Kenner C-3PO

Goldenrod here seems like one of those must have figures for a Kenner collection, although he’s sadly more frustrating to acquire than other main-cast members. Still, him and R2-D2 have been present in almost any major Star Wars story, and I’d go ahead and say both are the most iconic sci-fi characters ever created. If you’re gonna collect these things, you have to have these two.

Like the Deathstar Droid, C-3PO is entirely chromed. This means most samples of the figure you encounter will have loose joints and some distracting scratches. It’s a frustrating thing, though I’m glad Kenner did chrome him rather than just cast him in yellow plastic or some such, as the figure has such a luster he really stands out in a collection. The sculpt on this one is also sharp and very accurate for a Kenner figure. As characters, I prefer R2-D2 of the droids, but there’s something about C-3PO that makes him uniquely attractive.

Modern Sandtroopers

Taking a look at two different figures today, but with mirage of toys based on this troop, there’s sometime’s not much point in looking at them individually. Then again, there’s also a certain charm to being able to pick one up every now and then for army building rather than having to do all of that at once.

Despite that I don’t have too many of these guys, just two of the Saga Collection version and a pair of the first Vintage Collection figures. I remember when the Vintage Collection one came out, I was very frustrated that it was the only figure I could find from the line, besides ROTS Anakin, Obi-wan, and Clone Troopers. Not a very compelling selection, especially since I cared less for PT stuff at the time.

The Vintage Collection Sandtrooper himself is a fairly cool figure, although he could have been somewhat more. The figure lacks any attempt at weathering and is perfectly clean. This could be appreciated by some, but for me, this figure doesn’t look right without any weathering at all. I also find the older Stormtrooper head/helmet sculpts more attractive than the one this figure sports, though it isn’t terrible. On the bright side, he includes two cool blasters you don’t see too often, and the ball-jointed hips really help this version if you want him posed on a dewback. There’s still more good than bad to this one, though it would’ve been cool to get a few more parts and more paint given the price for TVC figures.

The Saga Collection one is also nice for the differences it has, but like the VC one, it isn’t without flaws. This one features the more traditional t-crotch, which I do like for its more natural standing walking poses. He includes the more standard E-11 Blaster, a thermal detonator, and a vibro lance. I imagine most have plenty of E-11’s, but this isn’t a bad loadout. This one also attempts to do some weathering, but it’s very poor. It just looks like brown smudges, and not much else. As such, I weathered the examples you’ll see below myself.