WhenStar Warswas release in 1977 , the sprawling and detailed mythology create by George Lucas be mostly in the director ’s head . There was no online hub to substantiate how to spellChewbaccaor learn the name of the actor who play him . ( The late Peter Mayhew , for the record . ) Fans who wanted information beyond the scope of the film had to appear toward thenovelizationby Alan Dean Foster , theStar Warscomic booksissuedby Marvel , or a series of trading card Seth released by the Topps caller .
Buried in these cards and their depictions of the various characters and scene of the film was a strange and arguably detestable anomaly . On the front of batting order number 207 , communications protocol droid C-3PO ( Anthony Daniels ) isseenemerging from an oil bath and appearing to be anatomically correct , a rare feature of robot .
In 2007 , the prescribed Star Wars websiteexplainedthat the image was nothing more than a good luck . grant to the Lucasfilm - endorsed account , a piece of the costume became loose at the exact consequence the pic was taken , lending the graphic symbol the appearance of mechanically skillful arousal :
An alternate explanation by Gary Gerani , who oversaw the selection of images forToppsat that sentence , indicatedthat the Pfizer version of C-3PO was the result of prop masters fooling around on set for their own entertainment .
Neither account , however , come along to be the rightful story . Mental Floss reached out to Daniels , who is presently finishing his autobiography , I Am C-3PO : The Inside Story , which is due forreleaseon November 5 . declare both theory “ gimcrack , ” Daniels was gracious enough to crystalize this sizable mystery .
consort to Daniels , the phallic mishap materialize on set in London ’s Elstree Studios while shooting the scene in which Threepio was to be lowered into his crude oil bath . “ It really was rock oil , ” Daniels tells Mental Floss . “ I stood on a weapons platform that mildly lowered me into the green liquid . The crew had been genial enough to warm it . Not as much as was indicated by the steam . That was accomplish with two electrical kettles hidden behind me . ”
But this oil colour had an unintended import . “ The oil percolate the inner quad between me and the costume legs as I chatted with my new master , Luke Skywalker [ Mark Hamill ] . I eventually rear again , dripping but without incident . Or so I think . ”
Daniels finished the scene — and thefilm — without giving the shot another view . Years later , he come across the calling card and realized what had happened . “ At that time , the pants section of the costume was in two objet d’art of thin credit card . Front and back . A strip of gold - colored tape fixed them together , [ which was ] okay . But being plunge in vegetable oil dissolved the adhesive material and the two part sprung aside . At the same meter , Threepio ’s go forth leg dropped down over the shoe . The combination lead to an over - exposure of plastic in that part . It left a bulging crease . ”
What pass off next is still overt to a scrap of interpretation . The now - defunct news report on the Star Wars house page assert that the bill image was taken from the untouched photo snatch up on the readiness ; Daniels believes a mischievous Topps employee took the photo with the crease and accentuated the protruding part so it come out large and with some additional anatomical detail . This account , he order , was verified by Lucasfilm .
In any effect , the pic made its way into the Topps set because Gerani and his editors were simply overwhelmed by the turn of still images to comb out through . After viewing one C of them , they were unmindful to the gaffe and sent the card into product . Parents purchasing the trading cards for their tike noticed C-3PO ’s pelvic excess and brought it to the attention of Topps administrator , who quickly replaced the carte du jour by airbrush the figure of speech to polish off the transgress detail .
Salacious or otherwise undesirable imagery has long blight the trading visiting card manufacture . Most infamously , a 1989 Billy Ripken baseball batting order from Fleerfeaturedthe actor holding a squash racket with a blasphemous content publish on the grip . ( Ripken had scribbled the obscenity , which rhymes with “ muck face , ” so he could well key his bat during practice , then blank out about it when his photo was take . )
Though such errors can be sought after by gatherer , the C-3PO visiting card is not particularly scarce . The “ disco biscuit - rat ” version can typically be purchased for between $ 30 and $ 100 oneBay , depending on its condition .
Just do n’t expect Daniels to autograph it for you . “ If you see one sign on the surface by me , it is a forgery , ” the actor says . “ I would never autograph it . Call me humorless , but , clever though the artwork was , I encounter it an insult to a expert admirer of mine who can not speak for himself on this planet . ”
away from being juvenile , Daniels believes the card devote a worse wickedness : It contradicts Threepio ’s fictitious character . “ As a protocol droid and skilled in the niceties of etiquette , Threepio would never , ever appear as mad as that in populace . And that is a fact . ”
