Battledroids Original Back Cover Art - Production Transparency

In 1983, FASA launched what would become one of the most ubiquitous title in the mech-combat genre: Battletech. But this well-known name was not the start of Battletch’s story; initially the product was sold as Battledroids. This cause a stir with Lucasfilm who had just that May released the Star Wars Trilogy’s 3rd installment, Return of the Jedi. They claimed that the term droid was their intellectual property. Legal action was taken, and FASA chose to strip “droid” from the name, changing it to Battletech, as they were in the process of negotiating with Lucasfilm for the right to produce Star Wars games, an aspiration that never came to fruition. Only a handful of products were ever released under the Battledroids name and are much sought-after by Battletech collectors.

This item is a color transparency of the image shown on the back of the Battledroids box. It was used in the production process, though its exact role in that process is unclear. The image measures 8 ½” x 11”.