4-LOM - Real Action Heroes

Perhaps the oddest being that could ever become a bounty hunter is a protocol droid. Yet it happened in the case of 4-LOM. This droid answered the call sent out by Darth Vader to capture the Millennium Falcon after the Battle of Hoth.

It’s truly a shame that multiple factors affect Star Wars collecting. With Hasbro lately it’s been distribution and selection, but with high-end collectibles like the wonderful products made by Medicom Toy it’s all about the price. Who would have thought that a line that started out around $149.99 would exceed $200 in just a few short years? This completely eliminates a huge portion of the buying public who are saving their pennies to expend on 3.75” action figures that are double the price (or more) now than when the modern era of collecting started up. We’re a little bit all over the place here at the moment, but we hope we address the point to you that collecting isn’t nearly as enjoyable as it used to be. While licensees are making some spectacular products, the MSRPs are so far out of reach that very few are able or willing to pluck down the money and support lines they once loved. Such is true for Medicom Toy’s Real Action Heroes line. They have a long running good reputation of making some classic one-sixth scale action figures of the highest quality and commitment to perfection. Some collectors of this line criticized their approach of the clones (something we have to partially agree with), but other characters have just blown away most with their level of artistic integrity and incredible production pieces. This is a great way to begin reviewing the 4-LOM Real Action Heroes figure. It is simply breathtaking. But is it worth its $200+ price tag? That we’re not so sure about at the moment.

If you think about it for a little while, you’ll probably see why 4-LOM makes complete sense for the Real Action Heroes line. Many believed he was such an arbitrary addition to the line, but after Medicom Toy developed the stunning C-3PO body, they needed to find ways to amortize the expensive tooling to recoup some of those expenses. 4-LOM may not readily come to mind as there were plenty of protocol droids throughout the films that they could have easily repainted. (Editor’s Note: They did eventually get to TC-14 from The Phantom Menace about six months after the release of 4-LOM.) But Medicom Toy has always been committed to the collector and they felt that an all-new approach based on most of the C-3PO body would befit collectors’ interests the most. We feel they made a great decision here. Not only do we have what is in our opinion the most accurate 4-LOM body to date (all thanks to that fantastic C-3PO body) in one-sixth scale, we have a stunning work of art that has been brilliantly added to the well-respected Real Action Heroes name. We can’t express deeply enough how overwhelmed we are with how 4-LOM turned out. It is one of the most impressive pieces in their entire line. Sure, 4-LOM may not have the notoriety of Bossk or IG-88, but this protocol droid has never looked better in a collectible format. Hasbro’s action figures have always been too chunky and other licenses that have done excellent interpretations of this character usually lack the articulation that one-sixth collectors adore. Now we have it all in a gorgeous RAH figure.

Obviously new parts had to be tooled to make 4-LOM look screen accurate. The new parts here include a beautiful perfectly scaled portrait (complete with the finest details that will make you drool), a new torso (because of 4-LOM’s unique chest pattern and the bolt at his neck is different than C-3PO’s) and a new belly sculpt which matches the differing wires that show in the midsection (since they are also completely different than C-3PO’s). This isn’t just a simple repaint. Medicom Toy ensured that ever painstaking detail was captured and accurately reflected in this 4-LOM sculpt. We’re very impressed with how things turned out. Equally as good as the sculpt are the paint operations. 4-LOM has an absolutely stunning paint job. The dark charcoal armor is perfectly accented with evenly applied rust detail around every last crevice of each plating. Even the green “bug eyes” have been faithfully recreated to look spectacular. 4-LOM also comes with an authentically recreated scaled W-90 concussion rifle. It is exquisite as well. It actually breaks down into two parts, but you’ll likely display it with 4-LOM as one piece. Because of the way 4-LOM’s hands are sculpted, the gun can’t be held in either of them, but there is enough of a curve in the hands to allow the rifle to be cradled in them if you choose a pose like this. In other words, you can make 4-LOM appear pretty threatening and intimidating with or without his rifle. We are thoroughly impressed with 4-LOM. He may be expensive, but we have no regrets.