CONCEPT CHEWBACCA McQuarrie Concept Series 30th Anniversary Collection Basic Figures
Item No.: Asst. 87500 No. 87280
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #3021
Includes: Blaster, blaster rifle, coin
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $6.99
Availability: Spring 2007
Appearances: n/a
Image: Adam Pawlus' back yard.
Bio: Inspired by his Alaskan malamute, George Lucas created one of the most enduring and well-loved non-human characters of his saga. Constructed from knitted mohair and yak fur, Chewbacca was given life by the actor Peter Mayhew and voice by a wide array of animals from walruses to black bears. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)
Commentary: When seeing the early concepts of Star Wars characters, the drawings of Chewbacca are pretty striking. When you take a famous character, add clothes and ears, and remove the nose, it gets pretty freaky fast. I never once thought I'd see a toy of this bizarre design, which features boots and some armor. It's very tall, but looks more like it stepped out of the minds of a comic book artist or a low-budget movie than the masterminds of a galaxy far, far away. The coloring on the fur looks great, with a fair amount of color, and the painted guns look excellent. There's a good level of contrast in the silver which makes them look like more than rubbery plastic accessories.
While some fans will bemoan the lack of ball-jointed shoulders, as usual, the real problem comes with the hip articulation in that he really can't sit. Hasbro goes out of their way to add tons of goings in the arms and legs, but he can't sit due to the way the costume was executed. Ah well. This figure's look is mostly summed up by his freaky face, which sports yellow eyes, creepy fangs, and what appears to be an alien neck beard. Obviously, Chewie uses open source software.
Collector's Notes: This figure shipped with a gold coin in the "Ultimate Galactic Hunt" waves which shipped in September 2007, or a silver coin otherwise. Either seems to be about as common these days. The figure shipped on a blue-striped package like all McQuarre figures, which gave a lot of toy dealers and speculators the idea that these were all special figures worthy of hoarding. Regular fans bought into this too, but their production numbers weren't too different than that of basic movie product.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 1,077: July 30, 2009
One of my favourites of the whole McQuarrie sub-line, my only disappoinment is that the elbow joints don't allow quite enough articulation for us to pose him as per the most famous illustration, holding his rifle across his chest, barrel upwards.
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