Figure of the Day: Day 868: Wookiee Warrior

WOOKIEE WARRIOR Dark Brown Variant
Revenge of the Sith Collection 1
Item No.: Asst. 85173 No. 85461
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #III-43
Includes: Bowcaster, red rocket, shield, blaster, bandolier
Action Feature: Wookiee Battle Bask!
Retail: $5.24-$6.99
Availability: Summer 2005
Appearances: Revenge of the Sith

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelves.

Bio: The Wookiees are intelligent, fiercely loyal and exceedingly strong. When their peaceful home planet of Kashyyyk is enveloped by the Clone Wars, these ferocious warriors fight the Separatist incursion. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Commentary: Sometimes Hasbro gets it, and sometimes, they don't. With the Wookiee Warrior, we see Hasbro follow-up another Wookiee Warrior from earlier in the year with a big step forward (in terms of accessories) and a big step back (in terms of articulation). Let's start with why it's great-- first, it has an action feature that isn't too obtrusive. You squeeze the legs, and he flails his arms about. If you don't want to, you can still pose the arms without the mechanism getting in the way too much. Second, the deco is pretty great. There's medium brown and dark brown splotches of fur that give the figure an added sense of realism, or at least a sense that he can't find his bottle of shampoo. Either way, it's a nice touch. Third, the accessories are fantastic. You get so much gear with this figure that it can't carry it all at once! If you built an army of this figure, you could have scores of goodies to share with other warrior figures that might not have as much stuff in their boxes. As such, it's to your benefit to get a few of these, if you think you might want more guns and such.

The biggest problem I had with this figure was in its leg joints. This figure and a Chewbacca released around the same time have this baffling swivel knee joint. It can't bend, it can just turn-- why? No joint at all would probably be about as useful. The previously released Wookiee warrior had knee joints, so it's really a shame that this one, which came later, did not. Thankfully the figure's arms can be posed to hold all of its accessories, but it really does suck that you can't have them kneeling or in some other combat pose which involves the lower extremities.

Collector's Notes: In the exact same packaging, this figure came in a light cream color (first release) and a dark brown release (second release, shown.) Neither is apparently more rare than the other, but distribution may vary by region for all I know.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 868: October 10, 2008