C-3PO - Vinyl Collectible Dolls

Caricaturized Star Wars characters may not be on the forefront of most Star Wars collectors’ wish lists, but that has never deterred Medicom Toy from producing some of the quirkiest Star Wars collectibles on the market. They are absolutely niche items, but they’ve been produced with such beautiful quality and comes with awesome features that make them hard to pass for so many collectors. It wasn’t until the mid-2000s that Medicom Toy decided to produce a truly unique line of Vinyl Collectible Dolls; both in realistic and super-deformed styles, but they quickly piqued the interest of Star Wars fans everywhere. We get that they’re not for everyone, but the VCD line compiles both artistry with precision to produce some of our most favorite Star Wars characters through the lens of a funhouse mirror while making “cute” en vogue in the Star Wars collecting community. From Rebels to Imperials, the VCD line has something for everyone. You may feel that super-deformed collectibles may cheapen the quality, but that’s just not true.

Perhaps the most advantageous character for any licensee to make is C-3PO. Between the shiny gold plating to the intricacies of the gears, switches and general mechanics, C-3PO is a character that most like to avoid with a ten foot pole, especially when collectors are demanding as close to a screen accurate interpretation as possible. Just by it the very definition of the Vinyl Collectible Dolls line, C-3PO is now being attempted in a super-deformed style, a style that actually befits him quite well. Would you believe that Medicom Toy tried as closely as possible to “copy” all of the details of the onscreen character into a reduced and exaggerated VCD interpretation of him? And would you also believe that it came out incredibly well? It’s the truth. The C-3PO VCD unbelievably comes with eleven points of articulation. Granted, most if not all of it is swivel articulation for the VCD line, but it is still movement and allows you to display these figures in multiple ways which keeps the fresh and interesting.

The C-3PO VCD definitely looks more humanoid than the onscreen character, but that’s because of the extra large “pupils” Medicom Toy gave him, which gives a more animated impression of the character. Technically, the real C-3PO character has three equidistant lights that outline the very small black pupils that are centered in the photoreceptors and these illuminate his eyes brightly. Because the figures in the VCD line do not come with electronics, Medicom Toy had to find another way to give C-3PO a little more “personality” for lack of a better word. We would have preferred smaller “pupils”, but we still can’t fault this collectible because it delivers to collectors what it’s supposed to deliver. His head is a little rounder too, but we encourage you to spend some time and check out all of the pistons and gears Medicom Toy added to the VCD that are present on the real C-3PO costume. There are actually separately sculpted pieces here. That’s truly impressive. We love the VCD line, and characters like C-3PO reinforce that sentiment strongly.