"[I]t appears that the extra appendage is not the work of an artist, but rather a trick of timing and light," Snopes quotes. "The untouched archive photo shows the image just as it appears on the card. The current theory is that at the exact instant the photo was snapped, a piece fell off the Threepio costume, and just happened to line up in such a way as to suggest a bawdy image."
Daniels finished the scene—and the film—without giving the shot another thought. Years later, he came across the card and realized what had happened. “At that time, the pants section of the costume was in two pieces of thin plastic. Front and back. A strip of gold-colored tape fixed them together, [which was] fine. But being immersed in vegetable oil dissolved the adhesive and the two parts sprung apart. At the same time, Threepio’s left leg dropped down over the shoe. The combination led to an over-exposure of plastic in that region. It left a bulging crease.”
Dr_Whiskers_MD on February 5th, 2022 at 02:43 UTC »
I would also like to add that he wouldn't stop giggling about it.
bigorangemachine on February 5th, 2022 at 03:55 UTC »
I love these stories. Usually with baseball cards & stamps its usually something the 'run' did wrong.
In this case there was something falling off his costume when the photo was taken.
https://www.polygon.com/2015/10/9/9486945/threepios-boner-topps-trading-card-star-wars-c-3po
Or
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/585906/anthony-daniels-explains-obscene-c-3po-star-wars-trading-card
braedan51 on February 5th, 2022 at 12:36 UTC »
Never forget, Anakin built C3PO to help his mother.