Sideshow 1/6 C-3PO

[Jun A]

If I had the scratch to spend on this guy, I'd buy it up regardless of it having feet for hands. Figure looks pretty awesome despite its opposable issues. If it were me, I'd just break the dang thumbs off and reglue them. Figure looks rad otherwise.

Same here.

 

[carbonfreezer]

Just read this e-mail from Sideshow:

Thank you very much for your patience. We have booked order #R0050576, for a replacement 21711 C-3PO - Right Arm. Please allow 7 to 10 business days for your replacement order to ship at no cost to you.

We thank you for your cooperation during our returns process. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further questions or concerns.

Best Regards,

Daniel Campisi

Returns Representative

Thanks Daniel!

For the record, my problem was just with the broken piston and I didn't say anything about the thumbs. I hope they have a huge pile of 3PO's for replacement - looks like they're going to need them.

 

[Jaymig926]

Just read this e-mail from Sideshow:



Thanks Daniel!

For the record, my problem was just with the broken piston and I didn't say anything about the thumbs. I hope they have a huge pile of 3PO's for replacement - looks like they're going to need them.

when did you send a request from them? I'm still waiting for my reply from friday afternoon

 

[ali032373]

So did anyone get opposable thumbs?

Also sent my email friday evening. No response to date.

 

[EVILFACE]

when did you send the email I sent one friday afternoon about my broken piston and nothing yet

I contacted them on friday the 15th about it.

 

[Jme_c]

What are the chances of getting a hot toys c3p0?

What are the chances of Hot Toys releasing a C3P0?

Is this likely to happen anytime soon? And what does everyone make of the SS C3P0?

 

[Weezer]

I finally had a chance to unbox a few things yesterday. I think 3PO looks great... and yes I'm cheap, I've decided to keep my SSC figures.

 

[galactiboy]

So turns out the hands are removeable... Sideshow is just sending a replacement hand to me. And I'm guessing anyone getting an arm it will be just the arm w/o a hand.

The hand has a normal style ball joint, but the connector piece that goes into the arm is a bit different and you need to pull pretty hard to remove it; I'd recommend a lot of cautoin as I could see a finger easily breaking off if you aren't careful

BTW, I was hoping to get a full arm for a custom... so if anyone is willing to part with their damaged left arm I'd be happy to pay for it

Here's a comment from Sideshow's Facebook page about the hand issue I just saw:

COMMENT FROMC-3PO BUYER:
Sideshow Collectibles - I just received my 1/6 c-3PO figure and I am wondering if you will be offering replacement arms? As you know by now all the 3pos have the thumbs misaligned so they look like a fifth finger rather than a thumb. Many customers have contacted you by email about this but no one has received a response. At over $220 per figure we expect better quality control and fixes when problems occur.
You can read some of the public complaints here: [link to this thread]

SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES RESPONDS:
Hey Laurel, thanks for the comment and feedback! C-3PO was originally pictured with different hands in a few prototype images on our blog. As you probably know, early prototypes can differ from the final production piece. We always keep the design as faithful to the character as we can, but in order to do that, sometimes changes are made during the creative process.
Production on this version of C-3PO has been completed, and he’s currently making his way to moisture farms across the galaxy. And you never know, someday there may be another release of the famous protocol droid. Possibly from a different film with the appropriate changes or modifications to his design. Thanks for your comment, and we hope that we shed some light on the situation. Cheers!

So their answer is "you can buy another if we make one". Fk you Sideshow. Returning mine and moving to Hot Toys.

So apparently the hands were designed to look terrible. Good to know.

Sean

What a load... It's a more involved response than I expected, but a pretty shameful response as it's just not true. There is no reason the finger would be turned differently other than it being an error. As has been demonstrated simply changing the position of the same thumb completely fixes the appearance.

Like a lot of things Sideshow leaves it to the customer to fix the mistake on our own.

 

[loki2371]

I finally had a chance to unbox a few things yesterday. I think 3PO looks great... and yes I'm cheap, I've decided to keep my SSC figures.

They're really not that bad considering how long ago they came out and what they cost. I'd just try to buy a loose parted out HT head sculpt for both and call it a day... That's what I may do for the eventual Luke Jedi HT version, which is really the only version of Luke I'd want. All my figures just stand their looking dumb anyway No dramatic poses for me, all standing at attention and boring.

 

[loki2371]

So turns out the hands are removeable... Sideshow is just sending a replacement hand to me. And I'm guessing anyone getting an arm it will be just the arm w/o a hand.

The hand has a normal style ball joint, but the connector piece that goes into the arm is a bit different and you need to pull pretty hard to remove it; I'd recommend a lot of cautoin as I could see a finger easily breaking off if you aren't careful

Is it possible you could put up some pictures showing what the hand and arm looks like after being removed??

 

[Tinman2000]

Are we certain the hands can be removed...has anyone tried and are there pictures? I'd be more prone to try and fix them if I didn't have to work with them attached to the arm.

 

[carbonfreezer]

when did you send a request from them? I'm still waiting for my reply from friday afternoon

I filled out an online form and submitted it Friday at around 9:00 AM Pacific time.

 

[Darthrazz]

So turns out the hands are removeable... Sideshow is just sending a replacement hand to me. And I'm guessing anyone getting an arm it will be just the arm w/o a hand.

The hand has a normal style ball joint, but the connector piece that goes into the arm is a bit different and you need to pull pretty hard to remove it; I'd recommend a lot of cautoin as I could see a finger easily breaking off if you aren't careful

BTW, I was hoping to get a full arm for a custom... so if anyone is willing to part with their damaged left arm I'd be happy to pay for it



What a load... It's a more involved response than I expected, but a pretty shameful response as it's just not true. There is no reason the finger would be turned differently other than it being an error. As has been demonstrated simply changing the position of the same thumb completely fixes the appearance.

Like a lot of things Sideshow leaves it to the customer to fix the mistake on our own.

So GB, to clear , they're sending replacement hand, but the wrong thumb orientation will still be there? Or you're getting correct thumb hand?

 

[galactiboy]

Here you guys go... first pic is the wrist and hand peg. Fun fact, the hand peg does not come out of the hand; it's got a t shaped design, so if you try to remove the peg from the hand you will break it(like I did ). Also the design of the peg should allow for up and down movement (as it's a ball joint) but it sits so deep in the forearm that is not possible. But like I said you can pull the hand out of the forearm, just grip the palm and pull straight out; it's a tight fit but it will come loose.

And here's the inside of the hand, the gold part can be popped off (do it at your own risk) in order to access the fingers. Unfortunately the T design again is the culprit in preventing the thumb from being reoriented. It won't fit in sideways and I assume anyone that was able to twist it either stripped the T-peg or it's housing and it may be putting a lot of pressure on the halfs of the hand.

But, I'm about to try and reshape the T peg of the thumb down to a ball, if that works I should be able to return it and then it would be allowed to twist at the base. So clearly the issue is that Sideshow got the orientation of the T-peg wrong, had it been different this would not have happened.

Stay tuned for updates.

 

[TonTon]

Yeah, that sort of looks like there was nothing wrong, meaning there's only one way for the thumb to go in, with the production, but rather in how it was designed. Can the thumb be rotated and have the extra T part filed down and the gaps that creates filled in? Or would there still be issues with where it is seated?

 

[Darth_IMPoor]

That's some great info gb, thanks. The question now is how brave do I wanna be to REALLY fix it.

 

[EVILFACE]

Here you guys go... first pic is the wrist and hand peg. Fun fact, the hand peg does not come out of the hand; it's got a t shaped design, so if you try to remove the peg from the hand you will break it(like I did ). Also the design of the peg should allow for up and down movement (as it's a ball joint) but it sits so deep in the forearm that is not possible. But like I said you can pull the hand out of the forearm, just grip the palm and pull straight out; it's a tight fit but it will come loose.

And here's the inside of the hand, the gold part can be popped off (do it at your own risk) in order to access the fingers. Unfortunately the T design again is the culprit in preventing the thumb from being reoriented. It won't fit in sideways and I assume anyone that was able to twist it either stripped the T-peg or it's housing and it may be putting a lot of pressure on the halfs of the hand.

But, I'm about to try and reshape the T peg of the thumb down to a ball, if that works I should be able to return it and then it would be allowed to twist at the base. So clearly the issue is that Sideshow got the orientation of the T-peg wrong, had it been different this would not have happened.

Stay tuned for updates.

Good to know. I guess that T area can be heated with a hair dryer and the slowly turned to position the thumb better.

 

[Wor-Gar]

That's great! Thanks for that!

I also think my original plan to cut at the bottom of the thumb and reglue will still work -- even moreso seeing it this way.

But one clarification: can the T-joint of the entire hand be removed from the forearm without damage? Or you need to break off the t-shaped end to get it out? Looks like there's a T-shaped hole in the forearm if you can line it up correctly.

 

[galactiboy]

So GB, to clear , they're sending replacement hand, but the wrong thumb orientation will still be there? Or you're getting correct thumb hand?

Nope, just a regular messed up hand I assume... I had a broken pinky, so they are replacing the hand because of that; not the crap design.

Yeah, that sort of looks like there was nothing wrong, meaning there's only one way for the thumb to go in, with the production, but rather in how it was designed. Can the thumb be rotated and have the extra T part filed down and the gaps that creates filled in?

Yep, that's what I just did here... filed down the T peg; you can see it in the bottom right image next to a regular pinky T-peg. Then the bottom left is what it looks like normally (kind of, I didn't take a proper before) and top is after the fix. Unfortunately I can't put the hand back on due to the wrist peg breaking in order to see it on the figure, but it looks much better.

 

[Shanester]

Shaving down the "T" on that thumb would be great, but getting that hand open could be dangerous.