Poor, poor 4-LOM. (a.k.a.
For Love or Money.) He gets about three or four seconds of screen time
in The Empire Strikes Back. His 12" action figure likeness leaves
something to be desired. The only thing that works in his favor is his
vanity license plate name. Poor, poor 4-LOM!
4-LOM is only for
collectors. Kids will look at him and say, "Who’s this guy?"
Basically, 4-LOM is a repainted C-3PO with a different head. The head is
very well done though – kind of a mechanized fly with built in gas
mask. The overall paint job is very good. He’s got rust on all his
seams and is accurate to his movie incarnation. But there is just
something lacking. I’m not precisely sure what it is, but he
definitely would have benefited from been given a metallic sheen. 4-LOM
really craps out with the articulation. Forget about action stances –
the closest you can get makes it look like he’s attempting a droid
version of Morris Dancing. His
arms are articulated at the shoulders;
the legs at the hips, knees, and ankles. Unfortunately, the leg
articulation doesn’t go far enough and the hip seams are angled
instead of balljointed. While this is accurate to the movie, it bites
when it comes to the action figure. His head also turns and his right
hand can be rotated. 4-LOM also gets short-changed in the weapons
department. His blaster rifle is solid and looks nearly identical to the
movie representation. But it’s also identical to IG-88’s. If you
bought both IG-88 and 4-LOM, you can give both rifles to IG-88 for some
two-fisted John Woo-style action.
Advertisement
Playability gets marks
because it fits in with the other 12" figures of the Star Wars
universe, but gets docked marks for the poor articulation. Toughness is
good. After many falls, being slammed in a door, and kicked across a
room, 4-LOM didn’t lose any limbs. His gun might be lost during rough
or outside play. When not in use, he stands very easily.
Overall, as I’ve said
before, 4-LOM will keep collectors happy with its accurate likeness but
kids will probably give it a miss.