Besides Lucasfilm registering "Battledroid" as a trademark, the STAP with Battledroid toy was one of the first prequel items widely available for sale. "Behind the Magic" showed us this shot of Kenner's battledroid figure and a battle droid on the set. Prequel Watch posted the painting of the battle droid and Stap vehicle from the back of the toy packaging. The STAP has the following text on the packaging:

"The STAP is a small, one-pilot repulsorlift vehicle outfitted with two laser cannons. It is extremely maneuverable, making it perfect for patrol, reconnaissance, and battle. STAPs are operated by battle droids who function as the infantry of the Trade Federation."

The Battle Droid action figure has the following text on it's card:

"The greedy Trade Federation has created an army that requires no food, no drink, no sleep. Millions of these high tech battle droids amass into a virtually unstoppable armed force."

Kevin B sent us the following report on 8/12/98 on the British Star Wars Magazine:

"The latest issue of the UK Star Wars Fanclub arrived today. Complete trash apart from a drawing of the Battle Droid. Texts is superimposed over it but I will try and get it scanned tomorrow but the interesting thing is the description written in pencil next to it..

D Chiang
Baron Battle Droid
Heavier Version
4.25.95

Not much but first I've seen mentioned of 'Baron'"

Here's the sketch he referred to:Battledroid Sketch

A Battledroid named OOM-9 is believed to give the army orders.

2/14/98

This is a slight spoiler, so highlight the invisible text to read:

Remember the British tabloid report about Ewan fighting with skeletal droids? Well, one of our own sources has backed that up. He/she says that both Liam and Ewan (Jinn and Kenobi) will be fighting it out with the evil attack droids with the help of their trusty ol' lightsabres as they attempt to rescue the Queen!

7/26/98 - Matt Campbell noticed the following in the issue:

"In the article on Doug Chiang, there is a picture of him sitting at his desk at Skywalker Ranch. On his desk, is a drawing of a thin droid with a long mouse like face. I think it is a drawing of the Federation battle droids. I don't have a scanner, so be sure to take a look at this picture when you receive your copy."

Taking a quick look at it, we'd say it either is a battle droid or is one very similar. Can't confirm or deny it at this point.

Cocoa Puff sent in the following scans of the Doug Chiang photos from the latest Insider.

As you can see, this droid is slightly different from the ones pictures above. Reports of Battle Droid variations have been around, supported by other spies as seen below.

Unnamed Source - 7/28/98 - One of our old, reliable prequel sources chimed in about the sketch on Doug Chiang's desk from the Insider:

Just a quick note to confirm that the enlarged picture on Doug Chiang's worktop is of a Battle Droid.

Cool stuff!

Bothan Spy - As for the Battle Droid sketch that was posted from the British Star Wars mag above, it's very similar to the final version. The only difference is that the extensions on the back of the head are longer and expect to see two round eyes with a slit in the middle (horizontally) instead of the visor effect you see in the sketch.

George Smaragdis sent us the following:

"Hi! This is the first time I'm writing to your page, so here's the deal. I just made a 3D model of the Battle Droid and shot it from the front, side and perspective. The feet are not in the picture, so I made them up. Here they are and hope you like them!"

Click on the following links to view them: Side View, Angled View, Front View.

George Smaragdis also sent some updated versions of his Battle Droid pic Battle Droid 1
Battle Droid 2
Battle Droid 3
Mos Espa Denizen

Martin Demczyk sent us his rendition of the Battle droid. You can view it here!

Professional artist Matthew Hatton sent us a cool custom picture he made in the land down under. While not exact, it's still very impressive! Click here to view it!

BATTLE DROID INSPIRATION? - OK, this is kind of cool. Check it out. You know what a battle droid looks like from this picture from BTM, right? Well Dave Coates, our resident art lover, was surfing by a site and found a statue called The Rock Drill, by Jacob Epstein created around 1913-1914. You can view the image here. Looks a little familiar, eh? Who knows if it inspired Chiang and Lucas, but it is very similar, ain't it?