the truly rare C3 Vader

skye · May 9, 2005

Thats right, I have the rarest C3 Vader of all time. Why? Because, it is loose!
Didn't see anyone else with a loose one, so I thought I'd post a picture of mine I only wanted it as a souvenir, so it was more fun to open. I had fun throwing the figure around and bending the card in front of scalpers. It is after all, pretty much just a toy

Another cool thing, is swapping the C3 vader with the ROTS Vader. I found the C3 vader a little rigid and the ROTS one is impossible to stand up. This is the best of both worlds.

He looks kind of like that cool Dorman image they often sell as a Vader picture.

For those of you that are on the fence about opening it, I highly suggest it. It is cool packaging, but it is just more fun as a small sculpture instead of a heavy card.

HumanJedi · May 9, 2005

The girl in front of me in line at the C3 store opened hers right then and there! Everyone's eyes bugged out and their jaws dropped to the floor! It was classic.

I don't have the heart to open mine.

HobNoblet · May 9, 2005

At C2 some guy opened his Sacul while leaving the store and held it up, a lot of people clapped and cheared. But I'm sure a lot freaked out.

The_Mike · May 9, 2005

It looks pretty cool loose but I just can't open mine...

Art · May 9, 2005

My son opened his C3 Vader about 10 seconds after we got it - which was about 5:50 Thursday evening. He's only 6, and was really embarrassed when a lot of folks in line were cheering him on and clapping. A bunch of folks took his picture as well. I got a lot of that on video, and it's fun (and funny)when we watch it.

Cheers!
Art

JoshEEE · May 9, 2005

Man, that's hilarious.
I'm surprised people were so "shocked" by anyone that opened a C3 Vader. It's not like it's a Toy Fair Vader. Now that is a pricey figure to open.

Holographic_Elvis · May 9, 2005

I have one loose.

Victor_Von_Doom · May 9, 2005

B-B-But then its not worth as much $$$ ?!?!

Adam_L · May 10, 2005

yeah...
Actually, what Skye doesn't want to tell everyone, is that after opening his C3 Vader that night in Indy.... he ended up sleeping with it- Vader kept him company

Just think if it was an exclusive Chewbacca ....... we would have been up all night

Man, who says Vader is such a bad guy

Ed3 · May 10, 2005

Victor_Von_Doom said:
B-B-But then its not worth as much $$$ ?!?!

No, but the four you have sealed in titanium star cases tucked in a vault 600 meters below the surface of the earth in a room surrounded by sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads are now that much more rare! That's 1 down, 49995 to go.

yodaman · May 10, 2005

It would be funny if George Lucas hid a "golden ticket" inside one of the C3 Vaders. I bet you would have seen alot of people ripping open theirs on the spot

Scoundrel68 · May 10, 2005

Art said:
My son opened his C3 Vader about 10 seconds after we got it - which was about 5:50 Thursday evening. He's only 6, and was really embarrassed when a lot of folks in line were cheering him on and clapping. A bunch of folks took his picture as well. I got a lot of that on video, and it's fun (and funny)when we watch it.

Cheers!
Art

I witnessed your son opening it. He was a good sport! It was pretty funny seeing people's reactions. I was cheering and applauding, though. Afterall, it IS a toy!

Curt

ronsalvatore · May 10, 2005

Congratulations on being the first collector to ever photograph his action figures in front of a copy of Proust.

;^)

ron

Art · May 10, 2005

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font>
I witnessed your son opening it. He was a good sport! It was pretty funny seeing people's reactions. I was cheering and applauding, though. Afterall, it IS a toy!

[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the support on the C3 floor. I'll let him know that one of his "fans" commented here. He'll be excited. I'll also try to post a pic of him later as he was opening.

Cheers!
Art

skye · May 10, 2005

ronsalvatore said:
Congratulations on being the first collector to ever photograph his action figures in front of a copy of Proust.

;^)

ron

You know, I thought that people would comment on the Pirate-Lobot Jedi before the Proust. To be fair, Ron's signature line opened the door to other French culture references on the board. I'm just riding the trend. But hey, the terrible thing about life is that everyone has their reasons.

Glad to hear other stories of other openers. It was really the principal of the thing. And yes, I did sleep with my Loose Vader. Thanks Adam for pointing that out.

However, that was really a space issue as I had to sleep in the Walk in Closet due to bed issues and snoring. Vader was there with the rest of our stuff. I'd rather hear "Prepare yourself for the Revenge of the Sith" all night than a Choir of snuffles.

And Art, if you could ever post that video of your son opening the figure that would be pretty priceless, even legendary if you got a lot of the reaction shots. A bunch of grumpy middle aged men, sitting in line for 8 hours, staring in disbelief at a child who actually dares to play with a toy. In a way, that is what the whole hobby is all about, for better and worse.

dsl89 · May 10, 2005

I have a loose one! When I went to the Fan Club Breakfast, the one I got had this crease that ran from the top of the card to about halfway to the blister. I opened it (and reviewed it here).

I also have 3 others carded, so I didn't feel bad.

OmegaSquadComm · May 10, 2005

Well I don't see why a opener (like me) have to open this figure. You can change the batt and play with the buttom without open it, and the figure is the same sculp as Vader 25th Anniversary, so I already have one loose, why two?

grand_moff_aaron · May 10, 2005

Where ever did you get that Lobot? Is that a rare prototype that was canceled early in production in the 80's because I am pretty sure the one I had as a kid never wore sunglasses!?!

CW_Walker · May 10, 2005

A buddy of mine went a step further than simply opening a C3 Vader. He opened it, cut its head off, carved out the C3 exclusive Vader topper, and placed it on the headless body. Thus, you have a custom deformed C3 Vader.

Two exclusives ruined, but a nice result!

skye · May 10, 2005

Now that is a good Vader, Packaok. I might do the same thing with my topper. I mean, what are you supposed to do with that thing anyways?

It is true that the figure is avaliable elsewhere, and it is true that they made the packaging to keep the toy in. It may be hard to believe, but it is a better toy when it is loose. I just like the way it sits on a shelf, and I especially like being free of the tyranny of its own value. I mean, it is probably the least played with toy in history.

skye · May 10, 2005

grand_moff_aaron said:
Where ever did you get that Lobot? Is that a rare prototype that was canceled early in production in the 80's because I am pretty sure the one I had as a kid never wore sunglasses!?!

Here is the story on the Lobot Aaron...

He is not wearing sunglasses, but an eyepatch. But it certainly IS a prototype (I added the lightsaber as a joke). If you went to the unproduced toys panel you would recognize it as the the figure which came with the aborted "Bespin Pirate Ship Adventure" playset. Kenner decided to cancel the line after sales died down in the mid 80s. I don't have "Lando Bluebeard" Hard Copy to accompany him, though some say the only known copy (seen in the 1986 Wish Book) has been destroyed.

I'm not %100 sure that my Lobot Proto is authentic, and actually from the "Pirate Ship" playset, but I'm fairly certain. The other option is that some kid drew an eyepatch on Lobot to make him more interesting, and I bought it for a buck at Hidden Rebel Base. I don't know though, that seems somewhat unrealistic.

xwing_5 · May 12, 2005

You are all hilarious!!!
Now I am thinking of opening up one of mine just for heck of it. But I guess that what i would need to do is open it up in front of some scalpers!!!!

Did anyone see the films made by fans at CIII? There was one called "Figure Club" based on Fight Club" where collectors would get togather and "open" their rare figures and actually play with them. We are talking 20-30 year olds in the club and all playing togather with their newly opened figs. It was HILARIOUS!!!

Luke · May 17, 2005

Opened one for my 5 year old son.

It is his favorite figure by far!

Todd

New_Bornalex · Jun 7, 2005

I didn't open a C3 Vader (since as mentioned above it is the same as the 25th anniversary figure, which I do own loose already)... however, I did take mine on radio with me.

The month before C3, I directed a play and one of the actors was a local DJ. His son is a big SW fan, so we talked about that a lot. He told me I should come on the show during the week of ROTS and talk about collecting in general (no spoilers in other words.)

I was on the show for an hour or so, and a lot of my anecdotes were about C3, being in line to see Lucas, etc. And although I was smart enough to think ahead and bring along the C3 talking toy (so James Earl Jones could be on radio with me) I was NOT smart enough to take it out of the Star Case before I tried to press the button the first time!

I had not noticed that the Star Case precludes the audio activation button being able to fully depress!

So when the listeners at home and in their cars for the afternoon drive strained to hear "Welcome to Celebration III", at first they had to hear a few seconds of dead air and the distinctive Tupperware-like sound of a plastic case opening (and being dropped to the floor).

Hey, that's show biz.

Alex