The 1999 Target R2-D2

The Display Is the Holy Grail

The statue turns up on eBay regularly. The display has almost never been seen.

In the summer of 1999, Target stores ran two separate Guess-and-Win contests in partnership with Pepsi and Frito-Lay, tied to the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Both contests gave away brick-built LEGO master builder statues — a Yoda and an R2-D2. The Yoda has been discussed, photographed, and occasionally sold with its original display over the years. The R2-D2 statue turns up on eBay with reasonable regularity. But the R2-D2 display — a large blue retail merchandising unit that housed the statue during the contest — has almost never been documented. There is exactly one known video showing it, shot in 2007, and the quality is poor.

This article is as much a call for information as it is a reference. If you have the display, we want to hear from you.

The Contest

Like its Yoda counterpart, the R2-D2 promotion asked contestants to guess the number of LEGO bricks used to build a master builder statue on display at participating Target stores. Entry forms were available at the display, and one winner per store received the statue as their prize. The contest appears to have run in the summer of 1999, concurrent with or shortly after the Yoda promotion, though the exact dates have not been confirmed from primary sources.

The structure mirrors the Yoda contest closely — one statue per store, one winner per store, built and glued by LEGO master builders. Based on the number of Target stores in the US in 1999 — approximately 900 to 1,000 — the total production run was likely similar to the Yoda’s approximately 859 units.

The piece count has never been officially confirmed. Forum references suggest a figure somewhere above 1,000 bricks, with at least one source citing 1,048 specifically — but this has not been verified from a primary source. Unlike the Yoda, no contest ad has been located that would allow the prize pool math to reveal the correct answer.

The Display

The display is a blue cardboard modular construction — a significant visual departure from the Yoda’s light blue-gray and black construction, and substantially larger. On the left and right sides are bins that appear to have held small Star Wars LEGO sets for sale, consistent with the 1999 Episode I retail environment. On the sides of each bin are small plastic receptacles — almost certainly where blank entry forms were dispensed for contestants to take and fill out. The completed forms were deposited through a large round hole at the top of the central display unit, which raises questions about whether entries could be too easily removed — but it does appear to be the submission slot.

The center of the display carries the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace branding — confirmed by the text “STAR WARS I The Phantom Menace” above the statue, with a large Roman numeral I behind the Star Wars logo. Character artwork on the cardboard above the R2-D2 depicts Anakin Skywalker in his pod racer helmet and goggles, Padmé Amidala, Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Jar Jar Binks — the core Episode I cast.

The R2-D2 statue sits in the center enclosed in a clear plastic cube with a cardboard top. The left and right panels each carry identical contest text with a red “Enter Here” box and an arrow pointing toward the entry form receptacle:

GUESS AND WIN! Correctly guess the number of bricks and enter for a chance to win this LEGO R2-D2! No purchase necessary. See entry form on side of display for complete rules.

Below the contest text are small Lays, Pepsi, LEGO, and Target logos. The back of the display has not been documented in any known photograph or video.

The only known video showing the display was posted to YouTube in 2007 by a contest winner selling his complete example on eBay. The seller noted that his was rare because it still had the original display, and that to his knowledge most Targets dismantled the display cases and only gave the R2-D2 statue to winners. Given the size and complexity of this display — with product bins, entry receptacles, and a central statue enclosure — that is easy to understand. The R2-D2 display was a large retail merchandising unit, bulky and less aesthetically appealing than the more compact Yoda display. Most winners who received it probably discarded it fairly quickly.

A complete R2-D2 example with the original display is, to our knowledge, one of the rarest configurations of any 1999 LEGO Star Wars promotional item. If you have one — or know someone who does — please get in touch.

The Statue

The R2-D2 statue measures approximately 11 inches high, 9 inches wide, and 7 inches deep. It was built and permanently glued by LEGO master builders, with one notable exception: the left and right legs attach via Technic pins and can rotate and detach. This is a practical engineering decision rather than a design feature — the body of the R2-D2 sits at a tilt, and the leg attachment needed to accommodate that geometry.

The statue is constructed primarily from white LEGO bricks, with dark gray used mainly on the dome — the pre-2004 dark gray, before LEGO standardized their color palette and introduced dark bluish gray in 2004. The white bricks offer no authentication value since white has always been white. The dark gray dome detail is period-consistent with a 1999 build, but original dark gray parts remain available on the secondary market through sites like BrickLink, so color alone is not a reliable authentication indicator either way.

The 1×2 dark gray LEGO logo brick (BrickLink part 3004px8) that appears in the Yoda and several other master builder pieces of this era is not visible on the exterior of the examples in this collection. It may be present inside the build where it cannot be seen without disassembly, or it may simply not have been included in the R2-D2.

A Note on Authenticity

The R2-D2 statue appears on eBay with reasonable regularity, which means authentic examples are genuinely accessible. It also means the collector community has a reasonable basis for comparison when evaluating condition and construction.

That said, the statue alone cannot be conclusively authenticated without a display case. The dimensions, construction details, and parts are all replicable by anyone with sufficient motivation and access to period parts. The only true provenance anchor is the display — and without it, the best a buyer can do is evaluate condition, construction quality, and the credibility of the seller’s provenance story.

This author owns two examples, neither with a display. One came from a seller in Australia — which raises its own question addressed below. Both appear consistent with authentic examples based on dimensions and construction. One was dropped during examination and two pieces broke cleanly, which is characteristic of aged ABS plastic from this era. But neither can be definitively confirmed without a display.

If you are buying one without a display, buy from a seller who can tell you something about how they acquired it — ideally tracing back to a contest winner or Target store.

The Australia Question

One of the two examples in this collection came from a seller in Australia. This raises a question that applies to both the R2-D2 and potentially the Yoda: was this promotion US-only, or did it run in other countries?

Target operated stores in Australia in 1999 under completely separate ownership from the US chain — the Australian Target was owned by Wesfarmers and had no corporate relationship with the American retailer. Pepsi and Frito-Lay had Australian operations. It is conceivable that a version of this promotion ran in Australian Target stores independently. Alternatively, the example may have been imported to Australia by a collector or reseller at some point after the US contest ended.

This is an open question. If anyone has knowledge of a similar promotion running at Target stores in Australia or other countries in 1999, we want to know.

What We Don’t Know

• The exact piece count — forum references suggest approximately 1,048 but this is unverified. Does anyone have a winner’s notification, contest ad, or other primary source that states the correct answer?
• The contest dates — the exact run dates have not been confirmed. Did it run simultaneously with the Yoda contest or at a different time?
• The entry mechanism — were entries deposited in a slot on the display or mailed in?
• The back of the display — the only known video does not show it. What was printed there?
• The Australia question — did this promotion run outside the United States?
• The LEGO logo brick — is the 1×2 dark gray LEGO logo brick (3004px8) present inside the build?
• The display — if you have one, please get in touch. Detailed photographs would be an enormous contribution to the documented history of this item.

1999 Target / Pepsi / Frito-Lay R2-D2 Guess-and-Win Contest Prize
Produced: 1999
Distribution: Target stores, contest prize
Quantity: ~850–1,000 (unconfirmed)
BrickLink: r2d2