One of the consistent features of new canon material from Star Wars so far is the inclusion of a new droid with an abundance of personality. Chopper, BB-8, K-2S0, 000, BT-1, CR-8R, Mr. Bones, R0-GR, and Bucket to name a few. For Solo, it was L3-37 though she was relatively unique among that crowd due to her female programming and droids rights activism. I was drawn by the makeshift and cobbled together look of her design and was looking forward to a figure from the first trailer, so let’s take a look at the Black Series L3-37!
L3 comes in the usual box with the usual art. It’s nice. It’s recycled. And the figure is freed.
L3 comes with no accessories which is a little odd. I could have gone for communication jack she wields during the Kessel job or perhaps a little saw blade attachment.
The sculpt is pretty good with lots of the requisite robotic and loose wiring detail prominent in the design, but it feels slightly undersized to me. She’s about the same size as Lando and in a few shots in the film, I recall her being larger.
The paint is pretty good, but not quite there. I do like how many of the individual wires are painted and the weathering tampos look pretty good, if somewhat pixelated up close, but it’s in dire need of some panel lining wash.
It’s also missing a major feature of the droid “face”. There are two bright white lights on the visor piece that just aren’t on the figure.
The articulation is a bit of a mixed bag. I like that the hips move well and the shoulders are connected to the body with a ball and socket joint, but the wrist was so tight on my figure that I busted the left wrist articulation right out of the package. I ended up gluing it back on and lost the articulation point.
L3 has the following articulation
- Ball joint head, lower neck, mid-torso, shoulders, and hips
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, and wrists
- Single hinged knees and feet
L3’s design makes some of the usual articulation like swivel/hinge hips or rocker ankles unfeasible and I miss them a bit when posing on uneven ground. She can be rough to balance because the feet are so small, but it can be done.
The other articulation issue I didn’t care for was that her elbows don’t get a 90 degree bend. It’s a shame because a lot of the poses I was thinking of, like her little salute to Landonis, can’t be done with this figure. There are sculpted wires on the figure at the elbow that block movement.
Overall, L3 is a bit of a let down after the highs of Rio and Val. It’s not a horrible figure by any means and there’s much to recommend, but the breakage brings it down in the ratings for me.
