C-3PO With Escape Pod (Tatooine Escape) - SW [S - P3] - Ultra

When Princess Leia's consular vessel was attacked by an Imperial Star Destroyer, the fussy and worry-prone C-3PO was plunged into the center of a Rebel battle. The princess stored vital Rebel information in R2-D2's memory systems, unbeknownst to C-3PO. Then R2-D2 took it upon himself to complete Leia's failed mission, though C-3PO knew nothing of the details. Fleeing the crippled vessel in an escape pod, the two droids landed on the desert planet Tatooine, where they fell into the hands of the Jawas and were hunted by Imperial Stormtroopers.

For one reason or another, Hasbro decided to reinvent the Deluxe line by essentially changing its name. A rather simple update, the Ultra line really did its best to continue the tradition of bringing a basic Star Wars figure and packing it with a larger accessory. (Or in the case of the Ultra figure line, Hasbro gave us “really big” Star Wars characters as well.) By the time the Star Wars “Saga” line had reached its third phase, Ultra became the “new” Deluxe line and Hasbro was able to garner some new freedom and release unconventional products in this line that essentially broke the format of the Deluxe line. A basic figure didn’t have to be the focus of the set and larger environmental pieces and even bigger figures became the focal point of these sets. Jabba The Hutt (Jabba’s Palace) and Wampa With Hoth Cave (Hoth Attack) are two perfect examples of this. But even larger accessories were added to the mix and collectors became instantly impressed with what Hasbro was offering. A much requested toy was made thanks to the newfound freedom granted by the Ultra assortment format. C-3PO With Escape Pod (Tatooine Escape) not only gave collectors a very interesting take on C-3PO, it also provided them with the first ever modern Escape Pod, an item not seen in the basic figure line since Kenner’s 1979 Land Of The Jawas (Action Playset).

C-3PO With Escape Pod (Tatooine Escape) may strike you as an all-new figure at first, but Hasbro cleverly reinvented the figure from 2002’s Star Wars “Saga” C-3PO (With Droid Factory Assembly Line) Deluxe set by giving it an all-new torso (to fill in the hole for the Battle Droid backpack) and completely repainted the figure to make it look like an Original Trilogy version of the golden protocol droid. The paint operations are controversial at best. Star Wars collectors want to see all C-3PO action figures made with vac-metallization, but that approach wasn’t taken here. We honestly think C-3PO looks pretty good despite not receiving a glossy and glistening coating of metallic gold paint because Hasbro added a nice outer wash to it to recreate the harsh elements of the Tatooine desert. We think it works. At worst, consider this a one-off take on C-3PO and appreciate this release for the included escape pod instead. Because that is truly the shining star of the set. But we will get to that in detail in a moment. C-3PO breaks down into six separate pieces (just like the 2002 Star Wars “Saga” Deluxe figure) which is pretty cool since you can reuse C-3PO for diorama displays based on The Empire Strikes Back.

Now. That escape pod. It’s too small, but it’s beautiful. An all-new sculpt, Hasbro must have spent a large amount of their tooling hours and budget to develop an accessory that should meet the expectations of most collectors. The details are stunning and the paint job is even better. Hasbro even added some “articulation” to the escape pod including movable jets and a hinge-jointed lid to add some extra play value to this miniature vehicle. If they just could have made it bigger it would have been perfect because as it is now, C-3PO barely fits into the “cockpit” area. So the inclusion of R2-D2 just isn’t possible. The escape pod has been tooled so that it has a removable panel so you can easily add C-3PO to the storage area as needed. It is easily removable and replaceable and the the escape pod looks seamless when the panel gets removed and reinstalled. At $9.99, you’re getting a lot of stuff in this set and it’s more than worth the cost. A “new” figure plus an all-new large accessory is just a steal at less than $10, so if you pass on it because of cost we would have to rank you amongst fools. C-3PO With Escape Pod (Tatooine Escape) may not be completely perfect, but it contains nicely updated parts. Better may come, but if it doesn’t, this is a great toy set regardless.