See-Threepio (C-3PO) - TBS [SW40] - Six Inch Figures

It was one of Hasbro’s biggest missteps in The Black Series 6” line to date: make the Original Trilogy release of C-3PO a retailer exclusive. The Walgreens exclusive C-3PO wasn’t impossible to find, but it certainly didn’t receive the mainstream availability it deserved. Thankfully, after just a little wait, Hasbro decided to make this former Walgreens exclusive a general marketplace item and added See-Threepio (C-3PO) to The Black Series [Star Wars 40] lineup on a mock vintage Kenner card back (instead of a box). If you missed out of the Walgreens exclusive edition, here is your chance to grab this figure again, and hopefully you won’t experience any trouble doing so. Everyone is going mad after these 40th anniversary figures, and we imagine that the popularity of See-Threepio (C-3PO) will make this a worthy item to pick up once again. This release of See-Threepio (C-3PO) is a straight repack of 2016’s TBS [P3] C-3PO Walgreens exclusive figure. There is literally nothing differen that we kind find between the two releases. This should make almost all collectors very, very happy. While this may help some save money, we’re still disappointed to see that See-Threepio (C-3PO) still comes without any accessories. His articulation system is still passable, but we feel it could be better. We’re not claiming See-Threepio (C-3PO) hasn’t been done correctly, we just like seeing as much articulation as possible worked into these figures. Their MSRPs warrant it.

See-Threepio (C-3PO) has a nice paint job, but many collectors won’t be able to get past the fact that Hasbro didn’t utilize vac-metallization to decorate him. However, the gold paint matches and does a great job of mimicking real metal plating as it picks up light and shines when needed. Of course it’s not ideal, but as we’ve said before this method is the next best thing. This version of See-Threepio (C-3PO) has also been given differently painted belly wires, but this is because the actual abdomen is a new sculpt. The paint operations have been very neatly applied, although you may want to play close attention to his photoreceptors. We can’t help but feel that this sculpt of See-Threepio (C-3PO) feels off in some way, but since we have difficulty pinpointing it, perhaps it’s more in our heads and not something that truly exists. We do think his arms are a tad too long, but the angle that they’ve been placed makes it hard to know for sure if this is actually the case, or just an illusion. And something in his face plating seems slightly off in some respect. But if you ask us specifically what is wrong, we’re not able to articulate that. As we’ve stated, See-Threepio (C-3PO) doesn’t come with any accessories which is very disappointing. What about his comlink? What about a restraining bolt? Nope, nothing extra is included here. He has no accessories. It’s disappointing.

At first glance it appears the figure has articulation that the onscreen character doesn’t have and the figure doesn’t have articulation that the onscreen character does. Maybe this ultimately just balances out in the end, but once again we’re not sure if we fully agree with the approach Hasbro has taken here. See-Threepio (C-3PO) still does however come with generous movement. In our opinion he definitely looks too stiff in the arms (thanks to no elbow articulation), but at the same time he doesn’t look bad. As you can see every time we attempt to criticize the figure, we’re unable to defend the criticisms. This figure just sort of works, but we think it could have been done better. The rest of See-Threepio (C-3PO) comes with the articulation you’d expect for this line. Hasbro has done a wonderful job in working them into the figure. Collectors of this line should be satisfied with what Hasbro has provided here. He looks great next to R2-D2, despite the latter being too small in scale. And in all honesty he looks like the onscreen character. But as far as all those cool features that 2010’s TVC See-Threepio (C-3PO) (VC06) figure gave us, well, we just don’t anything like that here at all. This is why we have taken such issue with the 6” line. It should bring the coolest things possible to these large action figures. Where are the removable limbs? Where are the removable panels? They’re just not here. And maybe that’s all OK for you. We just expect to see more.