C-3PO - TCW [B] - Basic (No. 16)

The nervous protocol droid never likes being anywhere near trouble, but he once again finds himself in the middle of an alarming situation when he discovers that Padmé Amidala is in danger – and it's up to him to rally reinforcements to rescue her.

The Clone Wars takes a great deal of responsibility for making some of the most popular Star Wars characters look so much differently from their appearance in the films. C-3PO is one of these examples. While he is certainly recognizable as the droid we have come to love in the original Star Wars episodes, he has indeed taken on a newer personality in The Clone Wars television show. Probably the most popular protocol droid of all time, fans can always rely on his sarcastic quips and very entertaining cries of concern. C-3PO has translated fairly well from computer generated image to a three dimensional action figure, but he does have some issues. For example, the “pupils” on his photoreceptors are much too big giving him a very Droids (the television show) like or human appearance. This illusion has very much to do with the way Hasbro painted the pupils on C-3PO. The pupils are much too thick and it makes his action figure appearance look significantly different from the character we see in The Clone Wars. Not entirely distracting, it is just a small issue for an overall great action figure. As an action figure, he doesn’t really disappoint. If you can let the “face” issue go for a moment, you will appreciate that C-3PO has an astounding 25 total points of articulation (this includes 16 areas of articulation).

No small feat for an action figure, Hasbro endowed C-3PO beyond what most collectors consider super-articulation with the addition of two extra swivel shoulder joints. Collectors love getting enhancements beyond the normal allotment. So, from the shoulder to the elbow, C-3PO has three joints in between them on each arm. A very clever added on bonus, it is our sincerest hope that the realistic version of C-3PO will get the same articulated treatment. It allows 3PO to be posed in multiple (to nearly infinite) positions and for an animated figure, we think this is just great. The toys are designed for kids, so kids will be able to get the most out of him possible. The parts of C-3PO’s body are in scale with the others and he is also in scale height wise to your other The Clone Wars action figures. C-3PO is not vac-metalized (thank goodness – sorry if you are a fan of this) and his golden color looks fantastic and actually quite faithful to what we see in the television series. He is lean and his legs look a little too thin (for what our memories recall) but we wouldn’t call it a mistake. We understand that many of the characters in this line have a very streamlined and exaggerated look when it comes to their body frames. C-3PO doesn’t stray from this concept either, but we do admit that we like his proportions in the films much better. But as an animated figure, C-3PO thoroughly delivers and he is a pretty cool droid that looks great with the rest of the cast of you’re The Clone Wars collection.

C-3PO doesn't come with any accessories, but he does have a feature that has been resurrected from the POTF2 days. When a light is shone through the back of his head, his eyes light up very brightly. We admit that is looks cool and the “light-up eye port” functions better than it ever has and while the hair on our backs stand on end when we think of another “cheesy” action figure, the accessory-less C-3PO needs something and this little feature does the job. Overall, C-3PO is a finely executed action figure. We think his counterpart, R2-D2 transitioned a little bit better into the animated line than he did, but he is nonetheless worthy of your purchase. We have already received and expect quite a few more reuses of C-3PO’s body frame to make a lot more action figures. It was first reworked and repainted for the TC-70 protocol droid in 2009’s TCW [B] Jabba’s Palace Battle Packs set. (Editor's Note: It was then retooled for the 2009's TCW [R] 4A-7 (CW13) basic action figure.) Since the standard protocol droids don’t changed shape too often, it makes sense that new droids will utilize the same sculpt. Sometimes reuses of great sculpts are just a bare necessity of the action figure line. C-3P0 was released in the blue phase of The Clone Wars line and he will undoubtedly see another reissue somewhere down the pike. As a character with unprecedented popularity, we expect to see him in the basic line for a long while.