Force Awakens synopsis (obviously massive spoilers)

[SAMAS]

Man, Anakin really built that lightsaber to last, huh?

[Anacronian]

Man, Anakin really built that lightsaber to last, huh?

C3PO still has the edge in long lasting Anakin creations.

[SAMAS]

Man, Anakin really built that lightsaber to last, huh?

C3PO still has the edge in long lasting Anakin creations.

Has Threepio ever survived reentry unsupported?

Which, now that I think about it, would be pretty damn funny if he has.

[The Romulan Republic]

Man, Anakin really built that lightsaber to last, huh?

C3PO still has the edge in long lasting Anakin creations.

Has Threepio ever survived reentry unsupported?

Which, now that I think about it, would be pretty damn funny if he has.

He hasn't as far as I know, but he did survive getting blown apart and reassembled in Empire Strikes Back.

[Adam Reynolds]

He hasn't as far as I know, but he did survive getting blown apart and reassembled in Empire Strikes Back.

He also had limbs reattached in ANH. I believe it was stated in the novelization that droid limbs could be somewhat self repairing. And in the case of C-3PO they were.

[Lord Revan]

He hasn't as far as I know, but he did survive getting blown apart and reassembled in Empire Strikes Back.

He also had limbs reattached in ANH. I believe it was stated in the novelization that droid limbs could be somewhat self repairing. And in the case of C-3PO they were.

it could also be possible that protocol droid limbs are built such that if sufficient stress is put on a joint there's special connetion that seperates to avoid catastrophic damage, basically if it breaks it's designed to break in a way that repairing it should be easy.

[Vance]

He (C3pO) survived a high speed collision with a train in one of the earlier episodes of the clone wars, as well as a fairly high fall... head first. Personally I don't see any real reason to have terminator-like endurance on protocol droids though (especially since these materials were acquired by a young child on the backwater planet of Tatooine). Then again... the child also built a 300kph flying pod-racer... so who knows.... ';_)

[The Romulan Republic]

Maybe Star Wars tech. is just that good? Is their any reason to believe C3P0 is outside the norm in terms of durability?

[SAMAS]

Kindasorta, yeah. Remember, Anakin built him out of scrap on a world like Tattooine, where stuff kind of has to be durable. Threepio didn't get the gold plating until after the start of the Clone Wars, and it was probably just that: a covering. His guts are probably tougher than your average high-class Protocol Droid.

[The Romulan Republic]

On the other hand, you could argue that a slave on Tatooine, like Anakin, is probably not going to have access to the best quality parts.

[SAMAS]

Quality does not always equal durability, and even then, it's kinda relative.

Lower-quality parts on Tattooine are likely gonna have to be pretty tough simply because Tattooine is a harsh environment. Furthermore, like you said, Anakin is not likely to have access to what would be considered standard protocol droid components. Threepio's original parts probably came from landspeeders, scrapped starships and work droids as much as they would from the last translator droid to displease Jabba the Hutt.