In 2019, Hasbro brought the first comic book characters from the Star Wars comics to the Black Series line. New fan favourite Doctor Aphra was released in wave 21 and alongside her came her droid due of Beetee and Triple Zero.
Packaging 4/5
Triple Zero is packed in the phase 3 red and back packaging, and is number 89 in the line. The box is illustrated with a very creepy looking 0-0-0, an impressive feat of illustration considering 0-0-0 looks essentially like any other protocol droid.
There is no reference on the box to the characters origin in the Marvel comics series, and that may be confusing to some collectors not familiar with the content. Perhaps a small logo would have helped - similar to what is done with the EA games figures from Battlefront and Fallen Jedi.
We do get a short piece of background text on the back, as usual, that covers Triple Zero's role working alongside Doctor Aphra and his counterpart, Beetee.
"Activated by Doctor Aphra, 0-0-0 (Triple Zero) is a droid programmed for etiquette, protocol, and translations, but also specializes in interrogation and torture. With his fluency in a droid language unique to the Tarkin Initiative labs, the dark silver-plated droid reactives an assassin astromech droid, BT-1."
Paint & Sculpt 3/5
Triple Zero is of course the C-3PO sculpt with a new paint job and a new pair of hands. It has had a couple of small upgrades from the original C-3PO mould by using the 4-LOM arms to add some elbow articulation as we will see shortly. The thighs are also extended to make him taller and better proportioned.
The body is cast in an odd brown/grey finish which is not at all like the "dark silver plated" droid we read about on the box. While Hasbro have not successfully done a metallic figure to date, I would have liked to see a more metallic finish to Triple Zero than the dull one we get.
Over this base colour are some nice touches like the scratches and paint wear. The tummy wiring is also neatly painted, as are each of the fingers on his two torture hands.
Triple Zero is part of a trio of figures from Wave 21 from the Aphra comics and he looks great lined up with both Aphra and Beetee.
Accessories 2/5
If the torture hands are a bit too much, Triple Zero is supplied with a normal pair of hands. These are also taken from 4-LOM and as such the right hand is shaped to hold a weapon - complete with trigger finger. The hands pop on and off well enough.
While this feels light as far as accessories go, I can't really think of anything else that could have been packed with Triple Zero that would have made sense?
Articulation 2/5
Triple Zero is not the most mobile figure, and like C-3PO before him is really only able to turn his head and move his arms up and down.
Head : Ball joint pivot neck
Body : ball joint torso
Arms: ball joint shoulder, rotating shoulder panel, elbow joint, wrist pivot
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, single joint knee, ankle rocker
While the added 4-LOM elbow joints are clever, with their sliding piston, they do not really add much more movement. There is also an issue on the figure I have where the left arm constantly pops out of the shoulder joint when ever I move it - if you want to raise the figures arms you will have to rotate the shoulder cup panel at the same time.
The head and torso are quite mobile allowing some character to posing, with head cocked perhaps or the droid leaning forward or backward. The legs on the other hand are virtually locked in place by the sculpt and with single joint knees there is nothing to do other than neutral stances. The ankle rockers are stiff enough out of the box and Triple Zero stands well enough.
Summary
Considering the use of protocol droids through the Star Wars Universe, I am surprised Triple Zero is only the 2nd use of the full protocol droid figure after multiple C-3PO's. While we've had numerous Astromechs, there has been no real love for other key protocol droids like K-3PO or TC-14.
Triple Zero does bring some new character to the droid sculpt, particularly with those red eyes and the torture hands.
He is sadly lacking still in articulation, and also in an overall metallic finish and ends up looking a little too brown and dull. I score Triple Zero a 3 out of 5.
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