CZ-4

CZ-4 is a great example of that.

This is actually a droid that I've thought should have been done years ago. Whenever new droids were introduced, I was always hoping for this one. He (she?) is a droid that I remember from the first film. Well I least think I remember. I know for a fact my memory may have been influenced by the Star Wars Storybook. (See the Academy Biggs Darklighter for more on that.) My memory tells he, or a droid like him, was in the Sandcrawler when R2 and 3PO are re-united. I also remember a similar droid wobbling down the street when Luke is selling his landspeeder.

Check out the pic at the end for my memory of CZ-4 in A New Hope.

Ah...here's an anomaly in my memory. The card for CZ-4 states he's from Return of the Jedi. Specifically as a pile of scrap in Jabba's droid dungeon. Ironically, I don't remember him from Jedi. So does he match the Jedi droid? I have no idea. I'm guessing there was only CZ droid type prop though, so except for paint, he probably does.

This droid has the appearance of a primer grey Camaro. He has definitely seen better days. He covered in grime and worn paint. There are orange patches like some sort of OEM paint scheme that has seen better days. There are some other small patches of color in other places as well. One arm has a large burn/blast mark on it. Grease fire while making chicken nuggets for Jawas?

The only area that seems a bit off compared to the rest is the pelvis front. But he's so distressed it's hardly noticeable.

The sculpt overall is pretty detailed. There is some kibble under the chest plate that can be seen in some poses. The crossed eyes are there as well. The bottom of the face seems very lightly off, but nothing major.

I have to say, after everything else this year, I was prepared to be under whelmed by this droid I'd been hoping to see for years. In the

end, my fears were unwarranted. There were two things that really

impressed me appearance wise. One, the weathering is complete. He doesn't suffer from the POTF Sandtrooper disease of only being heavily weathered on the front and minimal on the back. Front and back are both fully washed over in dirt.

The other thing is the extent of the washes on this guy. NECA or McFarlane, I would expect it. But not Hasbro. In some areas where the washes are thin or in the joint, you can see what they started with appears to be a pure white figure. I have to say the paint and character design of CZ-4 are a notch above any recent SW figures.

Here comes another tease to my brain cells. The coin that comes with ol CZ here is a "New Hope" coin.  Ironically, with the Jabba logo on it.  ROTJ on the card, but ANH on the coin.  Personally, I would have though both would have been New Hope, oh well.   The coin is CZ's lone accessory.

CZ-4 has a pretty decent amount of articulation.  Pretty much everything I'd expect for a droid, except a ball jointed shoulders.

The knee articulation is limited due to the droid leg design, but hey, it's really like that.  The head is ball jointed, which is probably not very droid like, but I have to say I like his head slightly askew.   To me, CZ look s like a droid on his last legs, and some skewed joints only help. 

My favorite joint on this figure is the chest joint.  If it's not perfectly in place, it lifts up to reveal the details inside.  These little details really sell the joint as being built into the droid, not just an articulation point.

UPDATE:  After initially posting this, Snowtrooper on the Sir Steve's Guide Forum pointed out something.  CZ is meant to be taken apart.  He pulls apart at the mid section.  It would have to be intentional as there are ridges and detailing on the peg that wouldn't be there otherwise.  His recollection is a CZ torso is shown in Jabba's dungeon.

I have two very small nits with CZ-4.  One the right hand peg on mine is loose.  You can see this in some of the pictures.  He's so dilapidated though, it adds to his charm a bit.  The second is couldn't there have been at least one accessory?  R2 gets stuff all the time.  Threepio has had accessories.   Some Sandcrawler junk would have been cool.