Sculpt--3/5
This is actually one of the best C-3PO sculpts around. It's well proportioned, has good detail, and the pose is great. Unfortunately, this is the same C-3PO figure we saw in the last deluxe 3PO set and I hate it when they reuse figures. So while this figure brings all the great things about the last 3PO figure, it also brings along the bad. That means this C-3PO is a little on the short side and it has that little circle on his chest that really shouldn't be there. Thankfully, Hasbro filled in the hole that was on the older C-3PO's back but it's a little obvious that they did; you can still see where the hole used to be.

Articulation--3/5
Standard stuff. C-3PO is articulated at the neck, shoulders, and hips. One day I'd like to see some knee articulation or some well-designed waist articulation on a C-3PO figure.

Features--4/5
C-3PO has a pull-apart feature which carried over from the reuse of Deluxe C-3PO. The escape pod has an opening hatch and you can pretty much disassemble the hull if you wish. The little thrusters are also movable.

Accessories--4/5
You get an escape pod! It's one of the few vehicles that hasn't been seen since the vintage line. Thankfully this is an all new sculpt, and while it's not perfectly in scale with the figures, it does do a good job at representing the escape pod we see in the movie. The outside of escape pod is nicely detailed with various hatches and seams. The thrusters look wonderfully complex and everything is nice and sharp. Hasbro even detailed the inside of the pod, but to a lesser extent. As stated before, the escape pod has a hatch which is basically the top portion of the pod so you can easily put in C-3PO or any other figure you desire. Fitting in both C-3PO and an R2-D2 figure is a tight squeeze but is possible nonetheless. All in all, it's a pretty cool escape pod even though it's on the small side.

Paint: C-3PO--2/5, Escape Pod--4/5
Some people like the paint job on this C-3PO...I don't. He's got this purple-ish wash which just looks...wierd. It's like C-3PO just couldn't eat his peanut butter and jelly sandwich correctly and got grape jelly all over himself. I also miss the vac-metalized look of older C-3PO figures; this gold paint just isn't shiny enough for it to be accurate for a C-3PO figure. On the plus side, they did a good job on the eyes and wiring at the mid-section.

The escape pod looks pretty good with various scorch marks and weathering. The rust/sand-colored spots all over the hull give the pod just enough color to keep it from looking dull. The thrusters are appropriately blackened except for the three small movable thrusters at the bottom/back of the pod. Other than that, there's not much to complain about.

Overall--3.5/5
C-3PO is just so-so but the real star of the set is the escape pod which will look great in any Tatooine dioramas you might have. The size of the pod is questionable but it's big enough to put figures in, and isn't that what's important? A great set that I recommend if you are looking to get your hands on an escape pod, but as for 3PO, I'll be sticking with some older versions.

--Photos and review by Garett Yoshimura
garett@carrotnetwork.com