Droid Depot

[nooker21]

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.

 

[indysolo007]

Did they only sell the color change 3.75 inch droids at the depot or were they at other parts of the park? Thanks!

 

[EmperorPalps]

I would like to thank Nooker21 for attempting to make me a droid this past weekend. Sadly, the parts I wanted were sold out, and I didn't provide him enough back-up options beforehand to proceed with making a different droid. He made every effort to contact me while he was at the depot, but unfortunately I was unavailable at the time. Nooker is legit though. An asset to the boards, for sure.

Hopefully Disney smooths out operations within GE over the coming months, as it seems they're just kind of winging it right now. For a staff member to say the leg panels were considered an "optional accessory", and you would have to buy the extra sets, is total BS. Let's just hope that was a case of an improperly trained employee, and not Disney's actual stance. If somebody there told me that, I would be very annoyed. I'd say "Gee, in all the videos I've watched on YouTube of the Droid Depot, it sure seemed like the leg panels came standard in the building process. Are you certain they're considered an additional accessory now?"

Anyways, I appreciate your efforts, man. Thank you. Looking forward to seeing some pics of your droid!

 

[nooker21]

I believe I saw the color changing 3.75" droids at Star Trader as well, but I can't definitively say.

 

[nooker21]

A few more thoughts:

I didn't even talk about the actual droid controls - smooth and easy to use. I have hardwood floors so he goes everywhere, and while the head turning button sometimes feels a little slow, the rest of the RC controls are very responsive. I will update with the battery life, but I'm not running him constantly, so my mileage may be different.

The R4 dome has the same mistake as the smaller figures, with extra holoprojector on the back.

Several of the silver panels on the R-series bodies are unpainted.

I tried putting some head stickers on the R3 dome, and they just don't plain work. They would keep lifting and I gave up after a few tries. That was disappointing. I did notice these were not cut as precise, so a tiny sliver of the underlying color was showing through, which could either be cool if you want a border, or annoying if you want to completely cover it.

The box is uncomfortable to carry the droid around in. The R2 unit was a bit loose in there, so he would tilt a few times. The cardboard handle kept digging into my hand, and I ended up cradling it after I left the land, as the flap looked like it was going to keep coming undone. They were sold out of the backpacks as well, so I really didn't have much choice. Be aware of this if you go early and expect to carry it around the rest of the park all day.

 

[Nibcrom]

Any photos? Thanks,

 

[indysolo007]

Great to hear feedback from a fellow scum board member. Too many Instagram posts lacking this sort of insight.

 

[EmperorPalps]

Just saw that today is the first day GE is open to the public, without reservations. It reached max capacity within an hour, and the line to the Falcon ride was over 3 hours.o-o I bet they will sell out of even more parts and color options at the Droid Depot this week. Really kicking myself for missing Nooker's emails now!:grin:

 

[LandoGriffin]

I was watching social media most of the day and the queue to get in the land and Smugglers Run really died down by afternoon, by 7pm the need for the virtual queue wasn't needed. The only thing busy all day were Ogas and Savis, those reservations filled up by 730 am.

 

[Masterfett]

I guess since only complete Droids are sold, it would be difficult to know which parts are selling out. But there has to be a way to track each part as it gets removed from inventory, so that people aren't left with incomplete or random colors if it wasn't their intention. Sounds to me like they need to change it so that you "pay" at the end, when you have a complete product.

 

[nooker21]

I don't think it would work if you pay at the end, as there would be too many people just playing around with the parts like at the Build-A-Droid setup. It's bad enough when you have a bunch of kids grabbing fistfuls of 3.75" parts and just leaving them everywhere; I can't imagine that translating very well to these more expensive droids.

I read at a Disney website that they are starting to sell droid parts separately for $19.99 a piece (as they are doing with lightsaber parts), but I don't know what that entails and if they've restocked anything yet. I am hoping to check it out Sunday and I'll give an update.

 

[Utinniii]

I am hoping to check it out Sunday and I'll give an update.

Yeah, kids were tearing apart the 3.75 droid station when I was there.

It it isn't too much trouble can you check to see if the plush Bantha and K-spiders are close to the 3.75 scale. It would be awesome to know its size compared to the Hasbro Bantha. Thanks!

 

[nooker21]

7/7/19 update:

Visited Galaxy's Edge this morning, and some more parts are out of stock - didn't see any black R3 domes, but at least the main bodies have all their colors still in stock. Still no personality chips, and didn't sound like they've been restocked since I last visited. I was told the backpacks needed to be adjusted as they weren't fitting the droids quite right, so that possibly explains their absence as well (they also had not been restocked).

I did confirm that you can buy individual parts for $20 a piece, and that means if you want multiples of any parts on the conveyor belt (which means, heads, bodies, or leg sets), you can get more. It's really tempting to get some more heads to swap out, so I'll be keeping an eye on this. You have to ask as it doesn't appear advertised, much like the spare lightsaber pieces.

 

[Masterfett]

This will be yet another drawback for those that have to travel several thousand miles, not being able to complete a droid. Buying parts separately might be fine for peeps in the same City or even the next one over, but there'e a whole rest of the Country. As well as the rest of the World.

 

[Droidworld]

It’s great that you can buy R2-D2 pre-made. A smart move. Disney needs to add a few more “canon” figures like R5-D4, R3-A2, R3-M3 etc. already assembled.

 

[jedisquared]

They also have Rex & the Mouse droid, too...right? Would love a RC Gonk droid.

 

[EmperorPalps]

7/7/19 update:

Visited Galaxy's Edge this morning, and some more parts are out of stock - didn't see any black R3 domes, but at least the main bodies have all their colors still in stock. Still no personality chips, and didn't sound like they've been restocked since I last visited. I was told the backpacks needed to be adjusted as they weren't fitting the droids quite right, so that possibly explains their absence as well (they also had not been restocked).

I did confirm that you can buy individual parts for $20 a piece, and that means if you want multiples of any parts on the conveyor belt (which means, heads, bodies, or leg sets), you can get more. It's really tempting to get some more heads to swap out, so I'll be keeping an eye on this. You have to ask as it doesn't appear advertised, much like the spare lightsaber pieces.

Thanks for the update and for reaching out, Nooker. Guess it wouldn't have mattered if I wasn't on that camping trip after all. Shame that parts haven't been restocked yet. Seems odd that none of the staff know when new stock will arrive. You would think that would be one of the questions they get asked the most, and that management would give them some estimates to share with guests. Also glad to see you weren't affected by the quake, which I believe happened the day you were there, yes? We also had a little quake here two nights ago. Good times.

 

[nooker21]

It’s great that you can buy R2-D2 pre-made. A smart move. Disney needs to add a few more “canon” figures like R5-D4, R3-A2, R3-M3 etc. already assembled.

It would really be tempting if they did make ones with more elaborate paint schemes. You can basically make an R5-D4 and R3-A2 on your own, and sort of get close to R3-M3 if you don't mind a blue stripe on his dome and you also buy the grey accessory panels. The only problem is that the sticker sets are not primary colors, so you couldn't use the red on R5-D4's back panels - the reds wouldn't match. This is what also bother me about the sticker sets - the colors are not exact matches to the pre-painted domes and bodies. I keep having this nagging feeling that exclusive or "holiday" sticker or panel sets will eventually come out, much like their annual holiday droids. They want you to keep accessorizing your droid long after you make the initial $99 investment.

 

[nooker21]

Here is my Galaxy's Edge droid; I'm naming him R3-7X. Still working on him by possibly painting some missing details and adding weathering, and may change his panels eventually.

 

[EmperorPalps]

That's a pretty cool color combo! It's too bad they didn't provide any green decals for the dome to help tie the color motif together more, but still cool looking. Are the decals of the static cling variety so they can be easily removed and reused if you so desired?

 

[nooker21]

That's a pretty cool color combo! It's too bad they didn't provide any green decals for the dome to help tie the color motif together more, but still cool looking. Are the decals of the static cling variety so they can be easily removed and reused if you so desired?

They do have the dome decals included, but for some odd reason they did not stick to my dome. I may actually get another set when I go back this week and see if I just got a bad batch. One nice thing is that you do get multiple stickers for the various types of domes, so if you want to trade certain colors with other people, you can do so.

 

[nooker21]

7/21/19 update:

Well, clear blue and clear black R3 domes are once again sold out. Still no droid carrying backpacks, but there has been a full replenishment of the personality chips. Black BB units were also available.

 

[nooker21]

8/4/19 update:

Looks like the clear blue and black R3 domes are still sold out. I'm wondering if orange will become more popular as we get closer to Halloween, and people start making their own seasonal droids. I'm also curious if Disney will capitalize on their 3 3/4" holiday droids and offer seasonal colored droid panels and stickers for these larger models. I could totally see people buying cheap sticker packs in orange/black or red, green, and gold for temporary "costumes" on their creations.

All personality chips were once again sold out - it's amazing how quickly those are selling through when you see an entire display wall filled with them and the next time you visit they have all disappeared.

I was told the droid backpacks finally came back in on Saturday, and were completely sold out by the next morning. So at least they have made a return, even if briefly.

 

[LandoGriffin]

I was at the parks on Saturday and did see the backpacks but nope, no personality chips. My youngest made himself a droid, very cool experience for him

 

[Your_Scoundrel]

I was at the parks on Saturday and did see the backpacks but nope, no personality chips. My youngest made himself a droid, very cool experience for him

At this point I have decided that if they have the backpacks, but none of the other items I want, I might as well build a BB-unit. Because I already gave up the movies, the Jedi, and the Sith. I don't want to give up on anything that can be tied to the Outer Rim just because they sold out on everything I was hoping to buy. :\

 

[nooker21]

8/24/19 update:

Backpacks finally were in today, though still hot sellers (finally got one for myself). I was told personality chips were also in, but they ended up selling out before I arrived in the afternoon. Clear blue R3 domes were available, but didn't see clear black R3 domes. Also, no all black BB body units were around.

I noticed an interesting thing about the prepackaged R2 units in the Droid Depot: they have more paint operations than the droids you get to build yourselves. The white bodies you pick out are missing silver on several panels, such as the sides and at the front bottom, yet R2-D2 even has the small blue bits painted over the silver bits to make him look much more screen accurate. Not a deal breaker, but it shows they can include these details if they wanted to.

While I was there a bunch of droid customizers returned to take pictures of their creations that they modified at home, so here is a group shot of their work. I was impressed with the talent, though I can't really say I'd picture a sparkly painted droid appearing on screen anytime soon...

 

[duncan27]

That is great to see. It is exactly what I would do once I get my hands on a droid. Disney offers a limited color palette, but with a little bit of paint and imagination the sky is the limit.

 

[K_M_Toydarian]

Went this weekend, after D23. Backpacks were back, but no personality chips.

I had picked up the Pre built R2 the first time I went, with the hopes of getting a couple extra domes later on. Reports were floating around they were selling extra parts, but that stopped pretty quick. One cast member cited they were running out of parts for the experience and had to stop selling extras.
A different cast member said in order to collect alternate parts to mix and match, you'd have to buy a whole new droid. On one hand I get it, with the 3.75" BAD you buy complete droids, then you can mix and match. I am just hoping, that since these are so expensive to begin with they do end up offering extra parts, at the very least alternate domes, for sale.
I did however get a Battuan Spira metal gift card! Used it for my purchases for that in world experience. lol

 

[Masterfett]

Went this weekend, after D23. Backpacks were back, but no personality chips.

I had picked up the Pre built R2 the first time I went, with the hopes of getting a couple extra domes later on. Reports were floating around they were selling extra parts, but that stopped pretty quick. One cast member cited they were running out of parts for the experience and had to stop selling extras.
A different cast member said in order to collect alternate parts to mix and match, you'd have to buy a whole new droid. On one hand I get it, with the 3.75" BAD you buy complete droids, then you can mix and match. I am just hoping, that since these are so expensive to begin with they do end up offering extra parts, at the very least alternate domes, for sale.
I did however get a Battuan Spira metal gift card! Used it for my purchases for that in world experience. lol

Seems to me it's a disaster. And not one they'll likely fix anytime soon. Perhaps since people have to pay $100 up front, there should be a mailing list for unattainable parts that could be shipped when they do become available. Some people do not live 2 blocks away...

Just another not thought out concept. As if if they expected not very many people to be interested in buying said souvenirs.

 

[nooker21]

From what I've heard, they will let you buy alternate parts only if you have just recently purchased a droid - 1 or 2 days later. I don't know if they keep changing the terms, but you have to show your receipt to show proof of the date. It does suck for people who want a specific color combination the day they get there, but some colors have definitely been more popular than others.

 

[LandoGriffin]

I wouldn't call it a disaster especially since its only three months old. Building a droid isn't as big a draw as building a lightsaber. When I was there a few weeks ago my son wanted to build a droid and there was no wait, we just talked up. Everything was in stock except personality chips.
With WDW Galaxys Edge opening this week, media and AP previews the last couple weeks, I am sure they allocated a good amount of stock over to WDW. They just lifted all the kyber crystal purchase restrictions within the past couple weeks so I would imagine spare droid parts will be offered at some point but because they view the droid and saber building as experiences its doubtful things like spare parts will be officially sold online, may have to resort to eBay for that.

 

[nooker21]

9/14/19 update:

Personality chips were in at Disneyland, but I didn't see any R3 domes. Backpacks still in stock as well. The park was crowded, but little to no line for the Droid building experience, so as long as the parts you want are in stock, you should have a good experience...

 

[Lobotscomb]

Was here at WDW today and built a reasonable r5d4. My wife built a custom R2. All personality chips were there.domes for all were limited. They had to replenish the r5 head i wanted. Thankful it was in.

 

[MightyMegs]

Droid Depot R2-D2 by Wes, on Flickr

 

[AaylaSecurasMan]

Yakface reposted in their Instagram page (from another account) new droid depot offerings at the parks I wish they would put them up at the ShopDisney site

http://instagr.am/p/CG-HjubHC10/

 

[Your_Scoundrel]

Yakface reposted in their Instagram page (from another account) new droid depot offerings at the parks I wish they would put them up at the ShopDisney site

http://instagr.am/p/CG-HjubHC10/

*hastily removes his glasses off before seeing what is shown to him, all while the Jurassic Park theme song begins to play in the background*

Those figures, that cardback... I thought I'd never see the day this would happen. But there it is! And they are magnificent.

 

[nooker21]

Droid Depot R2-D2 by Wes, on Flickr

How did I miss this from a few months back? Awesome paint job! Is this the pre-packaged R2-D2 with the extra paint apps? That weathering is so nice and subtle.