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Review |
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| Sculpt: |
| During the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Mace Windu used this purple-hued astromech droid while flying his Jedi Starfighter. The droid uses the ROTS Sneak Preview R4-G9 mold, which is still a great figure two years after the fact. 8.5 out of 10. |
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| Paint: |
| Arfour's body and legs are molded in a deep plum color, with metallic purple and silver paint applications. The cables on the two side legs are molded separately, in black. The head is molded in brushed aluminum, with the same metallic purple paint apps as the body and legs, as well as an orange paint deco to an indicator just belowe the "eye." The eye lightpipe is solid purple, so no light appears in the eye piece. An appropriate droid for the Jedi with the amythist-colored lightsaber blade: 9/10. |
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| Articulation: |
| Arfour has planer cuts at the dome and side legs, with swivels at all three legs. The dome turns to raise and lower the third leg, then clicks once the action is completed. The wheeled "feet" roll freely on my sample, but I've heard of ones that stick. At least it doesn't have the backwards middle foot problem that plagues the R4-K5 figures: 9/10. |
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| Accessories: |
| Character-specific figure stand, which says REVENGE OF THE SITH even though this is an Expanded Universe character. Since the card identifies him as being from the CLONE WARS, this error is a bit more frustrating than the one for R4-K5's stand: 7/10. |
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| Packaging: |
| The same The Saga Collection card as the rest of the series, with a character-specific background image--in this case, the interior of a Republic Army hanger bay. The insert image is a photo-manipulated image of R2-D2 in Arfour's colors, and has The Saga Collection logo to the right of the character image. The figure's name is just below TSC logo, with its collection number (R4-M6: Mace Windu's Astromech Droid is Saga #074) just to the right. To the left are the five white-orange triangles, indicating the position of the enclosed mini-figure. The cardback features the same image as the insert, against the hanger bay background. There's text that explains Arfour's purpose, as well as a diecut display area for the Exclusive Hologram Figure: 8.5/10. |
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| Availability: |
| As of this writing, the figure has been appearing at retail for over three months as a Wal-Mart exclusive. In some areas it's a pegwarmer, while in others it sells out quickly and consistently; it is also available from some online sources: 7.5/10. |
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| Conclusion: |
| Customizers love getting new astromechs in a line, although this is pretty much just a purply variation on good ol' Artoo. The leg raising and lowering function is a nice touch, but still doesn't do much to make these rolling trashcans terribly exciting for kids. And, since it's intended to fit into the Mace Windu Jedi Starfighter, let's address the fact that these things don't fit properly into ANY of the Jedi Starfighter vehicles! R4-K5 doesn't fit into the Darth Vader Sith Starfighter, none of the current R2-D2's fit into Anakin's Jedi Starfighter (both verrsions), and R4-G9 didn't fit into Obi-Wan's Starfighter. Hasbro really flubbed a great idea by making little droids for the Starfighters and then not having them fit in the vehicles right: 8.3/10. |
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