Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,166: CH-33P (Cheep, The Vintage Collection)

CH-33P (Cheep)
The Vintage Collection Amazon Exclusive 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. G0266
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #323
Includes: n/a
Action Feature: Dome pops up, removable dish, pop-out arm
Retail: $69.99
Availability: May 2024
Appearances: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Bio: A droid assigned to Clone Captain Rex's vessel, CH-33P came to the aid of Rex and Ahsoka Tano when Order 66 was issued. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: Chopper, but not! The CH-33P figure was exclusive to Amazon, and has some shared DNA. The figure opts to use C1-10P's body, which is not accurate to the model for Cheep on the show. The cardback photo is smoother, with fewer open panels or replaced bits. If you didn't notice, that's OK - someone seems to have employed the Photoshop Burn tool to darken that part of the photo on the cardback, obfuscating it so you'll pay more attention to the new head sculpt.

It's worth noting the right leg doesn't match the show either - it's not rounded off, it's just a flat one like Chopper's. They also left off The Clone Wars dirty brushing deco, so it's a lot cleaner - but most of the other colors are where they should be. The red light under the yellow eye is present, some blue can be seen in the other two eyes. There's a yellow box on the body, dark gray on the feet, and it's generally pretty close to what you saw once you get past the fact that only the dome and the left leg are more or less correctly sculpted. In a repaint wave, this would be thrilling - foran exclusive figure, it feels like they snuck one past the licensing goalie.

One of the advantages of reusing Chopper's body is that you can pop the dome up a bit and have it wobble a bit if you like - it's not necessarily how it went on the show, but it's a nice feature. The arm is also fastened in there and can rotate, so you won't lose it. The radar dish, on the other hand, pops right out - so be careful to not lose it.

Now that we're being charged about $17.50 per figure in this set, much of which are mostly old parts, it stings a bit that our first (and likely only) CH-33P figure has an off-model leg and body. The back of the body looks fantastic, and they didn't cheap out on painting the silver panels or blue lights. They got deco more or less exactly where it should be, but it would have been nice to see a little more budget spent on getting the figure's body right. Most fans won't notice - or care - and in a kid line I would probably shrug off this kind of thing. It just would have been nice to have some snap-on facade or some element to cover those open panels and make him look a tiny bit more like the cardback, especially given how few droids (and new droids, at that) Hasbro produces in this scale anymore. Still, the set is as good as we're likely to get and if it's on sale, I'd recommend it. It's just a little harder to take with a smile when there are shortcuts on higher-dollar collector figures.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Amazon.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,166: August 27, 2024