| R2-D2 Unpainted 4-up Hardcopy (Alternate Sculpting) | |
| Many of the Micro Collection's dozens of figures underwent considerable
revision in the early stages of their development. Heads of figures would be
cut off and re-attached at slightly different angles, bases were enlarged or cut down, arms would be re-positioned--in short, modifications were made during the production process whenever it was felt that the product could be improved in some way. Often, hardcopies would be made from the original wax sculptings
before these changes were enacted; but in a few cases, figures seem to have
actually made it to the final production stage (meaning the stage at which they
could be produced as metal miniatures) before they were altered. In these latter
cases, modifications were cut directly into the production molds, since going
back to the earlier, pre-tooling stages would have been too expensive.
Here we have an example of a figure--an R2D2 from either the Millennium Falcon or unproduced Dagobah playset that was subtley changed during the sculpting/hardcopy phase of production. This R2 has the body pose of the Dagobah version, but the base is flat and smooth instead of rocky. An intermediate version, with an obviously sanded base exists as well.
What probably happened here was that, after Kenner received the 4-up from the vendor that produced their hardcopies for them, they decided that the figure should be detailed in a slightly different manner. So they either modified the existing sculpting or had an entirely new sculpting made, and had another round of hardcopies made of the revised sculpt. |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Chris Nichols |
| From the collection of: | Chris Nichols |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Empire Strikes Back |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1980 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Micro Collection |
