storage is located at the top of the skull husk head and optical sensors are situated where the eyes would have been.


Scroll down to see more close-up pictures of this Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars 1/6 scale Infantry Battle Droid 12-inch robot figure.


The word "droid" is a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. Droids were robots: mechanical beings, often possessing artificial intelligence. They were used in a variety of roles and environments, often those considered too menial or too dangerous for humans and other species.


The E-5 blaster rifle was the standard blaster rifle of the B1 battle droids. The E-5 blaster rifle was a powerful, light, but somewhat inaccurate weapon. The fact that the weapon was intended for use by non-living wielders allowed BAW to skimp on some of the finer points - such as the fact that short barreled weapons are comparatively fragile and produce great deal of heat over repeated firings.


And here's a look at the B1 battle droid's ultra-thin legs. Who would have thought that such thin legs could carry the entire weight of the droid / robot. Even more surprising is that fact that Sideshow managed to make their 1/6 scale infantry battle droid's legs ultra sturdy and the tight joints help to ensure that the droid stays upright without any problems at all.


If only they did the same with their human figures :( The Sideshow Collectibles Clone Troopers all suffer from the weak ankles syndrome and what happens when they have weak ankles? They fall over very easily because the feet are just not able to support the entire weight of the figure.


Not so these Sideshow Infantry Battle Droids. They were certainly a lot of fun to pose and tinker with



NEXT: There are two battle droids right? Let's see them side-by-side and together ;p

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