Figure of the Day: Day 934: Chewbacca

CHEWBACCA Sandstorm Scene
The Legacy Collection Basic Figures
Item No.: Asst. 87535 No. 87675
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #BD03
Includes: Bowcaster, droid part
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $7.99
Availability: July 2008
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: Wounded during the battle to escape from Jabba the Hutt at the Pit of Carkoon, Chewbacca quickly bandages his injured leg. He walks resolutely through one of Tatooine's sandstorms to reach the Millennium Falcon, where he can treat his wound in the ship's medical bay. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' TV tray.

Commentary: While fans still haven't really seen any footage of the deleted sandstorm scene from Return of the Jedi, Hasbro realized they could make new figures and we'd pick them up-- like this Chewbacca. On one hand, I'm upset at such a shameless grab for my dollars, but on another I gotta give it up to them for doing something new and different rather than cranking out the same figure again. This particular Wookiee is based on the 2004 "Vintage" body, but features a new head, altered arms, and a new bandaged leg. This basically makes it a slightly altered version of the best Chewbacca toy your money can buy, which to me makes it fantastic. He comes with his standard bowcaster, which is a decent choice but if you really stop and think about it, shouldn't he come with a pike or a pistol he stole from one of Jabba's guards? The figures had varying paint, and I picked up a few for various error reasons. This one in particular has unusually thick black lines around his eyes, which I thought was somewhat neat. Other than that, the deco is pretty by-the-book. There are brown claws, varying colors of highlights, and honestly this may be one of Hasbro's best-painted Chewbacca figures because they avoided the random and often ugly bright tan highlights we saw on the figures since about 2005. If you need a Chewie to hang out outside the Falcon, this is the one to get. It's snazzy, but not really representative of anything in the films-- so it's not an essential figure, but certainly a neat one.

Collector's Notes: A lot of fans didn't like this one, but I thought it was awesome. It shipped in good numbers through at least the end of last year, as it eventually shipped on a new-style "blue lens" packaging where the big Stormtrooper on the package changed color. So it's not uncommon yet. Hasbro made companion Luke and Han figures which turned out really nicely, and it's hoped that a Lando and Leia might see production in the next few years.

Day 934: January 12, 2009