Sculpt--4/5
Hasbro has finally given us an astromech droid besides an R2 unit. Sure, we've had R5-D4, but that thing is an abomination with its missile-launching action and the guns added to its legs. Well, thankfully Hasbro did R4-M9 right and has continued the astromech excellence started by Commtech R2-D2 (w/holographic Leia). Sculpt-wise, R4-M9's body is exactly the same as R2-Q5's, legs and all. Besides the head, there is one difference: the third leg. R4-M9's foot on its third leg has molded wheels on the bottom of it, unlike R2-Q5 who had a flat-footed third leg. However, this is actually nothing new since R2-Q5 is the only astromech droid (of the new-type astromechs) that doesn't have the molded wheels.

So let's talk about the only thing that actually is new on this figure: the head. Well, it's nicely molded and has good detail. Besides its main "eye", R4-M9 has two other "eyes" and these are sculpted very well. The main "eye" has the almost requisite "light-pipe", where if you put R4-M9 under a light, his eye-port will light up in a green color. (R2-Q5 seems to be the "black sheep" of the astromech droids, as he is the only astromech without such a feature.)

Articulation--5/5
R4-M9 has seven points of articulation: head, "hips", three ankle joints, and the retractable third leg. It doesn't get much better than this, and this is how I differentiate what I call "newtype astromechs" from the older R2 figures who had no "ankle" articulation. However, I do wish that the third leg could be pushed up into the body a bit further as it sticks out quite a bit and for me, detracts from R4-M9's appearance.

Accessories--2/5
The weakest part of this figure is its accessories. You get one mouse droid with R4-M9, and I really think Hasbro could've done better. First of all, it's just a rehash of the mouse droid that came with the Death Star Droid in the POTF2 line. Second, this thing seems too big! I don't recall them being this big in A New Hope. Oh well...you might like it if you never got your hands on the Death Star Droid...and I guess it's better than nothing!

Paint--3/5
The paint is not horrendous, but it definitely could have been better. The green lines, which make R4-M9 unique, have fuzzy edges in certain parts, and the green on the legs is splotchy and doesn't cover everything it should. This is disappointing because my red R2 astromech (the one that came with the Ep I Royal Starship) has a better overall paint job.

Overall--4/5
Woohoo! Finally something other than an R2 droid! That alone is reason enough to buy this figure. What a great month for droid fans; not only do we get an R4 unit, but with the Episode II preview figs, we'll get an R3 unit as well! The paint could have been better, but it isn't bad enough to warrant NOT buying this figure.