C-3PO - Elite Series

C-3PO is a droid programmed for etiquette and protocol, built by the heroic Jedi Anakin Skywalker, and a constant companion to astromech R2-D2. Over the years, he was involved in some of the galaxy's most defining moments and thrilling battles – and is fluent in over six million forms of communication.

Well, not everything can be perfect we suppose. If the Elite Series R2-D2 is pure perfection for the line, then the Elite Series C-3PO is the antithesis of that. In fact, we’re so disappointed with C-3PO that we feel many of the “human” likenesses came out better. Hopefully that gives you some indication of the problems that the Elite Series C-3PO has. What is so ironic about complaining about C-3PO is that R2-D2 is the figure that truly has the issues (thanks to its much too large size). But ultimately aesthetics outweigh how we judge a figure, and the final look of the Elite Series C-3PO just leaves us feeling a little too gray and hollow instead of warm and full about him. Maybe C-3PO isn’t that bad. Or maybe he is. After staring at him we’re just no so sure anymore. We just know something is off and if we can’t get that “bad taste” out of our mouths, then we know more tweaking was needed before releasing the final figure. C-3PO does appear to have potential, but for us some of his faults are outweighing the pros here.

For all intents and purposes, the Elite Series C-3PO looks alright. The silhouette of the character looks about right, and we’re even impressed with the approach of the golden metal finish they used to make him as screen accurate as possible. But his most recognizable attribute (his head and face) are just so sloppily executed that it makes the character look like a cheap knockoff. The absence of his nose is especially jarring. The black “pupils” in his photoreceptors are huge which gives the figure a very animated appearance. Also, and we cannot confirm if this is across the board or if this is just our sample, but C-3PO’s portrait has been colored in a shade of gold that doesn’t match the rest of the body. Also, the texture and coloring of his head sculpt is not smooth. You can see artifacts and lines, which really hurt the aesthetics of the head sculpt. Had more care been given to the C-3PO’s head, perhaps the figure would have ultimately looked a whole lot better. Your eyes are immediately drawn to his head, and it just doesn’t favor the character in our opinion. Oh, and unlike R2-D2, Disney has excluded the “plugs” to cover up the holes made by the screws.

The articulation is pretty much what you’d might expect it is here. But interestingly, Elite Series C-3PO comes with ball-jointed shoulders, one of only a handful of C-3PO collectibles that has come with such articulation in the shoulders. In all honesty, C-3PO in any collectible format just needs swivel shoulders. But hey, if the ball-joints give a smidge more of movement, we’ll take it. The elbows are really frustrating however. They’ve been give simple hinge-jointed articulation, but they barely move. Also, fine details like pistons and whatnot are expectedly just nonexistent. These are metal figures, so we’re not exactly sure if they’re able to manufacture such fine and delicate details in this lineup, so maybe their exclusion is for the better. C-3PO has no torso movement, but does come with hip, knee and ankle articulation which is also expected. Also, he comes with a red arm which makes him sourced from The Force Awakens, which may disappoint those wanting an Original Trilogy version of him. Some may overlook his faults, but for us they’re a disappointment.