It’s an interesting marketing strategy some companies have for holiday figures. Rather than make the figures available on the holiday, they begin preorders then. It’s an act of faith that, caught up in the spirit of impulse purchasing, they won’t later cancel before the item can actually be fulfilled. We saw this earlier in the year with NECA’s Halloween figures — now Gentle Giant ho-ho-hopes the Santa season will sell out their newest “holiday special,” so to speak: Santa R2-D2.
Artoo here is a variant of the company’s Jumbo Vintage Star Wars line, replicating the original Kenner figures but in a 12-inch scale. Like the original, it has the classic paper sticker detail and vac-metallized head. Unlike the original, it also includes a soft Santa hat, and a string of Christmas (or is it Life Day?) lights that actually light up. Perhaps the biggest difference between this and a vintage Kenner toy is that batteries are, in fact, included.
Though there are no official images of the cardback yet, it will be Christmas-themed, come in a resealable blister pack, and include a replica Power of the Force coin. Santa R2-D2 runs $80, which is normal for this line, and is quite limited, with only 500 figures in the run. Gentle Giant permits a maximum of two figures to be ordered per account, with delivery expected sometime late spring. That’s plenty of time to have the plucky astromech as part of the display come December 2024.
What would a Santa R2-D2 get you for Christmas? Perhaps a map to an old friend’s home, or secret plans, or for a certain select individual, a private message from a princess? That’s one for the imagination, as in this case Artoo himself is the holiday gift. Just be on your guard — the last person to be gifted an R2-D2 was Jabba, and that didn’t work out so well for him.
