BB-8/C-3PO/R0-4LO - TFA - 12-Inch Figures (Exclusive)

BB-8: BB-8 is the spherical loyal Astromech Droid of the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron.

C-3PO: A fastidious and worry prone protocol droid, C-3PO longs for more peaceful times, but his continued service to Princess Leia keeps him in the frontlines of galactic conflict.

R0-4LO: To keep their X-wing starfighters in top operational shape, the Resistance maintains a pool of upgraded astromech droids, including R0-4LO.

There’s something magical that happens between collector and collectible when Hasbro puts the slightest amount of forethought into a store exclusive. This is particularly true with the TARGET exclusive BB-8/C-3PO/R0-4LO three-pack. All three figures are in the 12-Inch Figure scale, so there is a risk that this may not go over well with many collectors. But dang it if we didn’t get goose pimples when we saw our local TARGET employee bring it out from the back with the age-old DPCI trick. Now, this isn’t an earth-shattering exclusive, and it certainly wouldn’t fit into the “golden era of collecting”. But as we saw this larger than average box make its way into our hands, our memories were jettisoned back to the days when so many of us were running across the globe trying to secure all of the store exclusive Kenner Action Collection 12” figures. It seemed it was an impossible task to collect them all. In this case there’s only one. But once you see this thing packaged in person (and you’ve been collecting since the beginning of time), we know you will get the same flashbacks in your mind to those much happier collecting times. BB-8, C-3PO and the obscure R0-4LO make up a unique, and frankly nice, TARGET exclusive that was about as unexpected as it was a pleasure to discover.

BB-8 was the star of The Force Awakens, and the droid is clearly the star of this three-pack (and perhaps the reason R2-D2 was altogether ignored). BB-8 has a swivel head, a ball-socket neck (which goes deep into the body of the figure) and two ball-jointed arms which are removable (as well as their panels) to give this simply made action figure some versatility. The figure is hollow and maintains balance thanks to a very subtle flattened bottom which balances the figure very nicely. The paint job is beautiful for a budget figure. The lines are clean and BB-8 has even been given dirt accumulations on its body to give it a lived-in appearance. Simply put, BB-8 looks great. C-3PO is also very nice, although we think he looks a little too cockeyed in his posture. He doesn’t stand up too straightly, but we think he has a great sculpt nonetheless. His finish isn’t vac-metallized of course, but we believe that you’ll be pretty happy with the deco Hasbro gave him. He of course comes with his unexplained red arm. Both of his shoulders are surprisingly ball-jointed which gives a very nice range of movement. He also comes with two swivel wrists. Sadly, his lower body doesn’t have too much movement and really inhibits what you can actually do with him.

We’re very fond of astromech droids, so we’re quite taken with R0-4LO. The best part is that Hasbro didn’t "go cheap" and ignore the foot wires! R0-4LO actually comes with them which does wonders for these astromech droids from an authenticity standpoint. This is a detail that must be included on all scales. It makes these characters look like they jumped right out of the film, regardless of how much articulation has been added to their sculpts. R0-4LO indeed doesn’t come with a wealth of articulation, but that's OK. This figure works well as is. The only points included are a swivel dome and two swivel legs. That’s it. And once again that’s all this droid really needs. Articulated feet would have been nice, but since R0-4LO doesn’t have a third leg, there isn’t really a need to articulate the feet. So we’re quite happy with how this astromech droid turned out. R0-4LO also comes with a simple but beautifully clean paint job. This obscure droid could barely be seen in The Force Awakens, but it’s there. Hardcore fans are probably going to be upset that R2-D2 wasn’t included instead. After all, R2-D2 did get the shaft in Episode VII. It’s about time he gets some love from Hasbro in the toy line. Overall, this set is more than worth $30. If Hasbro can keep this quality up, it would make up for the lack of collector products out there.... even if only a little bit.