It was a nice scorching hot day here in Florida and the forecast was calling for rain. This sounded like the perfect time to head to Disney, so that's exactly what I did!

Star Wars fans have something brand new and ultra cool to check out during their next trip to Hollywood Studios. The Build Your Own Droid Factory inside Tatooine Traders is now open and ready for children and adults alike to create their own astromech droids from a variety of parts. You can build a single droid for $11.95 or two for $18.95. A full droid consists of 1 body, 1 right leg, 1 left leg, 1 middle leg, 1 dome & 1 hat. There are a total of 71 different pieces in the factory, but some of these had already sold out after having been available for the last few days. I was told that more were on the way. Additionally, coming in August, collectors will also be able to find other pieces such as the Indiana Jones fedora, a pirate hat and the classic Yoda hat with the ears. Since one of these full sets (everything available at that time) was for our very own D. Martin Myatt, you can look forward to a full gallery of all the droids I put together from him very soon.





As you can see from the photos, their are actual life size droid parts that adorn the top of the factory which just ads a touch of class to the whole thing. There are eighteen bins on either side of the counter or six rows of three, one section for each of the different parts which you must sift through to find the correct color you want for your new and not yet built friend. An employee helps you along to find the pieces you want for your droid and then places it on either a single or double card inside a protective holder. Lastly, you are given a sticker sheet with many letters and numbers that you can use to name your droid. What a fantastic idea this was! The only thing I would say that could make it easier, especially for completest collectors...Disney should really offer a complete 71 piece set in one bundle as there are many, many people out there that would buy it to avoid having to stand at that counter for an hour or more trying to piece together each and every variation. Who knows, maybe they'll consider that for the future.



I must thank Stephanie, Amy & Aisha for their assistance as I spent quite some time building two full sets.




There were a few other new items worth mentioning in the Tatooine Traders shop. A Darth Duck snow hat, R2-D2 Mickey Ears and some neat little Join the Duck Side pins. Hopefully this will help you get your shopping list in order for Star Wars Weekends starting this weekend!