C1-MNST4 Halloween Edition
Star Wars Droid Factory
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Radar dish, jointed arms
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $14.99
Availability: September 2024
Appearances: n/a Bio: All different types of droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personalitty and colors. This droid has been constructed using part of other droids for optimum performance on Coruscant. Join C1-MNST4 on his adventures throughout the galaxy. May the Force be with you... and your Droids! (Taken from the packaging.)
Image: Adam's photo lab.
Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!
Click here to buy it at eBay now!
Commentary: The whole holiday droid - indeed, the "fun" repaint - is something I've kind of soured on. It doesn't mean I don't like
C1-MNST4 - this is a good execution (redeco, quirky, there's a story, and it kind of fits in to the narrative) but it's still getting further and further away from why I'm here in the first place since it doesn't
really belong in the stories I like. It's like
Transformers Collabs. Are they neat? Sure. But does Rathalos Prime fit on my shelves with Optimus Prime or Soundwave as nicely as Scrounge, Dinoking, and Nautica? Not really. As there's little need for scene filler anymore (there are so few playsets and so many figures, and so, so many droids) a figure like this exists as a souvenir for Disney fanatics, Halloween fiends, completists, or those who have a big monster collection. I may fit in some variation of that, so I see this guy and go "Yeah, that works for me." The Disney Halloween segment has been relatively restrained and $15 a year isn't like the $125 a year Hasbro has asked for its Christmas collections. (Sorry baby, you know I love you.)
I like a weird figure, and this is a weird figure. Most parts are molded in color - the Chopper body has some purple on the cloaca, there's one painted wire on a leg, and the head has painted hair and painted eyes. And staples. It gives the figure an almost bootleg look, and it really stands out from previous clear frosty figures or heavily painted droids. Normally we're given loads of painted panels, battle-damage or other highlights on the legs. And here? Nothing. It almost doesn't look like it belongs, so much as it looks like a test shot. The basic schtick is that it's Frankenstein's Monster, and in that realm it works. We've had skeletons, ghosts, vampires, and now a bunch of dead body parts bolted together.
Functionally, it's very good. Hasbro has arguably surpassed it with a tilting dome and other niceties, but it's still a solid design with a removable radar dish and tiny arms with little teeny joints. The claw arm opens on the chest, the feet move, and there's a non-retracting wheel despite what the packaging says. You can remove it, but you can't shove it any more up him. He does not consent, nor do the laws of physics.
I would be remiss if I did not inform any vinyl collectors out there that
Monsta!!, the 1995 5-inch record from the underrated Man... or Astro-Man?-adjacent band Supernova, is easily had for a couple of bucks. (I've had my copy for years, you should get one.)
Back when we used to get one Christmas figure every couple of years, or an occasional silver figure, my attitude was "eh, just get it." Now that we're getting Mickey droids and chase blind box droids of robots I can't even recognize, I don't even have the chance to say "yes" or "no" to being a completist - it's just out of reach. Figures like this are in reach, with affordable secondary market prices. I love the concept, I like the execution, but if I were trying to keep it down to a sensible number of Halloween figures I'd probably emphasize getting some of the other ones first. The designers did what they were supposed to do here, but it's hard to top "glowing green ghost," "glowing skeleton," or "pumpkin bot." We got a Zombie this year, and I hope the gill man gets his due soon. Or a mummy.
Happy Halloween, everybody!
Collector's Notes: I got mine from Shop Disney.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 3,185: October 31, 2024
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