R5-D4: We Can Rebuild Him!!!!

Ahhh! The 1970s!!! Good times, Humans. Good times. For those who don’t understand the title’s reference, let’s travel back to an era, long ago, when 1 million dollars was a lot of money.

 

Even as I write this article, I can hear the theme music and the movement sounds for when Steve Austin, a man who was barely alive, took action as THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. Go ahead and take a moment to look up the theme on YouTube.

Welcome back! YouTube is fun isn’t it? Now, to the matter at hand. My first droid was not R2 or 3PO, or even the power droid. Mine was… drum roll… R5-D4. R5-D4 had it rough. He was on the cusp of stardom when his motivator went glitchy. Always felt bad for that droid. Jump forward from the Episode 4’s release and I received an R5-D4 action figure. Well… that action figure saw use, and today R5-D4 is in need of fixing. The droid’s left leg broke off years ago. So, what’s a snaggletooth to do? I say repair the droid.

 

To that end, I of course went to Ebay to find and R5-D4 leg. Welp… no luck there. I did, however find an R2 leg. But I wanted my vintage R5-D4 to have an original R5-D4 leg. So, what did I do? I bought another R5-D4. Inside these action figures is a screw (Phillips head). My R5-D4 was from the 1977 batch whereas the R5-D4 I purchased on Ebay was from the 1978 run. Minor differences. For example, the screw for the 1977 version has a washer attached. Anyhow, quickly removing the screws allowed me to exchange legs. Also, while the droids were apart, I switched out the chrome ‘neck’ the droids have as my 1977 one was damaged and didn’t make any clicking noises. The 1978 droid I got on Ebay included an intact neck. Now, my 1977 R5-D4 is working better than ever. FYI – the A2-D2 legs are the same as the R4’s, just with a splash or blue instead of orange on the leg.

Thus it was that R5-D4 was rebuilt… Better… Stronger… Faster.

*** For those looking to repair Star Wars action figure, there are a lot of vintage parts available on Ebay. Additionally, there are sellers on Ebay with 3d printers who are making parts and weapons to replace vintage parts. Cheers! #May the Force be with you!!!

*** If you're looking to add to your Star Wars collection, check out Entertainment Earth! Link below! #entertainmentearth #starwars