C-3PO

C-3PO, See-Threepio, 3PO, or Threepio was a bipedal, humanoid protocol droid designed to interact with organics, programmed primarily for etiquette and protocol. He was fluent in over six million forms of communication, and developed a fussy and worry-prone personality throughout his many decades of operation. After being destroyed and discarded on the planet Tatooine before 32 BBY, C-3PO was rebuilt; his salvaged nature gave him special qualities that distinguished him from similar droid models. Along with his counterpart, the astromech droid R2-D2, C-3PO constantly found himself directly involved in pivotal moments of galactic history, and aided in saving the galaxy on many occasions. C-3PO considered various droids and organics to be friends of his, and was very dedicated to them, as well as to any master that he served.

Originally activated on Affa in 112 BBY, C-3PO had served as a protocol droid to the emissary of the Manakron system. Nearly eighty years later, he was gutted and discarded on the streets of Mos Espa, a city on the Outer Rim world of Tatooine. After being rebuilt by the Human slave Anakin Skywalker, C-3PO served Skywalker and his mother Shmi for over ten years, performing household chores and helping Skywalker earn his freedom by winning a pod race. Skywalker left Tatooine but returned in 22 BBY when his mother passed away, and C-3PO was given to Skywalker, now a Jedi Padawan, by Shmi's stepson Owen Lars. C-3PO, Skywalker, R2-D2, and the Naboo Senator Padmé Amidala immediately became embroiled in the Clone Wars, a galaxy-wide conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems. Skywalker married Amidala and gave C-3PO to her as a wedding gift, and C-3PO faithfully assisted her in her senatorial duties throughout the three-year conflict. The two often entered the front lines of the war, at times fighting alongside Skywalker and R2-D2.

At the end of the war, Skywalker became a Sith Lord, Amidala passed away, the Jedi Order was exterminated, and the Republic was reorganized into a Galactic Empire. C-3PO's memory was erased, however R2-D2's memory was not. C-3PO and R2-D2 were assigned to the corvette Tantive IV of Alderaan, where they served Alderaan's viceroy Bail Organa for nineteen years. They were, however, separated from Organa during that time period, and got caught up in a wide variety of misadventures, ruining the gangster Tig Fromm, helping restore the Tammuz-an monarchy, and aiding the merchant Mungo Baobab in reviving his family's fortune, among other exploits. After rejoining the crew of the Tantive IV and serving under Captain Raymus Antilles, they became embroiled in the Galactic Civil War, and in 0 BBY, Leia Organa of the Rebel Alliance entrusted them to bring a copy of the Death Star plans to the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. After meeting Skywalker's son Luke and the smuggler Han Solo, the droids helped rescue princess Leia from the Empire's Death Star and became directly attached to the three humans, helping them and their rebellion defeat the Empire and restore freedom to the galaxy.

When the Rebellion became a New Republic, C-3PO continued to serve Luke and the now-married Han & Leia Solo, helping them defeat remnants of the Empire. Notably, C-3PO helped the Solos raise their three children, and aided Luke in recruiting trainees for his New Jedi Order. His translation abilities proved crucial during major incidents on Bakura, the starship Teljkon Vagabond, and in the Kathol sector, and in 17 ABY, he and R2-D2 teamed up with a young mechanic named Cole Fardreamer to foil a plan to bomb the galactic capital of Coruscant. When an extra-galactic race of religious zealots known as the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy in 25 ABY, C-3PO participated in the four-year conflict that eventually saw the invaders defeated. The destruction wrought by the invaders, and particularly their harsh treatment of droids, caused C-3PO to deeply question his views on deactivation, immortality, and memory erasure. Twelve years later, he began helping raise the latest addition to the Solo/Skywalker clan: the spritely youth Allana.

Figure Specs
Protocol Droid C-3PO was released individually carded during The Vintage Collection in June/July 2010. The figure is based on C-3PO's appearance in The Empire Strikes Back.

C-3PO is super articulated with 14 joints, including ball-joints in the neck, shoulders, elbows, the waist, knees and ankles. The wrists and both legs have swivel joints. The droid stands very safely on its own without any balancing problems. There were no weapons included with C-3PO, but Hasbro made four of the droid's panels removable. The face, chest and right thigh cover can be removed, revealing C-3PO's inner works underneath. The back panel on 3PO can also be removed. All four panels snaped-on nicely and stayed firmly attached on our example, but we did hear some reports from people having trouble keeping the panels on once they had been removed.

The paint application on C-3PO is average, with a matte-golden color, a matte-silver right shin (which looks very plastic), and differently colored cables underneath. C-3PO appeared in The Empire Strikes Back beat-up, with lots of dirt on him. Unfortunately, the paint application on this figure doesn't reflect that. The sculpt hides C-3PO's joints very nicely, and captures the character's overall appearance quite well. It's a very detailed sculpt, but C-3PO's height seems too short in comparison with other Star Wars figures. All in all, this C-3PO figure is a decent effort on Hasbro's behalf, but it just doesn't feel like as if this is the most definite version yet, and it might be worth waiting for a better release in the future.