Like the bastard lovechild of a Bertie and a Dropcloth, the ThreeA Caesar debuted in 12-inch scale a while ago, underwent a highly technical shrinking process, and finally popped up in the hand-friendly 6-inch scaled Action Portable scale. I say hand-friendly but this is still a pretty big figure, easily taller than both Mk2 Bertie’s and Brambles and only a bit shorter than the taller Mk3 Berties which were surprisingly large.
With more human proportions than the previous trash-can styled robots, it feels more dangerous to me. This isn’t a robot that would have trouble stepping over a fallen tree trunk like some of the stumpier-legged robots in this World War Robot world. This one would have no trouble tracking down whatever it wants to kill in any environment; it’s a well-armed, fully-mobile killing machine. Fun!
The Caesars, like all ThreeA offerings, came in a variety of what are called “colorways.” This is the Jungler Caesar, so you can imagine it squatting in the dense thicket waiting to go all Crazy Robot Tarzan Ninja Death monkey-style on some poor unsuspecting fool’s head.
He comes with several weapons that can only be qualified by the descriptor “BigAss,” which we’ll refer to as BA from here on. First up he’s got a BA machine gun with removable ammo clip. My clip is a bit slippy-slidey and wanted to fall out while I was taking pictures, but otherwise, with his well-articulated arms and hands, he can hold the gun in a variety of ways. The Caesar has the standard double ball jointed shoulders that allow him to have as full a range of movement as you’d need. It’s always a little surprising how mobile they are.
He also comes with a BA knife and Gun, both of which have working holsters with velcro straps. His BA shield attached to his arm doesn’t interfere with his range of motion at all, and keeps his metal butt well-protected from incoming fire. The shield is connected by its own ball joint so it’s fully poseable regardless of what position his arm happens to be at any time.
His waist is festooned with a number of pouches that are all appropriately weathered with authentic-looking buckles and straps and feature the trademark clothwork that ThreeA excels at. They can be easily pulled off though, and difficult to reattach without tweezers and patience, like dancing on the head of a needle being threaded by angels or some other difficult mixed metaphor.
The star attraction of any ThreeA robot is the paint job. There must be a master class in painting rust available somewhere, because though these are vinyl toys, until you touch them they look like they’d be forged out of scrapyard remnants and then allowed to rust even further. The drawback is that you’ll feel like you need to wash your hands after handling them because the paint seems to come off on your hands like actual rust. This stuff better be non-toxic…
There’s a well-worn, crusty, lived-in feel to them all that makes them feel older than what a simple toy should evoke. No wonder that Ashley Wood is a Star Wars fan because that “lived in universe” feel of the original Star Wars movies is carried through in these toys. The DayWatch and Nightwatch colorways are the only pristine models of these robots for those who want a bit more spit shine and polish in their artificial life forms.
Being vinyl and mostly hollow, with big wide feet and plenty of pivot in the ankle articulation, these are stable toys, and will stay upright if you find the right sweet spot in a lot of different poses.
As with all ThreeA offerings the first batch of Caesars were preorders that went up and were gone last year. However, BBTS currently has preorders available for a handful of Caesars on their site, so if you’re interested, be sure to place an order ASAP — they won’t last long.