C-3PO & Babu Frik - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (Exclusive)

C-3PO longs for morepeaceful times, but his continued service to the Resistance keeps him on the frontlines of galactic conflict.

A tiny, well-regarded droidsmith, Babu Frik can modify virtually any droid, regardless of the security measure protecting its systems.

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker will probably present C-3PO in a way that resembled Expanded Universe character C-3PX the most. That’s a judgment call on our part solely from looking at the trailer and the stills from the film that have leaked online. After all, he’s wearing Chewbacca’s bandolier and aiming the bowcaster. And for him to accomplish utilizing these tools, he needs Babu Frik to reprogram him to make him a little more aggressive. Again, we don’t know, but that’s the story we have in our minds at the moment based on the images out there. And what’s up with those scary red Sith eyes? Hasbro worked in most of the Episode IX features into C-3PO with relative ease. We were surprised to see that Chewbacca’s bandolier, although slightly reshaped for C-3PO’s bodily contour, fits him well, as does the large bowcaster fitting into his hand. It appears that the protocol droid may have the most prominent role from the Sequel Trilogy in Episode IX. Whatever they do, hopefully, they’ll present a believable and entertaining storyline of the beloved droid into the final episode of the Skywalker saga. One thing is certain, The Black Series [Phase III] C-3PO & Babu Frik two-pack is a figure release we didn’t expect to like all that much, but it’s a fantastic release, and it should have been released in the mainline and not reserved as a retail exclusive. Without thinking too hard about it, C-3PO & Babu Frik should have replaced the First Order Stormtrooper in the first Triple Force Friday wave.

C-3PO is a cleverly contrived kit-bashed figure and utilizes multiple parts from various figures to complete him. He’s mostly made from the revised C-3PO figure found in the Galaxy’s Edge exclusive Droid Depot four-pack. As a reminder, this is the 2016’s TBS [P3] C-3PO Walgreens exclusive figure with the arms of 2018’s TBS [P3] 4-LOM (67) figure. Hasbro took the upper torso, arms, and legs from the C-3PO figure from the Droid Deport set, took the abdomen and cod section portion of the 2016 TBS [P3] C-3PO (Resistance Base) (29) figure, and tooled an all-new head sculpt. They put all of the parts together to create the new figure in this set. C-3PO turned out better than expected, and although the back panel of his head is removable to show his parts based on Episode I character, in our opinion, Hasbro finally got the portrait right for C-3PO in the 6” line. This is the closest likeness achieved on this scale. Hasbro continually shows us that they consider everything when there is an opportunity to redo a certain part of an action figure. Hasbro also colored C-3PO’s eyes red, and we noticed that when we remove the panel from the back of his head, the red comes through a little more brightly. When fully assembled, C-3PO looks somewhat threatening. It’s difficult to picture an aggressive C-3PO character, but it appears that may change in The Rise Of Skywalker. But that’s not all you get with C-3PO. Hasbro tooled a second figure, albeit very small, to pair with C-3PO. And his name is Babu Frik.

Don’t discount the Babu Frik action figure until you know all about it. Yes, the figure is small in stature but packs a lot of punch thanks to Hasbro’s incredible sculpting skills. Babu Frik comes with an impressive seven points of articulation, thanks to ball-jointed shoulder, a swivel head, a swivel torso, and a hinge-jointed welding visor. The detail is excellent on the figure, but we’re not so certain the likeness of the character is 100% there, judging from the still we’ve seen of Babu Frik. He is super tiny, somewhere around the size of D-O from The Black Series [Phase III] Rey & D-O (91) set. But he is bigger, by not that much mind you, than The Black Series [Phase III] Porgs. You can make Babu Frik ride C-3Po, work on C-3PO or generically interact with C-3PO. The options are endless. Babu Frik is a wonderful inclusion with C-3PO, and we’re thrilled that Hasbro didn’t up the price of this release to cover the tolling costs of Babu Frik. It would have been optimal if Hasbro included some welding tool with Babu Frik so that he could perform the needed work on C-3PO. But his hands are so incredibly tiny that it would be a moot point to include an accessory like that. It would also be so small that we’d need a magnifying glass to see it. We can’t wait to see what becomes of these two characters in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker. Hopefully, the new scenes will add character depth and humor. But whatever you decide, keep in mind that we have a new ranking C-3PO sculpt with this release. Hasbro should reuse it for a new Episode IV interpretation of C-3PO.