C-3PO - EI - Basic

Beginning life as a home built protocol droid, C-3PO was an unfinished bundle of wires and metal before becoming the shiny, golden droid we all know.

Although an easy target, Jar Jar Binks wasn’t the biggest surprise in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. C-3PO was. Affectionately dubbed C-‘through’PO, the “in utero” version of our most favorite protocol droid was for many a difficult thing to process. Did Darth Vader really build C-3PO? Were the droids really not together the entire Star Wars timeline as we were once told? Does C-3PO REALLY look like that underneath his metal plating? All of these realizations came to a head in Episode I, and if it wasn’t for Anthony Daniels' unmistakable vocal portrayal of the character, many of us might have difficulty believing it was C-3PO after all. Part of the original Collection 2 assortment of action figures, Hasbro has made claims that this was the most expensive action figure of all time to produce because of the main paint operations, which colors his wiring, and the intricacy of the metal frame and alternating colors made this a nightmare to decorate properly. But they did so successfully, and we commend them on a job well done. C-3PO comes simply articulated and has a terrible center of gravity, but the deco on the figure is brilliant, and we feel that warrants a purchase of this figure alone.

C-3PO comes with six points of articulation which is standard for most figures in the Episode I line. No additional points like wrists or biceps have been added because Hasbro wanted the simplest action figure design to focus on the complicated paint details. As mentioned briefly, C-3PO has a horrific center of gravity. He will fall backward more often than not. It requires leaning him forward to prevent this from happening. If you look carefully at his feet, you’ll see why he is so prone to falling. His feet aren’t at a strong right angle to his ankles/legs which forces him to lean in a backward motion. This is a juvenile mistake for Hasbro, and we really wish they would have paid better attention here. With a little patience and carefully balancing, however, C-3PO will maintain a pose, but it is going to be some “action” pose; otherwise, you’ll likely have no luck standing him up either. He comes with no accessories, which we suppose is fine. But knowing he was unfinished by Anakin Skywalker, it seems that maybe Hasbro could have included a tool or two like they did for the 12” electronic figure to give this figure a little bit of a better play value.

As we’ve also mentioned, it’s worth repeating that C-3PO has a beautiful paint job. The various colored wires are neatly painted, and this is an action figure that stands out from the rest because of the fantastic job that was accomplished decorating it. Essentially a puppet in the film, it’s amazing how realistically they brought this puppet to life in the film…. and Hasbro successfully brought it to life in the action figure line. C-3PO was extremely easy to find due to the high volume production of Episode I figures, and some even claim that Collection 2 figures were made in overabundance. But no matter what the truth about that was, C-3PO was one of the last Episode I figures to disappear from store pegs completely. Hasbro could have certainly made this action figure more appealing by adding something that could interact with it, but we’re more impressed with how this figure shines visually. It’s a remarkable achievement. Lastly, C-3PO came with a CommTech chip which repeats his most popular and fan favorite lines from the film, including the humorous dialogue he had with R2-D2. If you’re interested in C-3PO, you’ll probably be able to find him very cheaply, so don’t overpay.