Review: LEGO Star Wars 75398 C-3PO

Today we're talking very quickly about the contents of the LEGO Star Wars set. 75398 C-3PO, a box of 1138 pieces currently for pre-order on the official online store at the public price of €139,99 and which will be available from August 1, 2024.

Almost everything has already been said about this product, including the possibility of displaying it alongside the droid from the set 75379 R2-D2 (€99,99), but I still had to check if this box really deserves the honors of our portfolios without delay, in particular we have before our eyes the true color of the construction without the usual optimization of the official visuals.

I will point it out right away for those who have not looked at the construction closely or who have gotten a little carried away by discovering the official visuals of the product, the construction is not covered with plastic parts. Metallic Gold and we have to make do with a meager dozen brilliant pieces, the two of which Dish for the eyes, the rest being composed of matte elements in Pearl Gold. These latter are not all the same shade and many pieces have this usual "marbled" effect with darker streaks which detract from the overall aesthetic of the product.

Some of the pieces that cover the droid's lower right leg are in turn metallic Silver, others are installed at the junction between the torso and the arms, i.e. around thirty elements supplied in this shade.

Only the parts of the breastplate and C-3PO's face are pad printed, the rest is based on stickers (see the scan of the board below). The plaque which provides some facts about the protocol droid is also pad printed, this is now the standard for sets which use this artifice to suggest a collector's effect.

For the rest, the assembly of the product is quite entertaining with a very colorful internal structure on which the gold and metallic parts are installed. Nothing very complicated with 275 steps to reach the end of the construction without counting the three minutes necessary to assemble the minifig support and the presentation plate.

To prevent it from tipping over, the droid is firmly planted in a base which guarantees maximum stability. This configuration is not shocking when C-3PO is alone but the support may be less suitable for a combination with the droid from the set 75379 R2-D2 which will rest on the floor of the living room dresser.

The arms can be oriented to obtain the two positions visible in the photos that I offer you here, a third documented configuration which requires a few quick modifications will allow the right arm to be put in position on the dome of R2-D2 (see visual below ). LEGO has thought of everything, it's appreciable and all that remains is to hope to be able to acquire the two droids at a preferential rate via a set of the two products. Just kidding, that won't happen.

The torso is logically static, the head can however be oriented as you wish. We will remember the use of magic wands for the extensions which “connect” the two sections of the arms and two ski poles placed on the outer surface of the knees.

Aesthetically, this C-3PO with LEGO sauce is doing honorably in my opinion except perhaps at the level of the face with a slightly strange expression and bulging eyes which spoil the overall appearance of the model a little. I don't know if it was really possible to do better, but as it stands it seems a little approximate in this area. The back of the model benefits from a very good finish, no one will expose C-3PO from the back but it is always nice to know that the finish is of the same level on all sides of a product.

The ventral section with visible wiring is based solely on the aesthetics of the handful of stickers provided and the result seems quite convincing to me with a visible reduction in the diameter of the droid's body in this location and a few black parts which are visually forgotten under the stickers. We will also welcome the presence of five fingers on each hand, this is not always the case at LEGO when it comes to representing human or robotic limbs.

The minifig provided is the one already available in this configuration since 2022 in the LEGO Star Wars set Ultimate Collector Series 75341 Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder (€239,99), nothing new on this side and the opportunity for all those who absolutely want to add this version to their collection to obtain it for a hundred euros less. We obtain in passing a new copy of the brick celebrating the 25th anniversary of the LEGO Star Wars range, we begin to accumulate them.

This model is in my opinion generally convincing for a product on this scale, it would however have deserved a little more consideration with a real layer of Metallic Gold which would have given it a little more character. The few shiny touches present on the body of the droid are not enough, it is even a little sad with this vaguely golden matte shade and mottled with production defects in places.

The posture of C-3PO is realistic, the setting on the sand of Tatooine may seem superfluous but the base ensures maximum stability for the product and the presence of a minifig available until now only in a much more expensive set is a good news. I will be one of those who will make the effort, the homage to the famous droid is acceptable, but I will be patient while waiting for the price of this box to be a little more attractive elsewhere than at LEGO.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 12, 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.