C-3PO - POTF2 [FF/TKC] - New Millennium Minted Coin Collection

The Star Wars Mint is officially re-instituted with this limited edition series! New gold-colored coins feature character images from the classic silver-colored coin release – all with brand new reverse-side stampings specially designed for this exclusive commemorative offering.

You have to admit that Kenner surprised us all a little when it came to the figures in the New Millennium Minted Coin Collection. They could have easily just repacked the basic figures already released into this exclusive Toys R Us lineup. But they didn’t. Clearly the selling point of these sets were the included reproduction Kenner coins now in gold, and with a newly struck reverse side, so they could have easily gotten away with being a little lazy here, but all of the figures in these sets were wither repainted, retooled and/or kit-bashed to make something new for the collecting community. And as collectors, we all know how important this is to us. Take C-3PO as an example for instance. Kenner made a few modern interpretations of this character in the basic figure line (as well as related sub-lines like Cinema Scenes, etc.). Obviously, they had options to repack C-3PO as is for the New Millennium Minted Coin Collection. But they didn’t do that. They took the best from multiple worlds to make the best C-3PO possible, and with a little effort like this, they did. C-3PO is a kit-bashed figure that uses the head, torso and arms from 1998’s POTF2 [FF/TKC] C-3PO [New Pull-Apart Feature] with the legs from the C-3PO figure in 1997’s POTF2 [FF/TKC] Purchase Of The Droids Cinema Scenes set. They also gave the figure a brilliant all-new vac-metallized finish which gives the droid a shiny new finish, sort of how he looked at either the beginning or the end of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and made collectors everywhere quite happy.

As you know well, things starting changing dramatically for Star Wars collectors by the time 1998 rolled around. It was evident that Star Wars toy buying was all about the adult collector, and Kenner ensured that nearly every release that year somehow appealed to that market. They seemed to have realized that our peer group had funds to support the line financially and to make those sales they needed to produce merchandise that would tickle our fancy. One of the expected, albeit nonetheless surprising released of 1998 was the New Millennium Minted Coin Collection lineup which made collectors eager. This six figure set (in total) was exclusive to Toys R Us. They borrowed the strikes of the original 1984/1985 The Power Of The Force coins with all new reverse sides and a new gold color. Kenner did this to keep the vintage coins pure and separate from the modern line, and vintage collectors were thankful for this. A sort of hodgepodge of a collection, the group of figures chosen didn't make much sense as a whole, but all were new in one way or another with either revised paint jobs, retooling or even kit-bashing, these new additions to the Star Wars line were very exciting for the growing number of collectors buying modern Star Wars toys. Besides, we all wanted to see updates of characters that were never released singly until now. Here is our chance.

C-3PO doesn’t come with a whole lot of articulation, but it’s hard to criticize what a fine job Kenner did to cobble this action figure together. You wouldn’t even know he was made from two different C-3PO action figures. But that’s the magic of Kenner and how they can make “old” new again. He doesn’t come with any accessories. We would love to see Kenner give him a comlink one day, but that just isn’t in the plans right now. But other than that, we’re quite pleased with this release. As you know, the New Millennium Minted Coin Collection is all about the brief reintroduction of coins. C-3PO comes with a reproduction of the original 1984 Kenner coin, with a newly revised reverse side and a new color: gold. We have to say that we would have loved to see the original coin in its entirety, but that could possible play with the aftermarket value of the original coins. It’s good Kenner is keeping each generation of coins pure from each other. They developed a beautiful display stand which accommodates both figure and coin. It’s nice to have them posing next to each other in such a classy array of different collectibles. Retailing for $9.99, the New Millennium Minted Coin Collection have “value” written all over it. The newness of the included action figure coupled with a quasi vintage collectible spells “homerun” as far as we’re concerned. We have to see if this resonates with the rest of the collecting community.