When I was a kid I had a ton of cheap wind-up toy robots that I loved and integrated into my Star Wars figure collection, so I was very intrigued when I saw that the Disney Store had a set of wind-up robots from Solo: A Star Wars Story. Additionally, I always have in the back of my mind whether or not a new Star Wars related toy will fit into a Black Series display, very similar to Robo’s “does it six inch” videos. Let’s take a look at the new Solo wind-up fight droids!
For 10 bucks you get two droids packaged in a snazzy orange and yellow window box that shows off the figures well. The set does not come with any accessories, it’s just the two droids. The droids aren’t named on the packaging, but The Solo visual dictionary and some Topps Trading cards have the deats. The blueish power droid is WG-22 and the bigger, tan, recycling bin-looking guy is named FD3-MN.
The scale looks pretty close to 6″ to me for the power droid WG-22. He is almost the same size as my 3D printed GNK from Prometheus Rising Heavy Industries. I’m not sure about FD3-MN. I recently watched Solo again and got the impression that FD3-MN is a little bigger in the film in relation to WG-22 than he is in toy form, but it was really hard to get a sense of scale as their scenes fly by pretty quick. I think they both look nice with my Black Series droids.
The wind-up gimmick is pretty fun. WG-22 has a peg coming out of his back that you twist in order for him to walk a short distance while moving his limbs up and down. FD3-MN has a pull-back racer functionality. You pull him back and let go and he moves slowly forward while twisting his head and moving his right arm up and down. Here’s a quick video showing the movement:
I noticed the pull-back didn’t really want to work well on my FD3-MN on the smooth surface of my dining room table, but worked better on the rougher surface I used while shooting that video.
The articulation is minimal for both figures, as befits their design and the nature of wind-up toys. WG-22 has articulation at the legs, arms, and the visor at the front of his head. You can re-pose the arms on WG-22 so that they are in different positions when he starts walking, but it’s limited by the ratcheting design of the toy. The little saw blade on his one arm also spins.
FD3-MN has an articulated arm on the head that’s tied to the movement mechanism, so that limits it’s poseability somewhat. The lower arm has a circular blade and a hubcap like shield with soft plastic chains hanging from them. The arm rotates freely at the body and the blade.
The only place where I’d like a little more articulation is the saw blade hands for both droids. If there was a swivel at the end of the arm where it meets the blade, it would be better for posing in a more natural sawing position.
The sculpts match the designs of the robots as presented in the film really well and the details and sculpting are pretty sharp.
The paint is also very good and some attempt was made to weather them appropriately with some washes. The weathering doesn’t go quite as far as it does in the film, as you can see in the comparison with the trading cards, but it’s good for this scale and price point. They are cheap enough that I’m considering another set for customs.
Overall, I’m pleased with these figures. The fun factor is pretty high and the value to price point is pretty great for this day and age. I think they scale reasonably well with Black Series figures and look good with them. I’ll definitely be using them as background color in future photos.
