Have I Been Done? See Threepio (Non Removable Limbs)

Hi there, I've just had a See Threepio non-removable limbs delivered from eBay. But on inspection it seems to be the same shape, sculpt and stance as the removable limbs one - of course however the limbs are secure?
It has a 1977 leg stamp and also a metal pin in the back, but see the picture attached - the new one is on the left - my original is in the middle with a damaged hand - and my removable limbs one is on the right. Have I been eBay done?

If it's got 1977 stamped then it's almost certainly a genuine fixed limbs 3PO mate.

Looks good to me.

SW and early ESB card release C-3POs all had fixed limbs. Due to the chroming some limbs were kind of fused together and needed to be 'cracked' to release the bond in order for the limbs to move.

All future releases of 3PO all had the removable limb feature.

It's the stance, as well as the chest size.
It's very much the removable limbs figure shape. And not the original one.
Did the build process change between 77 and 85?

There wasnt much variation between the original non remvable limbs figure and the removable.limbs figure in terms of sculpt. My two look nearly indistinguishable apart from non removable being more golden in colour and removable being an almost silvery colour. There are probably going to be variations where they used differernt moulds and stuff.

Whilst not a sure-fire way to distinguish between them, in my experience the original C-3POs retain their golden colour far, far better than the removable limbs version. I haven't seen very many faded originals, whereas you're doing very well indeed to find a removable limbs version that looks as golden as an original non-removable limbs one. Almost all the removable limbs versions look at least slightly silver-gold when stood next to an original one, and most of them are very silvery these days, so I would say based on the picture you posted that you have probably not been done.

Sorry, have to disagree here. The one on the left and one on the right are clearly the same sculpt, removable limbs. The one in the middle is different, fixed limbs. Look at the gap/shape between the legs, outer ones wide, centre one narrow. The removable limbs 3PO is a completely different sculpt, much thicker set and wider stance of arms and legs than the fixed limbs.

Robstyley said:

Sorry, have to disagree here. The one on the left and one on the right are clearly the same sculpt, removable limbs. The one in the middle is different, fixed limbs. Look at the gap/shape between the legs, outer ones wide, centre one narrow. The removable limbs 3PO is a completely different sculpt, much thicker set and wider stance of arms and legs than the fixed limbs.

Click to expand...

I agree with you about the sculpts, it is very strange and I always thought that was a good way of telling them apart from a picture. So does the new so say fixed limb one have 1977 or 1980 leg stamp? I'm wondering if there was also some sort of cross over where the new mold was used for both versions at some point.

Any C-3PO collectors out there?

Ian

Here's his back... There's something very fishy about it - Why would anyone bother is my first thought?

It has the 1977 date stamp so the legs look to be from the fixed limbs version. Also has the fixed limb torso due to the hole in back with the metal rivet. The removable limbs version has the molded rivet.

I'm not that knowledgable about C3PO variants but perhaps this particular mold is common for both the fixed and removable limbs version. After all they created it by altering the existing molds for a fixed limb C3PO. Not sure if they had to resculpt anything to create new parts or not.

Robstyley said:

Sorry, have to disagree here. The one on the left and one on the right are clearly the same sculpt, removable limbs. The one in the middle is different, fixed limbs. Look at the gap/shape between the legs, outer ones wide, centre one narrow. The removable limbs 3PO is a completely different sculpt, much thicker set and wider stance of arms and legs than the fixed limbs.

Click to expand...

See, I'd totally agree with you. I would have sworn that both the left and right were RL whilst the middle was FL. Looks like I would have bet the house and lost. Haven't even got time to dig mine out tonight but will do tomorrow and have a squint, as this is new to me.

ScruffyLookingNH said:

Robstyley said:

Sorry, have to disagree here. The one on the left and one on the right are clearly the same sculpt, removable limbs. The one in the middle is different, fixed limbs. Look at the gap/shape between the legs, outer ones wide, centre one narrow. The removable limbs 3PO is a completely different sculpt, much thicker set and wider stance of arms and legs than the fixed limbs.

Click to expand...

See, I'd totally agree with you. I would have sworn that both the left and right were RL whilst the middle was FL. Looks like I would have bet the house and lost. Haven't even got time to dig mine out tonight but will do tomorrow and have a squint, as this is new to me.

Click to expand...

I agree with both these. Looks fishy to me, but why would someone bother doing this. How much did you pay for him?

I paid £49.99 inc PP for this and a good condition 1977 R2D2, and am due to leave the eBay seller some feedback.
The seller is http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/1kpp?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2754
Whilst they have a number of other SW items for sale this is a pretty specific query and so I don't immediately post any blame on the seller, who I will be getting in touch with simply to see if they can shed any light on it's origins.

It does have an unusually wide stance, but the metal pin at the back and the 1977 prove it's a fixed limb version. If it has a ring around the dot on the back of the head, also shows it to be a fixed limb version.

I have dug out 4 different fixed limb C3PO coo, including the same coo, and all have a tight stance.

You could be taking the piss out of us and showing a picture of a removable limb from the front and a fixed limb from the back. :roll:
The gaps at the hips and arms sockets are not right for a fixed limb.

Another (slightly comical) photo - but really hammers home that the new one on the left (supposedly FL) had more in common with the RL limbs one on the far right as opposed to the true FL one in the middle.

I should also add that it's limb movement is quite poor - very sticky / jolty.

If someone can tell me that they started using the RL sculpt but issuing it with the 77 leg stamp and making it FL them thats fine - but I guess thats not the case.

I really can't see how someone( or why really), would mess with this figure. It's very strange but there must be someone with the same sculpt fixed limb figure in their collection? Maybe it's one of the most rare variants out there that no ones aware of?

Ian

Section 8 said:

You could be taking the piss out of us and showing a picture of a removable limb from the front and a fixed limb from the back. :roll:
The gaps at the hips and arms sockets are not right for a fixed limb.

Click to expand...

OK, obviously another picture in response to that

I do of course agree that the stance of your new figure is wider than is usual for a fixed limb C-3PO, but let's not forget that that version shipped up to and including the Kenner 48 back, and of course actually overlapped the removable limbs version, so it is highly probable there will be some stance variations across the range of production runs. The Imperial Gunnery Forum offers us this close up view of the COOs across the fixed limb variants, and whilst a full length shot would be nicer, it certainly looks to me like there is some stance variation across the non-Takara and non-Lili Ledy versions:

http://www.imperialgunneryforum.com/Vintage-Star-Wars-COO-Guide-h14.htm#C3PO%20%28Original%29

I'm not saying I'm definitely right about it being a fixed limb version, but I am pretty confident. It's not just the bright golden colour, which is unusual on the removable limbs version these days, but also since the date stamp is definitely 1977 rather than 1982 (and this was definitely updated for the removable limbs version), then the legs are almost certainly from a fixed limb version, and who on earth would go to the trouble of attaching original FL legs to a RL figure? And besides, as Olisuds pointed out, the rivet is consistent with the FL version, so whilst it is a wide stance, I also think it is probably a legit FL version, albeit perhaps a wider stance variant not widely known (excuse the pun ;-))

Thats a great link thanks - the COO matches picture number 2 where there is a full stop after the 1977. Don't know what that tells me though.

Well, it tells you that it has a wide stance, judging by picture 2. Compare that to picture 3 for example, which clearly has a narrower stance, judging by how close together the knees are.