You want content? Here’s some content.  You’re going to have to endure my Monday morning rant first.

The Giants have now blown 5 games this season in which they’ve had double digit leads.  All of them on the road.  Three of those leads were as late as the 4th quarter.  The latest was yesterday, when they blew a 10 point 4th quarter lead.  After a series of nonsensical play calls that prevented the Giants from securing the game, Detroit got the ball inside their own 5, down by 3.  I turned to my wife and said, “Detroit is absolutely kicking a 60 yard field goal to send it into OT.”  A few plays later, after getting into position, Detroit tied the game as time expired by kicking a 59 yard field goal, sending it to overtime.  Earlier this season during one of those 5 blown leads, Dallas kicked a game-tying 64 yarder as time expired to send it into OT.  And in case you didn’t know, that was the 4th time in the past 10 years that the Giants have lost a game on a 60 yard field goal.  FOUR TIMES IN 10 YEARS.  How is that even a thing?  In the history of the NFL, there have been 41 field goals of 60+ yards.  Most of them have happened at random points in their games - the Giants have lost 4 games directly because of 60+ yard kicks.  So this Detroit putz kicked it a “mere” 59 yards.  It’s insane.

Nevertheless, I can’t say the Giants are boring.  They are having the most fun season in a decade, even at 2-9. When the season is a lost cause, it’s hard to be too upset when things like THIS happen.

Even better:  The Giants and Patriots play next Sunday, so it’s going to be Battle Royale here at Banthaskull.  My prediction:  The Giants go up by 21 with 3 minutes to go.  The Benny Hill theme plays throughout the stadium as the Patriots score 3 touchdowns in 3 minutes, and then recover an onside kick with 1 second left.  Then they kick a 73 yarder to win the game. 

If this sequence of events is available as a Fanduel parlay, I highly suggest you take that money.

Screw you, Chris!

Anyway, this is what you get when we struggle for content at Banthaskull.

So, I had planned on doing this last week, but had misplaced the C-3PO figure.  I found it on a “retired figure” shelf, which for the record, I had specifically searched no fewer than 5 times before seeing it.  I’m old.

Back in the Saga days of 2002-2004, Hasbro carried on the tradition of deluxe figures, but renamed them “Ultra.”  This was to keep things fresh, and to make sure that action figure collecting stayed cool with swanky new nicknames.  For most of the offerings, it was the included accessory that was the star, rather than the featured figure.  (Think the tactical screen that came with General Rieekan.)  Such is the case with this one. 

C-3PO is a “repaint” of the figure that was released earlier in the Saga line for his appearance in the Geonosian foundries.  C-3PO with Droid Factory Assembly Line! was basically a crap figure, but at the time it was the best AOTC version we had, easily crushing the horrific basic version which had a bunch of take apart panels so you could see him “naked.”  The best thing about that figure was the big crate accessory.

Anyway, Hasbro repurposed that figure and “repainted” it in ANH colors.  I use quotes because it seems like it’s more than a repaint; it seems that the material used to cast the figure is completely different.  It’s almost a soft, gummy material rather than typical hard plastic.  It’s not vac metal, which I believe almost all OT C-3PO’s were before this one.  In fact, I could be wrong, but I think it’s actually the first non-vac metal OT C-3PO.  It’s weird.  It’s got a vaguely metallic dark bronze color, with a little bit of weathering to make it feel grimy.  I don’t think I ever felt it worked, and it seems particularly out of place today.

This version maintains the removable limbs feature (legs, arms, and head) that was used for the AOTC figure.  Doesn’t really serve much of a purpose.  Maybe you could find use for this as a Bespin Threepio, but it’s useless for ANH.  Aside from color (and material?) there are two other differences.  This release filled in the hole in the back plate, which was originally meant for the battle droid back pack.  It also removed the little magnet at the top of the head, which was used to interact with the assembly line crane.

So while you could probably toss this figure into the New Zealand wilderness, you might want to hold onto the accompanying escape pod.  This is modeled after the Tantive IV escape pod that brought Threepio and Artoo to the surface of Tatooine, and it seems that Hasbro did a pretty nice job.  Unfortunately, it’s pretty small.  It looks like there should be enough room for a person or 2 to sit inside the pod as they look out the window.  In the case of this toy, you can have maybe 2 human-height figures hold each other intimately while standing.  R2 and 3PO do fit, but not the way you see them in the film. 

The overall sculpt is nice and seems fairly screen accurate.  The details on the exterior are pretty well done.  Even the paint apps are pretty nice, especially by Saga-era standards.  There’s some nice multicolored weathering and discoloration/staining.  The interior sculpting exists, but it lacks detail and paint.  The pod, as it were, is really just a glorified container for a figure or two.  The top of the pod opens on a hinge, while it looks like in the film it probably opens by rotating to the side.  And there’s no window, where one should be.

While it’s undersized and lacks a window, it still does the trick.  A new one would probably be twice the size, have a detailed interior with seating, and a clear window piece on the top.  And it would cost $40, maybe $50 if it came with a C-3PO figure.  (Which Hasbro should be retooling, of course)

At the time, the set cost $9.99.  I would love a TVC line of show-stealing “large” accessories packed with a figure that mirrored the Saga Ultra line.  Perhaps the closest we’ve gotten in TVC is the Stormtrooper with E-Web cannon from The Mandalorian.

So while the Threepio is more or less useless, the pod is still a valuable part of our collections, until such a time as it was redone in TVC.  Not the highest priority, but it could have been a nice option for Return To Tatooine.  6/10 for the set.