Rushed out the door to meet the tremendous and unexpected demand for Star Wars toys, Kenner’s original R2-D2 action figure, which bore only a passing resemblance to the droid, looks downright archaic by today’s toy standards. But that’s also made it incredibly popular among collectors, and to capitalise on all that love for the misshapen droid, Gentle Giant has created a life-size replica of the figure.
Standing 1m tall, this plastic replica was created by digitally scanning a mint condition Kenner 10cm R2-D2 figure, and then blowing up the resulting digital file so that the vintage replica stands 1m tall, the same size as R2-D2 in Star Wars: A New Hope. Gentle Giant has even gone to the trouble of replicating the original figure’s ratcheting click as you turn R2-D2’s silver dome head, even though of course the real Artoo made no such sounds.
There’s a lot of plastic that goes into making a life-size R2-D2 replica, but it’s still hard to fathom how Gentle Giant thinks this recreation will be worth $US3200 ($4184) once it’s officially available on July 1 next year – especially if, like the ’70s toy, the droid’s front panelling is just one big sticker.
Oh wait, did I say “replica”? Gentle Giant instead refers to this as a “R2-D2 Life-Size Monument”, and everyone knows monuments don’t come cheap. OK, I’ll take 12 of them.
[Gentle Giant via GeekAlerts]