Episode 1: Pit Droid Standie Replication

[ValkyrieArts]

I was seven years old when Episode 1, "The Phantom Menace" was being released. My mother worked at a local book and video store and for the release of the movie and books several cardboard standouts of droids featured in the movie where released to help promote the release.

Dorling Kindersley Publishing has not only survived the turbulent '90's,
it has thrived. Thanks to innovative marketing strategies, a stand-out brand
identity and a well-earned reputation as a category leader, DK Publishing is
poised to enter the new millennium in a position to gain even more shelf space
and increased market share.
Some of DK's recent attention grabbing marketing efforts have included:
Star Wars: "Please Don't Steal the Droids"
Instead of relying on traditional flat displays, DK shipped 25,000 three-
dimensional cardboard replicas of the movie's robot "droids" to book and toy
stores around the world with its New York Times best-selling titles -- Star
Wars Episode I: The Visual Dictionary, Incredible Cross Sections and Ultimate
Sticker books.
The four life-size posable droids literally stood out from the usual flat
cardboard displays in bookshops and reinforced Dorling Kindersley's reputation
as a leader in book marketing. In fact, the Battle Droid stood nine feet tall
when assembled on top of its base.
The droids -- Battle Droid, Pit Droid, R2D2 and Droideca -- were so
popular that they began to "walk" out of bookstores, giving rise to a "Please
Don't Steal the Droids" marketing campaign, which included full-page color
advertising in USA Today and window and counter cards. New consumer ads will
run through the holiday season.
To appeal to the ultimate Star Wars fan, each droid is available to
purchase, for a limited time with the purchase of any DK Star Wars book.
The million-plus sales for DK's Star Wars Episode I: Incredible Cross-
Sections and The Visual Dictionary are just one step in the publisher's bid to
become a global player.

After one of the pit droids was done with it's tour of duty in the store it was brought home by my mother and given to me. As a seven year old who was obsessed with Star Wars from an early age having my own droid was gold. When me family moved when I was nine it was packed up aand vanished into our new garage until a couple of days ago when I stumbled across it. It's showing some of the wear and tear of being
eighteen years old and the "eye cylinder" cut out is missing so I'll have to look into that.

I'm hoping to be able to break it down and make templates of it so I can make myself a new one and perhaps even make a run of them for
people who are interested. If anyone out there has one of these droides and can help me with dimensions for the part I'm missing that would be great. I'll be sure to post pictures as I make progress.

 

[Sym-Cha]

Do you have any pictures to accompany your thread? It sounds incredible

Chaim

 

[Wardog2a]

I really want to see one of these Droids. Were they to scale? and just how "posable" were they? rotating joints? Who did the set include? I'm assuming R2, Naked 3PO, the Pit Droid you mentioned... but who else?

I am curious, very very curious.

 

[ValkyrieArts]

I will have pictures up as soon as I finish getting it cleaned up. 15+ years in a poorly sealed box has left them needing some love.

Scale on everything I've found says that they where 1:1. It's been a long time sine this pit droids been put together but at 7 when I got it it was about as big as me (roughly 4 feet or there abouts.) I'll be happy to measure overall size once I get him put back together.
They where also fairly posable, they had plastic inserts for the knees and elbows i believe, and the shoulders and neck joints where made by folds in the cardboard to achieve a sort of peg in ring joint that allowed them to be lifted or turned depending on the axis. I'm still trying to find pictures or something of the one piece that is missing. (a cylindrical piece that was used to connect the "eye" to the rest of the head.) there are just not a lot of pictures of these things that I've been able to find.

As far as the Droids they had available, "The droids -- Battle Droid, Pit Droid, R2D2 and Droideca" Until recently when I did some research I had no idea there where any other than the pit droid.