Welcome to our review of the Star Wars Black Series 4-LOM figure. 4-LOM was released as part of Wave 17 in mid-2018 and was pretty scarce to start with having been in the midst of the Solo movie figures which were not widely picked up by Toy Retailers. Many fans, including me, had to wait until the Autumn for solid cases of 4-LOM to bring him to our collection.
Packaging 4/5
4-LOM is number 67 in the Black Series Phase 3 and as per all of the Phase 3 releases is packed in the gloss black box with red highlights on the figure background and on the right hand spine. The grayscale artwork is very detailed, capturing the insectoid eyes of 4-LOM brilliantly.
Round the back is a larger version of the same image and a short bio about this Bounty Hunter Droid as seen in the Empire Strikes Back.
"A rusty droid with insectile features, 4-LOM was originally a protocol droid, but logic glitches allowed him to escape his programming and become a bounty hunter. That proved a perfect occupation for the cold, calculating mechanical".
4-LOM is the fourth of the six Bounty Hunters released - with Dengar on the way in Wave 19 and Zuckuss coming as an exclusive.
Sculpt & Paint 4/5
The head is a wonderful sculpt capturing the insectoid features of 4-LOM. The piece is very organic rather than robotic, but of course that is representative of what we saw on screen. The eyes are gorgeous with the insectoid bulging pattern. The whole head is cast out of a green translucent plastic and is painted. The paint is a grey metallic colouring with a gold and brown patterning then for the eyes and lighter grey for the front valves around where the mouth should be. By using the translucent plastic there is a wonderful effect when you place a light behind the head where the eyes glow green. Be careful not to put too powerful a light behind though as the rest of the head will glow green also.
The body of 4-LOM is that of a standard protocol droid, but this has not been a direct re-use of C-3PO from the Black Series. The chest section is brand new with more organic chest panels down to the central circular panel. Under this the midriff also appears new and is extended so 4-LOM stands a little higher than 3-PO. Crotch and lower leg look to be re-used, while the arms are look to be a mix of re-used shoulders and new arm and hand sections.
The body is well proportioned and cast in a gloss dark grey. Paint apps are added to weather the droid with a dirty/rusty brown colour around the panel edges. While this looks good, I think they could have gone a bit more heavy handed to really dirty up to what we see on screen. The oher paint app is the red smear on his chest which is painted into place.
Articulation 3/5
4-LOM, on an articulation count, adds up to an impressive 20 points of articulation. However, he isn't as poseable as normal figures with the protocol body proving very restrictive as it did with C-3PO. The head, as a starting point, is really well done with a good range of motion in all directions. We also get a ball joint in the torso under the tummy section. This can rotate and can lean back a good way, although forward lean is blocked.
The arms are improved on from the original C-3PO base figure with some movement now inserted into the elbows with the pistons ow sliding up and down the lower arm to allow the elbow to bend. This isn't full motion, but is much improved and it works well with the shoulder ball joint, the rotating shoulder cup and the bicep swivel.
Legs are ball jointed hips with a thigh swivel underneath, the large outer leg panels do restrict the legs and you will be left with 4-LOM in standing neutral poses only - particularly when the knees are only a single joint that cant even go to 90 degrees. The ankles are rockers and standing 4-LOM using these is easy.
Accessories 3/5
4-LOM is armed with a DLT-19 heavy blaster, the same weapon used and packed with the Sandtroopers earlier in the line. It is cast in a gloss black plastic with some decent detailing but not a drop of paint applied.
The weapon can be held in the right hand, where a trigger finger does slot into place. In one hand it looks odd, but even with the restricted arm articulation you can bend the other arm across and tweak its wrist pivot to hold the barrel of the gun in a two handed pose.
The blaster looks best though for me in the pose we see in the movie with the barrel in his hand and the grip stood on the floor.
Summary
4-LOM is a wonderful addition to the range and it is nice to see another "alien" type design of that insectoid head vs the usual human releases. I am pleased to see once again Hasbro cast and sculpted new parts where it was needed and there is also a clever touch with the ability to back light those eyes.
The body could do with a bit more weathering and better shoulder articulation - as is being promised for the 2019 0-0-0 protocol droid - would have been nice. The gun would have also looked a whole lot better with a wash of gunmetal paint.
I score 4-LOM a 4 out of 5
