C-3PO (With Battle Droid Head) - TSC - Basic (SAGA 017)

Oh Hasbro. C-3PO, based on his appearance in Episode II, never seems to get the treatment he deserves in the basic figure line. To be fair, the C-3PO With Battle Droid Head figure is one of the better attempts by Hasbro, but between a slightly awkward cocked stance and erroneous plug in Battle Droid backpack, we’re not so sure if this figure makes the cut. This figure doesn’t have that much wiggle room to be perfected either. Hasbro decided to use the figure from 2002’s SW C-3PO With Droid Factory Line Deluxe figure. The C-3PO in this set originally had small magnets installed to keep the head attached to the body. For The Saga Collection version, the magnets have been removed. Besides being retooled, C-3PO has also been repainted. Our opinion is that the changes to the deco are very significant and while your opinion may vary, we think it does a lot to help the figure because it still lacks in so many areas.

One of the neat things about C-3PO With Battle Droid Head is that Hasbro was also clever with the packaging of this figure. Half were shipped with the C-3PO head attached and the other half were shipped with the Battle Droid head attached. What’s more, if this figure was packaged with the C-3PO head, one of six random “good guy” holograms were included. And if the figure was assembled with the Battle Droid head, one of six random “bad guy” holograms were included. This clearly took a lot of energy in planning and execution of this packaging gimmick, but we think it worked quite well. (Editor’s Note: This is why all the devastating issues with the Legacy Collection made longtime collectors’ heads explode. If they could manage 12 unique permeations of this carded version, why can’t they just switch out a figure with a new one in the same packaging?) This was a nightmare for carded collectors who collect “one of everything”. But you have to give Hasbro credit for keeping this figure interesting at the retail level.

We could be off here, but we don’t remember the Battle Droid head version of C-3PO wearing a backpack in the film. In fact, we're nearly confident. We of course could be wrong, but we have yet to locate this. We find it interesting that we haven’t heard more discussion about the error of this figure. Anyhow, the bad news is if you decide to pose this figure in your collection sans backpack, you’ll be left with a huge gaping hole on the figure’s back. It’s nice to get a basic carded version of an Episode II C-3PO, but Hasbro will need to bring us better before we can consider it definitive. (Editor’s Note: Hasbro gave us an incredible Episode II C-3PO With Battle Droid Head in TARGET’s exclusive 2010 Geonosis Arena Showdown (6 of 6) set. This version of C-3PO is awesome!) We applaud Hasbro for the gimmicky packaging of this figure. It needed something to ensure some sort of good sell through at retail. It’s definitely not the best version of C-3PO, but it may fill a hole in your collection. But you’ll need to fill a hole on him if you buy him!