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Review |
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| Sculpt: |
| Heroic droids Artoo-Deetoo and See-Threepio, as envisioned in an early preproduction painting for STAR WARS by conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie. Longtime fans of the Saga are doubtless aware of McQuarrie early involvement in helping writer/director George Lucas bring his vision for the space fantasy to the screen. To celebrate the film's thirtieth anniversary, a series of special concept art figures based on McQuarrie's art have been created. See-Threepio was described by Lucas in early script drafts as a male version of the iconic Maria automaton from the ground-breaking silent science-fiction film METROPOLIS (1922). His personality was less fussy, and more slick, used car salesman (Lucas had at one point envisioned dubbing the voice of Anthony Daniels with that of AMERICAN GRAFFITI actor Richard Dreyfus). Artoo-Deetoo, a squat, cylindrical robot bristling with all sorts of tool-wielding arms, was originally depicted using his three legs in a tripod fashion, swinging his body between his two centers legs and using the center leg to pull himself forward. This proved impractical onset, and Artoo's three-wheeled propulsion was devised. Although there are some minor tweaks, the sculpts are mostly true to this early painting. They receive a 9.5 out of 10 rating. |
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| Paint: |
| C-3PO is molded in gold-colored plastic. A wash of brown has been applied over him to bring out tiny details, and has then been dry-brushed with metallic gold to simulate a burnished look. R2-D2 is molded in a medium metallic silver, and then given a black wash to bring out small details. He's also been dry-brushed, but with a metallic silver. He also has a light blue paint app to the central "eye" on his dome, and has additional white and red detail decos to small areas on the dome. 9/10. |
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| Articulation: |
| C-3PO has ball-jointed head, torso, elbows, and ankles, with planer-cut shoulders, wrists, and hips. R2-D2 has planer-cut dome and outer legs joints. All three "feet" have pivot joints. The small antenna on the top of his dome spins. The arm on the right side of his dome swivels at the base, and is hinged in the middle. The arm on the left side is hinged at the base and at the middle. The two arms in his torso are hinged and swing out in opposite directions. The center leg extends ever so slightly hen you pull on it. R2's feet are wheeled, even though the concept art clearly shows his center leg with a tread on the bottom: 8/10. |
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| Accessories: |
| Celebration IV backer card, Hasbro STAR WARS protective case, Celebration IV sticker on case, and Celebration IV collector coin: 8.5/10. |
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| Packaging: |
| The Thirtieth Anniversary Collection card is basically rectangular, but with several die cut wedges that make it the most serious departure from the basic card design in the modern line. The McQuarrie Signature Series card art features light blue accents and lettering on the front, with the art that inspired the figure enclosed on the front. The reverse of the card features a self-portrait of Mr. McQuarrie, with text explaining his pivotal role in realizing STAR WARS creator George Lucas' unique characters. 9/10. |
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| Availability: |
| These figures debuted at Celebration IV in Los Angeles as GenCon exclusives in May 2007. They were first offered on-line on May 27 by Toyrocket.com's eBay store. Although all unsold figures were supposed to be destroyed, GenCon sold their remaining stock to Toyrocket. Eventually, Toyrocket also made them available through StarWarsShop.com. It's also available at other on-line sources, although for considerably more than the original $19.99 convention price. (Note: Those who bought passes for Saturday, May 26 only, were given one free figure set upon entry to the show.) 8.5/10. |
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| Conclusion: |
| The McQuarrie R2-D2 & C-3PO set is the one set collectors have been hoping would get made for thirty years. Although making it an expensive convention exclusive with limited availability might not have been the wisest move by Hasbro, it's well worth the extra effort to score one of these: 8.8/10. |
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