SWTOTW, Week 13, 2019, Part 1/2 Droid Factory
- Thread starter Pomse2001
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Many thanks.Pomse2001 said:
The box is rattier than I would like, other than that it's fine.
I only have a loose Kenner R2.
You say 'not the best condition', but it's still very nice to see! Plus, as you quite rightly say, you get a 3-legged R2, and what's not to like about that?Mini99 said:
Thanks for sharing
What a beauty that is! Thanks for sharingDr_Ball_MD said:
OK Lars, you didn't want to separate the Kenner and Palitoy Droid Factories either, so here goes...
For anyone unfamiliar with the differences between the 2 sets, it's not just the packaging which differs. Although more similar to each other than either of the Land of the Jawas or Cantina playset pairs, the two versions of the Droid Factory still contain significant differences from one another, despite all the droid parts being the same in each set.
However, before we begin I would like to highlight a couple of (hopefully!) interesting things about the Palitoy Droid Factory. Firstly, it is the only vintage Star Wars toy with a partial name plate on the packaging. Eventually of course, both Kenner and Palitoy dispensed with the name plates on all of their toy packaging apart from the carded figures (which kept them to the end of the run), however the Palitoy Droid Factory is the only one with the job half-done; it's missing the oval surround around the name:
Secondly, the Palitoy Droid Factory plastic base comes in two completely different colours, despite its packaging not changing. A few other toys also changed colour during their production runs, but their packaging usually changed at the same time, e.g. the TIE Fighter comes in both white and blue versions, but its packaging changed at the same time. The white TIE Fighter is never found in Jedi packaging and the blue one is never found in Star Wars or Empire packaging.
However, the Palitoy Droid Factory base came in both canary yellow and blue versions, despite the box never changing and only ever showing the blue one. When you bought a Palitoy Droid Factory, you had no idea which version you were getting until you opened the box! Incidentally, my childhood Palitoy Droid Factory was a yellow one, and because I never bought a second one (well, why would I? ;-)), it wasn't until adulthood that I learned to my considerable surprise that the blue version also existed! Prior to that, I'd simply assumed the blue one shown on the box was a misleading con, and I was even quite cross and disappointed about it as a child as I wanted it to be blue to match the one on the box, which I thought looked much better! :lol:
Interestingly, the base of the Kenner version also comes in two colours; a light brown and a darker brown. However, the toy was reissued in Empire Strikes Back packaging with its original light brown base, and it was, to the very best of my knowledge, a late running change in its new Empire packaging which saw the base switch to the darker brown version. I do not believe the darker brown one ever came in the original Star Wars packaging, but I am of course happy to be corrected if I'm mistaken.
Lastly, for those that don't know, the 3-legged R2-D2 which came with these sets has a sticker which is a mirror image of the regular carded 2-legged R2-D2's sticker. God knows how the error occurred, but it does at least help identify some fake stickers for the 3-legged version once you know about it!
Also, the Palitoy and Kenner versions of the stickers are not the same, making each set's version of the 3-legged R2-D2 unique.
Anyway, the Droid Factory!:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Kenner: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Palitoy:
Base: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Light or dark brown hard plastic with moving crane. _ Bright yellow or blue, flimsy plastic, card-backed, no crane.
Base Stickers: _ _ _ _ _ _ None. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Unique stickers for the base.
Droid Stickers: _ _ _ _ _ _ Bright glossy finish. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Very different dull, darker, matte finish, but otherwise same as Kenner.
3-legged R2-D2 Sticker: _ Glossy, bright blue mirror image of carded R2-D2. _ _ Mirror image again, but dull, matte, dark blue with different details.
For anyone unfamiliar with the differences between the 2 sets, it's not just the packaging which differs. Although more similar to each other than either of the Land of the Jawas or Cantina playset pairs, the two versions of the Droid Factory still contain significant differences from one another, despite all the droid parts being the same in each set.
However, before we begin I would like to highlight a couple of (hopefully!) interesting things about the Palitoy Droid Factory. Firstly, it is the only vintage Star Wars toy with a partial name plate on the packaging. Eventually of course, both Kenner and Palitoy dispensed with the name plates on all of their toy packaging apart from the carded figures (which kept them to the end of the run), however the Palitoy Droid Factory is the only one with the job half-done; it's missing the oval surround around the name:
Secondly, the Palitoy Droid Factory plastic base comes in two completely different colours, despite its packaging not changing. A few other toys also changed colour during their production runs, but their packaging usually changed at the same time, e.g. the TIE Fighter comes in both white and blue versions, but its packaging changed at the same time. The white TIE Fighter is never found in Jedi packaging and the blue one is never found in Star Wars or Empire packaging.
However, the Palitoy Droid Factory base came in both canary yellow and blue versions, despite the box never changing and only ever showing the blue one. When you bought a Palitoy Droid Factory, you had no idea which version you were getting until you opened the box! Incidentally, my childhood Palitoy Droid Factory was a yellow one, and because I never bought a second one (well, why would I? ;-)), it wasn't until adulthood that I learned to my considerable surprise that the blue version also existed! Prior to that, I'd simply assumed the blue one shown on the box was a misleading con, and I was even quite cross and disappointed about it as a child as I wanted it to be blue to match the one on the box, which I thought looked much better! :lol:
Interestingly, the base of the Kenner version also comes in two colours; a light brown and a darker brown. However, the toy was reissued in Empire Strikes Back packaging with its original light brown base, and it was, to the very best of my knowledge, a late running change in its new Empire packaging which saw the base switch to the darker brown version. I do not believe the darker brown one ever came in the original Star Wars packaging, but I am of course happy to be corrected if I'm mistaken.
Lastly, for those that don't know, the 3-legged R2-D2 which came with these sets has a sticker which is a mirror image of the regular carded 2-legged R2-D2's sticker. God knows how the error occurred, but it does at least help identify some fake stickers for the 3-legged version once you know about it!
Also, the Palitoy and Kenner versions of the stickers are not the same, making each set's version of the 3-legged R2-D2 unique.
Anyway, the Droid Factory!:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Kenner: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Palitoy:
Base: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Light or dark brown hard plastic with moving crane. _ Bright yellow or blue, flimsy plastic, card-backed, no crane.
Base Stickers: _ _ _ _ _ _ None. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Unique stickers for the base.
Droid Stickers: _ _ _ _ _ _ Bright glossy finish. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Very different dull, darker, matte finish, but otherwise same as Kenner.
3-legged R2-D2 Sticker: _ Glossy, bright blue mirror image of carded R2-D2. _ _ Mirror image again, but dull, matte, dark blue with different details.
And since I recently took some extra comparison photos for another thread to highlight the differences between the two Droid Factory versions of R2, it seems appropriate to post them again here:
Thanks, Lars. Actually now I only own the yellow one. I used to own the blue one too, but sold it a while ago. I included the picture here for comparison purposes. I don't display my items out of their boxes, and since I couldn't see the contents, it seemed a little extravagant to display two boxes which otherwise looked the same!Pomse2001 said:wow mate thanks for sharing your huge collection and all the great info, again I learned something new about the playset, thanks
I can see you have 2 palitoy playsets, but do you only have one box ? :?
coomber75
Sith Lord
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im hoping this will be my next purchase to get me there re the r2s never had it as a kid, great knowledge as always folks, every days a school day here
Snaketibe said:Thanks, Lars. Actually now I only own the yellow one. I used to own the blue one too, but sold it a while ago. I included the picture here for comparison purposes. I don't display my items out of their boxes, and since I couldn't see the contents, it seemed a little extravagant to display two boxes which otherwise looked the same!Pomse2001 said:wow mate thanks for sharing your huge collection and all the great info, again I learned something new about the playset, thanks
I can see you have 2 palitoy playsets, but do you only have one box ? :?
ok thanks mate for the info, after this I also need to buy a blue one now :lol:
apack7229
Sith Lord
Agreed, the box looks in pretty good shape. Thanks for sharing, apackPomse2001 said:apack7229 said:
Thanks for sharing it mate, the box looks great
apack7229
Sith Lord
Thanks guys. The box isn't too bad but the base is pretty bare bones. :lol:
