I’m starting to feel a fondness for the Freeze Frame era.  It’s not because the figures are good by today’s standards.  They are not, for the most part.  It’s for two different reasons.  The first is that the aesthetics took their first step away from the bulk of the “Power of the Force 2” (POTF2) era. The relative scaling was still an afterthought, but the proportionality got much more realistic.  The Mr. Olympia was transitioning out.  Second, this would mark the last time when a full mainline of NEW figures was exclusively Original Trilogy.  Yes, the subsequent Flashback line was entirely OT, but that was really more of a subset consisting of two waves.  2004’s Original Trilogy Collection was also 100% OT, but most of the figures were repacks.  Because this was the last full and true OT mainline, the Freeze Frame line gave us some deep cut characters.  Sadly, it’s likely those will never get an update, so they are forever locked into the minimally articulated and improperly scaled POTF2 era.

Of course there are a handful of Freeze Frame figures that might see updates because they are part of the “Original 96” Kenner figures, which is a renewed focus within Hasbro.  It’s an ambitious project which will complete about ten years after I’m pushing up daisies.  This removable limb 3PO counts itself among the “Original 96”, which is why it’s of particular interest:

(click for the full sized image)

The first thing that needs to be noted about my sample is that the dark brown face with the George Hamilton tan is an anomaly.  Most samples do not look like this. The wash, that is supposed to give this figure some age and wear, is clearly over-applied on this sample. For the purposes of reviewing this C-3PO, we’re going to ignore this error.  This is a true 5POA (five points of articulation) figure.  From that standpoint it’s fairly unremarkable.  There’s barely any extra expression you can achieve via the posing with those limited articulation options.  If that were the extent of this figure’s utility, it would be a completely forgettable also-ran from a bygone era. But as we already alluded to, it serves another purpose.

The head and limbs can be popped off to replicate 3PO’s dismembered status from The Empire Strikes Back.  What makes this version compelling is that you have the option of attaching the arms to the torso, and leaving the legs off.  This is how 3PO was transported on Chewbacca’s back for most of his time on Cloud City.  This is something the C-3PO accessory with the TSC 054 - Chewbacca figure cannot do.  The cargo net also functions better on this release.  I dare say this is your best option for a removable limb C-3PO until Hasbro provides a modern update, and that makes it a 4 out of 10 figure.

Finally, for the edgy teens, this is a 5 point of dismemberment figure.  If there are any edgy teens reading, no one is afraid of you.  Put on some danged khakis and a nice sweater, and join the rest of us in reality.  Alright?