Meet Artoo-Potatoo!

From a vegetable garden far, far away...

What has three legs, a red nose, and contains your daily recommended allowance of Vitamin B? Why, it’s a miniature Mr. Potato Head version of R2-D2!

I honestly don’t think anything would surprise Star Wars collectors by now. From a candy version of Jar Jar Binks’ tongue that kids could lick to a Walrus Man action figure with a removable arm, Star Wars collectors have seen a lot of odd things over the years. While a crossover between Star Wars and Playskool’s Mr. Potato Head wouldn’t be the strangest thing to appear on toy shelves, you have to admit it certainly qualifies as unusual.

Playskool released two lines of Star Wars Mr. Potato Head figures. The larger, 15″ toys were the same scale as traditional Mr. Potato Heads. Some, like Han Spud-lo, Luke Frywalker, and Darth Mash Maul were available separately while Darth Tater, Spud Trooper, and Atroo-Potatoo were bundled together and sold inside an even larger translucent version of Darth Tater. (I wish I were making those names up.) These full-size potatoes had all the pieces fans came to expect from Mr. Potato Head toys including multiple arms, feet, eyes, weapons, and other accessories.

This smaller version of R2-D2 is from the Playskool Friends line, which was marketed to children ages two and up. (And by “children” I mean “grown men like me who can’t stop buying Star Wars toys”.) This child-friendly version of Artoo-Potatoo includes only four pieces: R2’s helmet, his lower body with two legs attached, R2’s middle leg, and a miniature version of Mr. Potato Head. On the Mini Potato Heads the eyes, nose, ears and mouth are molded on and can’t be removed. With all of R2’s pieces removed, the remaining potato bears a striking resemblance to a Chicken McNugget.

Those who enjoyed configuring Mr. Potato Head toys in unorthodox ways (like sticking arms in ear holes and noses where eyeballs should be) will be disappointed in the versatility Mini Artoo-Potato offers. R2’s legs are designed to attach one way only, and because of his molded ears his helmet doesn’t fit well when turned backwards. While the toy doesn’t offer a lot of configuration options, the rubbery plastic is surprisingly satisfying to chew on.

Mini Artoo-Potatoo is a little too big to use with traditional 3 3/4″ action figures, but is the perfect size for sitting on a desk, waiting to accept any stolen Death Star plans one might run across. While carded versions of these toys sell for $10-$20 on eBay, I found this one at a garage sale and paid a quarter for him — just slightly less than the value of an actual potato.