[TAO's Note: It's not often we review Star Wars toys here at Articulated Discussion, so I'm glad Clark has decided to feature another. This time it's the droid 4A-7 from the Clone Wars line, and Clark is going to tell us whether or not he's worth his weight in gold.]  

Name: 4A-7
Line: Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Figure 13
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: 2009
Price: Retail: $7.50-$8.99, Online: $8.95-$14.99
Scale: 3.75”
Accessories: Blaster, hologram, removable visor
Sponsor Listings: Past Generation Toys-$12.95, Amazon-$8.95

     4A-7 is from The Clone Wars series of figures, which means that he is an animated-style toy.  Typically the animated figures have less detail, but I really like this design, and 4A-7 has a very solid sculpt.  This droid has C-3PO’s body, but I like him better than 3PO because this figure has a head with big eyes and an antenna.  He appeared in the Clone Wars movie as a deceptive robot that framed Anakin and Ahsoka as enemies of the Hutts.  For the most part he looks almost exactly like his movie counterpart, the only features that are not spot-on to his movie appearance are his bug-eyes.  In the movie he distinctly has two bulging domes for eyes, and for the toy it is more like a fighter pilot’s visor that is flat and smooth all the way across.  That is not really a complaint, because I think the toy looks fine as is, it is just something to point out.  Maybe the reason for the eyes not matching is because 4A-7’s eyes are actually a removable visor, and he has smaller silver eyes underneath.  This is a fun feature, I don’t remember if his eyes were like that in the film or not, but it is just a cool extra thing about the figure.  I really don’t have a lot to say about the sculpt, it looks representative of the character and is a cool design.

Sculpt Score: 7 / 10

     4A-7 has a really great paint job.  He is cast in a pale gold plastic, and has a light gold wash over his body to bring out some details and make him look more metallic.  The stomach area, where all the wires are, is painted black with a light silver wash to bring out the detail.  The removable visor is clear plastic, with silver paint on the inside to give him a “glittering eyes” effect (according to the package), but there is really nothing glittery about it.  However, the visor does look cool because it has a texture on the inside that reminds me of a fly.  The best thing about the paint scheme is that his pale gold is completely uniform across his body.  The paint really brings out the best from the sculpt, and makes this figure look fantastic.

Paint Score: 8 / 10

     This toy actually has quite a few joints, the problem is that some of them are restricted due to the sculpt.  He has a true ball joint neck, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, torso, knees, ankles, and swivel hips and wrists.  The neck does not have a lot of tilt, because the head has the ball at the base of the neck, and it attaches a bit too deeply in the torso to leave a lot of room for movement.  The shoulders only have about 35-40 degrees of lateral movement due to the shoulder armor, so you can not get his arms to go completely down by his side, or stick out from his body.  Don’t worry too much because you can still get quite a few decent upper body poses.  The knees can bend about 80 degrees, but the swivel does not have a lot of movement because the thighs are sculpted around the joint.
You can actually get him into some decent poses, but you won’t be able to display him that way without a stand because his balance only holds up in a natural pose.  All in all, the joints that I want are there, they just don’t have the range I would like, and his inability to balance in any kind of dramatic pose is the biggest reason I can’t give him a great score.

Articulation Score: 6 / 10

     I really like robots, especially bad robots that lie for evil purposes and have guns.  Because of this, I find 4A-7 to be a very fun figure.  In the movie, 4A-7 recorded Anakin and Ahsoka in a situation that made them look like kidnappers of Jabba the Hutt’s son, then sent the hologram to Jabba.  One of the accessories is a translucent blue hologram of Anakin and Ahsoka with the little slug kid.  This little blue piece of plastic actually has a good amount of detail, you can clearly see the scene and the all of the characters are recognizable.  4A-7 also comes with a blaster, the same blaster that you can get with just about every Separatist droid on the shelves.  It’s not that I don’t like the gun, it’s just that I have six or seven of these things now.  At least the gun is painted, it is black with a silver wash that makes it look like weathered metal.
     This score is more subjective than I usually think it is, but I am really impressed with this figure, and therefore find him to be a very fun figure.

Fun Score: 8 / 10

      You can find this figure for about $7.50 at either Target or Walmart, and if my experience is indicitive of anything it does not seem that he is going to be very hard to find.  For about $8 you’re getting a well articulated robot, that is a bit light on the accessories.  If he had more guns, or if he was a bigger figure then he would be a much better value, but as it stands I just can’t say that he is really worth the money, although I’m happy with him.

Value Score: 6 / 10

7 / 10 - Good sculpt with a design that I really like.

8 / 10 - Very good colors, no slop, makes the design pop.

6 / 10 - All the right joints, not the best range of movement.

8 / 10 - I like robots, everyone should like robots.

6 / 10 - A bit undersized, and light on the accessories.

70 / 100 - This is a Good Toy

-Clark

This could be the figure given away in this month's Review Commentator Contest. Join the discussion by leaving a comment for a chance to win!

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