Hello everyone, I was able to participate in the custom droid building at Galaxy's Edge this last soft-opening weekend, and wanted to give people a taste of what to expect, and what works/doesn't work for the $99 experience. I wanted to start a thread where we can answer each other's questions, and post pics of our droids - I'm actually still working on mine, so that will come later - I built an R3 unit, so I don't have a full overview of the BB units yet.
I waited about 30 minutes to get into the shop, and there is plenty to look at droid-wise in there. It's bustling and full of droid parts and Easter eggs from all corners of the Star Wars universe. If you know your droids, you will recognize almost every model of droid in there, although I am still looking for a few that might be scattered somewhere else in the land. Still looking for an FX medical droid or an ASP, for example...
You do pay beforehand, and this is where it gets a little tricky - parts and colors have been selling out, so you really don't know if you can make your dream droid unless you watch the conveyor belt carefully beforehand, or if you have a knowledgeable cast member willing to check in the back for you. I asked about a black R-series body and was told they were sold out, only to find out as I got further along she thought I was asking about black BB units (which were indeed sold out). You cannot see the smaller parts selection (the leg and front panels), and many of those colors were indeed out of stock. They were completely out of leg side panels, and when I asked about them, another cast member said to me, "Oh, those are optional. You can buy them with the accessory packs." I was not pleased that I was about to go away with an incomplete droid, so I asked to speak to a manager, who came out with some more that he said just arrived. He further explained that parts just come in randomly and I got the impression that no one there is really noticing what is selling out consistently and how long something might be out of stock. They really need to become experts on droid heads if they want to role play and pretend they're on the planet Batuu. if you don't get the answer you were expecting, keep asking around until you find someone that seems knowledgeable.
The stickers and accessory panel packs are cool if you want to really make your droid stand out, but the colors are kind of limited (for now), and you don't get stickers for every single panel - for example the R2 main eye doesn't get one, and I'm not sure if the R2 stickers are meant for other heads as well. This means even after buying the stickers, your head is going to have 2 colors on it. There are no head stickers for the R4 head, and the 2 head colors available (orange and purple) really limit your R4 options. I would definitely wait to apply your stickers carefully as they are cut very tight to the panels and your kid will probably have trouble getting them on straight. I did it carefully at home and still had to do the longer panels 2-3 times before they fit inside the panel grooves cleanly. All of those accessories were in good supply.
Personality chips were completely sold out Saturday. I was surprised how popular they were, and once again, no one had an idea of when they would get more. Disappointing if you have only a few hours to explore the land and have your droid interact with it.
My suggestions to everyone: have a good idea of backup colors and combinations for your dream droid, because it would be lousy to go through all of the process and pay the money only to find you can't get the droid you pictured. While there is some hope for customization after the fact (through the extra panels and stickers), the basic main parts for R2 units are pretty much white, black, red and blue.
Let me know if you have any other questions, as I'll be going back from time to time to see how the process has changed.
I waited about 30 minutes to get into the shop, and there is plenty to look at droid-wise in there. It's bustling and full of droid parts and Easter eggs from all corners of the Star Wars universe. If you know your droids, you will recognize almost every model of droid in there, although I am still looking for a few that might be scattered somewhere else in the land. Still looking for an FX medical droid or an ASP, for example...
You do pay beforehand, and this is where it gets a little tricky - parts and colors have been selling out, so you really don't know if you can make your dream droid unless you watch the conveyor belt carefully beforehand, or if you have a knowledgeable cast member willing to check in the back for you. I asked about a black R-series body and was told they were sold out, only to find out as I got further along she thought I was asking about black BB units (which were indeed sold out). You cannot see the smaller parts selection (the leg and front panels), and many of those colors were indeed out of stock. They were completely out of leg side panels, and when I asked about them, another cast member said to me, "Oh, those are optional. You can buy them with the accessory packs." I was not pleased that I was about to go away with an incomplete droid, so I asked to speak to a manager, who came out with some more that he said just arrived. He further explained that parts just come in randomly and I got the impression that no one there is really noticing what is selling out consistently and how long something might be out of stock. They really need to become experts on droid heads if they want to role play and pretend they're on the planet Batuu. if you don't get the answer you were expecting, keep asking around until you find someone that seems knowledgeable.
The stickers and accessory panel packs are cool if you want to really make your droid stand out, but the colors are kind of limited (for now), and you don't get stickers for every single panel - for example the R2 main eye doesn't get one, and I'm not sure if the R2 stickers are meant for other heads as well. This means even after buying the stickers, your head is going to have 2 colors on it. There are no head stickers for the R4 head, and the 2 head colors available (orange and purple) really limit your R4 options. I would definitely wait to apply your stickers carefully as they are cut very tight to the panels and your kid will probably have trouble getting them on straight. I did it carefully at home and still had to do the longer panels 2-3 times before they fit inside the panel grooves cleanly. All of those accessories were in good supply.
Personality chips were completely sold out Saturday. I was surprised how popular they were, and once again, no one had an idea of when they would get more. Disappointing if you have only a few hours to explore the land and have your droid interact with it.
My suggestions to everyone: have a good idea of backup colors and combinations for your dream droid, because it would be lousy to go through all of the process and pay the money only to find you can't get the droid you pictured. While there is some hope for customization after the fact (through the extra panels and stickers), the basic main parts for R2 units are pretty much white, black, red and blue.
Let me know if you have any other questions, as I'll be going back from time to time to see how the process has changed.
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Droid Depot R2-D2