Review – Star Wars Zuckuss

“This droid was called Zuckuss in the original Kenner line, although it was rechristened to fit the naming conventions of the Star Wars galaxy. His head is similar in appearance to the head of 4-LOM (now Zuckuss).”
— from the Star Wars Action Figure Archive

Zuckuss, or is it 4-LOM?

By now, I’ve already wasted enough time discussing the name swap between Zuckuss and 4-LOM (see my review of the 12-inch Zuckuss) so we’re gonna avoid all of that and dive right in. Zuckuss, a droid bounty hunter, was constructed for Empire out of droid costume parts and didn’t do any more than just stand there and look very, very cool. Even though Zuckuss didn’t make my 10 Greatest Star Wars Action Figures list, he would be in my top 20 because — as a droid and a bounty hunter — he’s got the right combination of wicked cool and amazingly awesome to make him stand out from a lot of the other figures in the vintage series.

Zuckuss’ sculpt, for a toy from the early eighties, is great, with the figure coming very close to the Empire reference photo. His chest, arms, and legs are similar in design to C-3PO, without being an exact copy of the gold protocol droid. It’s Zuckuss’ head that really sets him apart and makes him unique, though, because his bug eyed alien appearance makes him look completely unlike any other droid from the Star Wars universe. His head does kinda look like 4-LOM’s but not so much that the two characters are confused.

Zuckuss doesn’t have much in the way of paint. He’s cast in gray plastic with some silver, pale blue, and red paint aps that bring out the details. The paint’s clean, without any sloppy work, but overall Zuckuss is pretty plain when it comes to paint. Trust me, the limited paint doesn’t make him any less fun.

Poor, Poor Articulation

As we all know, Star Wars figures from the original series were pretty limited in their articulation. Hell, the legs couldn’t even bend right for them to sit down so all of the ridable creatures in the line had goofy hinged seats. Rudolph, above, doesn’t have the special hinged “seat” which means that Zuckuss is gonna have a tough ride ahead of him.

Closing Thoughts

So he’s not perfect, he’s not in my top 10, but he’s still a cool vintage toy. If you’re gonna collect any classic Star Wars action figures I’m gonna recommend that you go for a set of the classic six bounty hunters from Empire. Every single one of them is awesome in his own way, and nothing will look cooler on your shelf than all six of these guys lined up and ready to scour your home for whatever bounty brings in the most cash.

Still need more? Hit this page at www.rebelscum.com for more photos of the classic Zuckuss action figure. They’ve even got package shots and a shot of his gun (I picked up my Zuckuss loose — and without his weapon — so I jump over there to see what I’m missing).

Wanna know more about Zuckuss/4-LOM? Hit this page at Wookiepedia for photos, back story, and more.

Philip Reed wants to find a 12-inch 4-LOM to go along with his 12-inch Zuckuss. The two figures together would look great in his collection.