R2-D2 (ROTJ) — Star Wars The Black Series 40th Anniversary

Overview

R2-D2 at the ROTJ 40th Anniversary lineup captures the astromech droid at his Battle of Endor and Death Star II configuration — Kenny Baker’s character at the moment R2 accompanies Luke through the Jedi Knight’s confrontation with Vader and the Emperor, then participates in the broader Battle of Endor ground assault on the Imperial shield generator. Released September 2023 single-carded in Hasbro’s celebration of Return Of The Jedi’s 40th anniversary in vintage Kenner-inspired packaging. Mainline non-exclusive at $24.99 — slightly elevated above the standard $19.99 mainline baseline. 8-joint articulation including 360° rotatable dome with up-and-down movement. Eight accessories: a sensorscope, a periscope, 4 tools/arms, and 2 blue dome panels.

The Newly Sculpted Properly-Scaled R2-D2

R2-D2 is a newly sculpted figure which is accurately scaled in comparison with regular Black Series 6-inch figures (previous versions of R2-D2 in the Black Series line were under-scaled). This is the figure’s most structurally significant feature — Hasbro committed to fresh tooling specifically to address the recurring R2-D2 scale-calibration critique that has affected every prior Black Series astromech droid release.

For collectors familiar with the broader Black Series catalogue, the previous R2-D2 releases (including the ESB 40th Anniversary R2-D2 Dagobah at #P4-40A-R24 and earlier Phase 1-and-2 R2-D2 configurations) all suffered from undersized scaling — the droid read as too small in comparison with 6-inch human-character figures, breaking the canonical R2-vs-character height differential that the source material establishes. The 2023 ROTJ release is structurally a much-needed upgrade to all the previously released astromech droids in the Black Series line simply because it’s properly scaled.

For collectors building any mixed-character display where R2’s specific scale relationship to characters like Luke or Han matters, the 2023 R2 captures the screen-accurate scale-relationship configuration cleanly. R2-D2 was sculpted beautifully — this figure is a much-needed upgrade to all the previously released astromech droids in the Black Series line.

This is structurally significant beyond just this one ROTJ 40th release — the new R2 body sculpt likely becomes the new baseline for future Black Series astromech droid configurations, deprecating the prior undersized body sculpt that affected the entire prior catalogue.

The Dome Storage Engineering

When R2-D2 faces to the front or the back, it’s possible to pull the dome up and extend it upwards — this then reveals the storage area where the included accessories can be placed in. Specific engineering touch worth flagging — the dome storage area is a structurally meaningful feature that solves the recurring R2-D2 accessory-management problem. R2’s tools and arms are small components that easily get lost during transit or during display reconfiguration; the integrated dome storage provides a built-in stowage solution that prior R2 releases didn’t include.

For collectors who frequently swap R2’s accessory configurations (different tool/arm combinations for different display states), the dome storage supports clean accessory management without requiring external storage solutions. The dome lift mechanism specifically requires the dome to face front or back rather than the side configurations, which is a small workflow note but doesn’t significantly limit the storage utility.

The Eight-Accessory Loadout

R2-D2 came with eight accessories: a sensorscope, a periscope, 4 tools/arms, and 2 blue panels on the dome. This is a structurally generous accessory loadout for the astromech character class — most prior R2 releases shipped with two-to-four accessories at most.

There are two vertical panels on the front of the droid which can be opened. Each panel covers three holes where the included tools/arms can be plugged in. Specific functional engineering — the front-opening panels reveal multiple plug-and-display mounting points for the four included tool/arm accessories, supporting multiple distinct R2 utility-arm-deployed configurations.

There are two additional blue horizontal panels on the front which can be opened, but there are no tools behind them which could be pulled out. Specific incompleteness note worth flagging — Hasbro included openable horizontal panels but didn’t provide additional tools to fill the hole positions behind them. For collectors who want full panel-deployment display states, the absent additional tools limit the canonical fully-deployed configuration.

There are two blue panels on the top of the dome which can be opened — this then reveals the holes where the sensorscope and the periscope can be plugged in. Standard top-dome equipment-deployment engineering supports the canonical sensorscope-deployed and periscope-deployed display states.

The Improved Paint and Scale

R2-D2 was painted well, and the blue colours are lighter and more accurate to the on-screen version than on previous Black Series Artoos. Specific paint commitment improvement worth flagging — the canonical R2-D2 blue palette is structurally challenging to reproduce in plastic form (most blues drift toward darker or more saturated configurations than the source material’s specific blue-grey calibration). The 2023 release commits to the lighter, more accurate blue calibration that prior Black Series R2 releases missed.

The Two-or-Three-Legged Display Configuration

The middle leg can be pulled out of the body — this way the figure can be displayed in a two- or three-legged way. Standard astromech leg-deployment engineering supports both the rolling (three-legged with middle leg deployed) and walking (two-legged with middle leg retracted) display configurations cleanly.

A specific accessory limitation worth flagging: there are no booster rockets included which can be attached to the outside of the legs. The canonical R2-D2 in flight-mode configuration deploys booster rockets from his outer leg compartments — the 2023 release omits these booster rocket accessories despite the new sculpt providing the engineering opportunity to include them. For collectors who want flight-mode display configurations, the absent rockets limit the canonical configuration. Same recurring critique that affects the R2-D2 Dagobah at #P4-40A-R24 release inherited from the 2013 source body sculpt.

The Missing ROTJ Lightsaber Hilt

Unfortunately Luke Skywalker’s Return Of The Jedi lightsaber hilt was not included with this release (a bit of a bummer when you consider that this figure was released in Jedi packaging for the 40th anniversary of ROTJ). Specific accessory critique worth flagging — R2-D2’s most narratively significant ROTJ moment is delivering Luke’s green lightsaber to him during the Sarlacc Pit rescue sequence. The canonical scene specifically shows R2 ejecting the lightsaber hilt from his dome storage area to Luke during the Skiff Guard confrontation.

For an anniversary release commemorating ROTJ specifically, the absent green lightsaber hilt accessory is a meaningful narrative-completion oversight. The figure has the dome storage area engineering to physically support the lightsaber-hidden-in-dome display configuration but doesn’t include the actual lightsaber accessory. For collectors who own the Luke Jedi Knight at #P4-40A-LJ7 release (which includes the green lightsaber), the lightsaber can be borrowed from that figure for the canonical R2-delivers-saber-to-Luke display configuration.

Articulation

8 joints. 1 360° rotatable dome, 1 up-and-down movement of the dome, 2 swivel outer legs, 1 up-and-down movement of the middle leg, 3 swivel ankles. Higher joint count than the standard astromech baseline (the prior R2 releases shipped with 6 joints) — the additional dome up-and-down articulation supports the storage-area access configuration, and the dual-axis leg engineering enables the canonical two-or-three-legged display states.

Distribution and the ROTJ Lineup

Standard mainline ROTJ 40th Anniversary release at $24.99 through wide retail channels — Target, Walmart, Amazon, hobby shops. The mainline distribution and the slightly-elevated-above-baseline pricing make this R2-D2 accessible. Aftermarket pricing on the secondary market has remained reasonable due to broad initial availability.

For collectors building the complete ROTJ 40th Anniversary lineup, this R2-D2 pairs with multiple narrative contexts — the Death Star II throne room sequence (paired with Luke Jedi Knight at #P4-40A-LJ7, Darth Vader ROTJ at #P4-40A-DV7, the Emperor at #P4-40A-EM6), the Sarlacc Pit rescue sequence (paired with Luke, Lando Skiff Guard at #P4-40A-LSG5, Princess Leia in Boushh disguise), and the Battle of Endor command sequence (paired with Han Solo Endor at #P4-40A-HE5, Princess Leia Endor at #P4-40A-LE5). The properly-scaled R2 supports all these character-pairing displays cleanly without scale-mismatch problems.

Other R2-D2 Figures

R2-D2 has been one of the most-released characters in the entire Hasbro Star Wars catalogue. Other notable releases include the Clone Wars version (figure id=26), the Shield Generator Assault 4-Pack (figure id=79), the With Princess Leia Hologram version (figure id=151), the Legacy Collection Droid Factory 2-Pack #6 (figure id=172), the Jundland Wastes ANH-era release (figure id=345), and the 30th Anniversary McQuarrie Concept Series (figure id=431). The ROTJ 40th Anniversary release joins this multi-decade catalogue as the dedicated 6-inch Black Series newly-sculpted properly-scaled flagship version.

Secondary Market

Single-carded mainline release on Kenner-style commemorative cardback, September 2023. Available at MSRP through standard retail and the secondary market with broad availability. Verify the sensorscope, the periscope, all 4 tools/arms, and both blue dome panels are included. The smaller tools/arms are the most easily lost components during transit — though the dome storage area provides a built-in stowage solution that mitigates the loss risk for collectors who use it.

Verdict

R2-D2 (ROTJ) at the 2023 ROTJ 40th Anniversary line is one of the most structurally significant figures in the entire commemorative collection — the newly-sculpted properly-scaled body engineering is a much-needed upgrade to all the previously released Black Series astromech droids that suffered from the recurring undersized critique, the integrated dome storage area solves the recurring R2 accessory-management problem cleanly, the eight-accessory loadout density delivers exclusive-tier value at the mainline pricing tier, the lighter-and-more-accurate blue paint calibration captures the canonical screen-accurate colour reading, the two-or-three-legged display configuration supports both rolling and walking states, and the openable front and dome panels reveal multiple equipment-deployment configurations.

The missing ROTJ green lightsaber hilt is the figure’s most defensible narrative-completion negative — the canonical R2-delivers-saber-to-Luke moment requires aftermarket alternatives or the Luke Jedi Knight figure’s own saber for proper display configuration. The absent booster rockets (inherited from prior R2 releases) limit flight-mode display configurations. The two horizontal front panels open without supporting accessories, leaving the canonical fully-deployed panel display incomplete.

Buy this figure if you collect the ROTJ 40th Anniversary line as a complete set, if you build any 6-inch Black Series Star Wars display where R2’s scale relationship to other characters matters (the proper scaling is structurally important for character-pairing displays), if you appreciate the integrated dome storage engineering for clean accessory management, if you want the upgraded body sculpt that deprecates the prior undersized R2 baseline, or if the eight-accessory loadout density matches your accessory-rich display preferences.

The newly-sculpted properly-scaled astromech droid with the integrated dome storage area. The figure with the sensorscope, periscope, four tools/arms, and openable dome panels. The R2-D2 that finally captures the canonical scale relationship to other 6-inch Black Series figures correctly. Mainline distribution, September 2023.

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Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Phase 4 40th Anniversary Collection. Related: Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) P4-40A-LJ7 | R2-D2 (ESB) P4-40A-R24 | Han Solo (Endor) P4-40A-HE5.