The Phantom Menace has brought some of its amazing content to the Lego world. This particular set was the exclusive May the 4th, 2012. This is TC-14.

This set is packaged as a poly bag. It does not contain a fold-out instructions leaflet like other poly bags.

The minifig is basically C3-PO in chrome. He has a rounded head with glowing yellow eyes. The body has got a chest plate with a few other added details such as the circular disc near the bottom of its torso. Coloured wires jut out from an opening between the legs and the torso. The legs are plain chrome.

The minifig is hard to classify in my collection since it only plays a part as a waiter droid in the film. However, I put it amongst the Jedi, Resistance and Rebels because TC-14 never does anything to defy them. A waiter droid or not, it could fit in just about anywhere.

I got this along with 7879 Hoth Echo Base. I had to wait two months till my birthday to open it. When I got it, it was my first polybag minifig.

Pros

• Love the chrome plating
• Great addition to any STAR WARS collection

Cons

• Some parts not fully coated especially the hands

This a great fig if you can get one. I used it in a stop-motion film.

Box/Instructions

Did not come fith any

Parts

Some parts not fully coated especially the hands. Which I mean if you used the hands to much the paint would come off anyway.

Minifigures

A-W-S-O-M-E!

The build

The same as all fig.

Summary

This a great addition to any STAR WARS collection, and well worth the money especially since I got another great Hoth set.

For several years now Lego have been running some kind of special offer over the International Star Wars days, the fourth and fifth of May. The latest gift to come from these offers is this Minifigure, the Protocol Droid TC-14. In my opinion this is a superb Minifigure, the detail is outstanding and of course the chromed parts make it an absolutely spectacular collectable for display. The character is ideal for creation in Lego too, as the figure is extremely accurate to TC-14 from Star Wars Episode I, The Phantom Menace, but is also generic enough to be an unknown Protocol Droid to fit seamlessly in to just about any Star Wars MOC as a background character which might really add to the realism of the model.

Parts

I will start at the top as always with the head piece. This is the standard Protocol Droid head mould and I think it is perfect. The piece is in fact cast in black plastic before being chromed and is printed with yellow eyes which certainly help to break up the overwhelming amounts of silver on this Minifigure. It is fantastic to get this piece in silver chrome as it is very eye-catching and very regal in appearance.

The torso is also chromed and is printed with the new Protocol Droid design we first saw on C-3PO in set 9490, Droid Escape, which looks much more accurate than the older one and I much prefer overall. The powerbus cables running through the droid are present and can be seen through the exposed section on the chest of the figure, just as they are in the film. The recharge socket is also visible along with many smaller details. From certain angles it can be quite difficult to see some areas of the printing on this figure, but when you look at it from the correct angle, it is wonderful. The back of the piece is also printed nicely with similar designs to the front. The arms are unprinted chrome, but unfortunately the hands are not chromed at all and are left light bluish grey. I understand the reasoning behind this as if they were chromed it would make fitting anything in the droid's hand a little problematic due to the chrome being rubbed off, however, as this is mainly a figure for display without the chrome hands she looks a bit bizarre and unfinished.

The hips and legs are both chromed entirely but are not printed like the arms. You can see from behind or underneath the Minifigure that the piece is in fact light grey but has been chromed. This light grey cast is shared by all of the pieces but the head, but you need not worry about the grey plastic being visible anywhere other than the hands as you really have to look for it and disassemble the figure to see this plastic.

Summary

I would certainly recommend this Minifigure and if you were not lucky enough to pick one of these up during the promotion, I would advise you to procure yourself one as it truly is a marvellous figure, for display in particular. For polybag or Star Wars Minifigure collectors this set is of course an absolute must have. With past chromed Lego Minifigures I have not had a problem with the shine wearing off so I see no reason why that should be a problem here. Despite all of these good factors however, I am going to dock this Minifigure one point due to the lack of chrome on the hands.

Overall - 9/10

This figure was a giveaway for the "May The Fourth" at Lego Shop at Home. It comes in a poly bag, containing three pieces: head, body and legs. The parts are moulded in light bluish grey, but chromed, painted and printed almost all over.

TC-14 is the 'Protocol Droid' who greets Qui Gon Jin and Obi Wan Kenobi at the beginning of The Phantom Menace. If I remember rightly, it was brightly polished (and in much better condition than C3PO) and spoke with a higher pitched voice, feminine if not actually female.

The figure is beautifully chromed and painted, with nice details like yellow painted eyes and printed wiring and details on the front and back of the torso. The printing is black, with the wires on TC-14's belly picked out in yellow, red, blue and white. Very neat and crisp.

The only thing that lets this figure down is that the hands are still grey, not chrome. That's probably because chroming the hands was too expensive for Lego to justify, and you only notice it if you look closely. If you see the figure at arms length, you can hardly tell - unless you are super fussy about that sort of thing. (All the parts appear to be light bluish grey, with chroming applied on top, so the grey is visible in the areas that connect the bits, but aren't seen once the figure is assembled.)