CHEWBACCA Wookiee Rage!Revenge of the Sith Collection 1
Item No.: Asst. 85173 No. 85278
Number: III-05
Includes: Bowcaster
Action Feature: Squeeze legs for "Wookiee Rage"
Retail: $5.24-$6.99
Availability: April 2005-present
Appearances: Revenge of the Sith
Bio: The Wookiee warrior Chewbacca battles beside fellow warrior Tarfful to save their home planet from the invading Separatist forces. Yoda leads the courageous fight to save Kashyyyk from domination. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)
Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelves.
Commentary: For Revenge of the Sith, most figures were based off of the new movie. Chewbacca here is an oddity, because it seems he's actually more of a cross of the original 1978 action figure and his appearance in the original Star Wars, what with his bright eyes and open mouth and bowcaster. It's a fun little action figure, and he has the best ever action feature-- labeled on the package as "Wookiee Rage," all he does is rear his head and arms back and howl. This figure is Hasbro marketing at its finest. I'd buy a t-shirt that reads "Wookiee Rage!" on it. I'm not being snide, either. I am that much of a nerd. It doesn't do much, but it doesn't take away from the figure too much and the novelty of the name of the action figure actually makes owning this one well worth it, just to talk about to people who aren't too aware of the little nuances in the hobby like this one.
The sculpt is excellent, with lots of sculpted strands of hair and a nice face giving Chewie a great personality. The figure's deco could be better, as along with Tarfful this poor soul has a lot of brightly colored streaks in his fur that looks like some sort of weird mud or other brownish materials which we can't discuss here for reasons we can't go in to. It's obviously Chewbacca, and with 10 points of articulation, he's a pretty strong figure. Obviously he's been outclassed by Vintage/Early Bird/Tin releases which would come both before and after this release, but as a kid's toy this is a pretty solid release. Except the completely worthless knee joint, which allows the leg to rotate but not bend. Seeing as how Hasbro figured out how to do a Wookiee knee right with the Sneak Preview Episode III Wookiee Warrior, it's really quite confusing to think that they screwed it up with this later and arguably more popular release.
Collector's Notes: Since 2005, Hasbro has made sure to have this figure on the market regularly. In 2005, it was sold individually and in the Rebel vs. Empire Battle Pack. It was repackaged in 2006 for the Episode III Heroes & Villains Collection. In 2007, Hasbro is repackaging it yet again as part of the as-of-yet unreleased Saga Legends collection. If you want it, you should have no problems getting it for $7 or less. If you buy it to keep in the package, you simply must buy the 2005 version with the big "Wookiee Rage" sticker on it. Best. Marketing. Ever.
Day 270: January 31, 2007
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