While I would love to be one, I’m not a full-on 1/6-scale collector. At most I pick up a figure here or there that interests me in some way. I just collect too much stuff to give myself over fully to toys that cost $200-$250. But certain things I can’t say no to. Star Wars at this scale is a rockslide of a danger zone, with Hot Toys and Sideshow putting out really awesome-looking versions of various characters. I knew when I bought Sideshow’s excellent 1/6-scale R2-D2 last year that I was guaranteeing a future purchase of C-3P0 when he was released. Flash forward a year and that time has come, the purchase has been made, and the duo is now complete.
As Artoo and Threepio were the first to 3 ¾-inch figures I got way back when, it seems fitting to have so many versions of those two characters that visually serves as our entrance into a much larger cinematic world. Threepio holds up his end of the duo very well.
First and foremost, I’m a fan of as much articulation as can be foisted onto a toy while having him still look aesthetically pleasing. C-3P0 is the type of character where many are happy with him just being able to move in a very limited fashion based on his very specific movements on screen. I’m not that guy. In fact, I was pretty much resigned to yet another “oh well” moment when opening up this figure, as I assumed Sideshow would give him a minimalist T-crotch that only allowed his legs to go forward. Having resigned myself to that fact, I was pleasantly surprised to find that his legs are indeed capable of more articulation that I was expecting.
Threepio won’t be doing the splits any time soon, but I’ve never needed that from him. What I do want from a good Threepio is the capability for micronuances that can only be achieved with at least some attempt at articulation. Looking at how his leg moves, I sincerely hope that any upcoming Threepio figure from Figuarts, Hasbro, or MAFEX is handled similarly. Threepio has a double ball-joint inserted into both his leg cavity and up into the thigh housing, which allows a very pleasing range of motion. As I said, I’m not expecting miracles to be done, but I get toy claustrophobia when I can’t adjust a toy’s legs. This isn’t 1978, so I don’t want my C-3P0 of any size to still be limited by 1978 ranges of motion. I’m definitely pleased with what he has going on here.
Beyond my own articulation issues, Threepio meets all of the rest of my expectations. He’s a gorgeous-looking figure. His body is a dullish gold that clearly hasn’t been polished for any award ceremony, so he’s got a nice lived-in quality that matches the Artoo figure. There’s an overall rust embellishment spread across his nooks and crannies that serve to enhance the sculpt and break up the monotony of his color scheme. Other than that, there’s not that much actual paint anywhere else as he’s mainly gold with a silver leg. The only other section with major paint is the internal circuitry of his abdominal section, which is nice and cleanly painted.
Outside of his leg articulation, everything else works very well. He’s got the limited arm range with a bicep twist and a shoulder twist allowing him to get his arms into all types of screen-accurate gesticulations, most of which have to do with exasperation or admonishment. His head has a nice and wide range of motion. I love when a head can be tilted; it adds so much character to the posing.
His torso doesn’t allow a lot of range, but with he moves at the top and bottom of his abdominal area so he can get a bit of twist and back/forth motion. His knees have a very slight bend, and his ankles have a pretty surprising range. All of this, coupled with the better-than-expected upper-thigh articulation, leaves Threepio being very satisfying in the movement department, which is as high a praise as I can give a droid.
As far as articulation, I did save the best for last though: fingers. Threepio makes up for the limitations inherent in the rest of his body by his his nature by having fingers that are crazy expressive. His hands are fully articulated with individual knuckle articulation, which, of course, isn’t new to the realm of toys but definitely adds a ton when present on any action figure. It usually works best with robotic characters because the joints can be almost invisible, and it works fantastically here. Combined with the rotating wrist, Threepio can vent his frustration at the world around him in a variety of ways.
Like Artoo, Threepio does have a light-up feature. It’s not as involved as Artoo’s, but it’s definitely necessary for his character. With a simple tap on the back of his head, Threepio’s eyes light up. Batteries are included, so just pull his head off, remove the strip from the batteries, and the screen accuracy is complete.
Threepio is light on accessories, but that’s to be expected. He comes with the communicator he used to talk with Luke while he was getting compacted and two restraining bolts for himself and for Artoo. Both restraining bolts have a very weak magnet that allows them to stay on but aren’t hard to pull off, so they won’t cause any problems for your figure.
I’m very satisfied with Threepio. He ended up being a lot better in certain areas than I was expecting, and even though he was pricey and I was basically duty-bound to buy him, I have no regrets. There’s an R5-D4 and some Jawas on the way in the near future, and I have a feeling I’m going to need them as well.
You can buy him at Big Bad Toy Store
