Star Wars: The Black Series C-3PO

Franchise mainstay C-3PO does not make for the most exciting or impressive entry in the Black Series line, but is a necessary one. It was this view that kept him out of the Coffin collection for such a long time, only being welcomed a few weeks ago. The Walgreens exclusive version is the Original Trilogy 3PO, with the silver leg, not the general release from The Force Awakens, with the red arm.

There’s not all that much to say about 3PO here, but he winds up being a real fun figure to have standing around. Coming with no accessories and really limited posability, 3PO’s general function on your shelf is the same as it is in the Star Wars films: to stand there and stare. This is accomplished excellently well thanks to a terrific face sculpt, which captures the total blankness yet latent emotion of the character very well. The posability is real limited, but as a product of the character, and not any issue or shortcomings of the figure. 3PO isn’t known for being lithe and flexible, or even efficiently mobile, so it should be no surprise that his Black Series representation would end up being the same.

The arms are molded at a 45 degree angle, and the hands are molded as flat and open palms. The shoulders allow the arms to move, and are covered by rotation cups that give 3PO his normal, 3PO shoulders. Those cups are not fixed however, and they rotate over the top of the shoulders to allow the figure to put his arms out in front of him and raise his hands in the air. For some reason, the shoulder cups are the highlight of the design in terms of movement, and they allow for motion that the molded arms themselves do not.

The posing issues are to be expected, because this is C-3PO, after all, and if one was anticipating some lithe, flexible figure of him, they’d be in the minority. The legs on this copy are pretty loose, and so move easily and in all directions the hip joint is designed to move in, but that is due to looseness rather than intent. The body of 3PO is the same body as 4-LOM’s, and that figure is as stiff as a board, because it’s a protocol droid body, and as such is supposed to be that way. But this is an issue specific to this copy of the figure, not a mold or design issue, as far as can be ascertained.

"Don't wait up for us, Aunt Beru. We're going out pimpin'."

But while moving is not 3PO’s strong suite, looking good certainly is. The gold is a nice strong but matted color, and the waist section is truly eye catching. The abdominal wires are painted in red, white, and yellow, and the colors give the real illusion of there being depth underneath the plating. The painted wires provide the one true burst of color and detail, and the entire figure is so much richer for it. Again, compared to 4-LOM, which is a generally bland and monochromatic protocol droid body, 3PO is something great to see, and it is detailing like the painted wires that supports that. The face is also gorgeous, and as is true to the characters’ nature, is a blank expression that actually speaks volumes. The eyes are painted and the seams of the plating are visible, just as on the character in the movies. The wiring and the face make this figure worth the purchase, and make the figure catch your eye on a shelf. 3PO has no accessories, which makes sense, and there is some difficulty in even trying to come up with a list of what accessories he could have been packed with.

"I interrupted your first kiss to tell you the odds."

"Does Mos Eisly have an Arby's? I think they do."

The figure is a Walgreens exclusive, and is usually found in abundant numbers at said stores. While it is a bit strange that such a crucial Original Trilogy and saga-wide character would be only available at a drug store, it seems logical to not have it take up a slot in a mass retail wave. If you’ve seen these congregating at your local Walgreens, imagine how horrible it would be to see them plugging up the toy aisle at a Target or other store, given how frequently those locations turn their stock over. A Target in our area is still drowning under rows of store exclusive Chewbaccas from last years’ Solo, and that is a far more playable figure than this one.

If you don’t already have one, you are going to need a C-3PO to fill out your Black Series collection, and honestly, this one is a good one. It may not be flashy or elaborate, but it is a good looking figure that presents itself far better in hand than it looks through the window of its box.