The Chewbacca You’ve Always Wanted

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If you are anything like me, you watched Star Wars as a child and had dreams of robots, aliens, and flying through hyperspace.  For most fans there is at least one scene or character that just grabs you and becomes a favorite.  For me, that is Chewie.  Chewbacca the Wookiee.  I don’t know if it was because he growled and threw people around, or if it was the way Han somehow knew what he was saying, or just that he was so darn BIG.  Whatever it was, I’ve been collecting everything from backpacks and mugs, to action figures with his likeness.

Kenner and Hasbro have been doing Star Wars action figures since the movies came out, but a relatively new company named Hot Toys just created the Chewbacca you have (well… I have) always wanted.

Established in 2000, Hot Toys Limited is a high-end collectible brand, that produces high quality and highly detailed collectibles.  Prices are also high, but you get what you pay for, and the new 1/6 scale Chewbacca is a thing of beauty.

SPECIFICATIONS
  • Height:  Approx 36 cm  –  That’s over 14 inches, well in scale with other 1/6 (12″) figures
  • Points of Articulation:  30  –  THIRTY!  (I can’t wait to get my hands on this)
  • Special Features:  A newly developed body, brown fabric hair, interchangeable hands, bowcaster, bandolier, headset, and stand

Sideshow Collectibles is the official distributor of Hot Toys figures in the US.  If you click on the links, you can see a lot of other pictures of this glorious new figure… and some shots with his ol’ buddy Han, who’s also being produced.

CH Hot ToysWhy is this so exciting you may ask?  Well… this character has been done before, but never in this level of detail and posability.  The original 12 inch Chewbacca from 1978 was awesome, but was pretty much a larger version of the 1977 3 3/4 inch action figure that was part of the set in Kenner Toys legendary “Empty Box” campaign.  You purchased a certificate which you sent in to have the first four mailed to you because they didn’t have anything ready for Christmas that year.  This was the genius idea that kicked off the biggest movie merchandising run in history.

However, as figures got more and more detailed, and likenesses became more important, Chewie was never quite done right.

Exhibit A: 1995 Power of the Force (POTF) Chewbacca
Exhibit B: 1998 POTF Hoth Chewbacca (Chewie got into the powdered donuts again?)
Exhibit C: 1997 Collector Series 12 inch Chewbacca

It wasn’t until 2002 that Hasbro finally got the hair sculpted right.  The Saga Series Cloud City Capture Chewbacca was a breakthrough in Wookie design that would only be surpassed in 2004 when the Vintage Original Trilogy Collection produced a fully articulated and hairy sculpted version of the character.  When Hasbro finally did get a couple of sculpts where that hairy body looked really close to what we saw onscreen, they produced a Chewbacca for just about every scene he was in.   Yes, EVERY scene.

And now with fabric hair… Fabric Hair?… perhaps doll collectors know about this, but I’d never heard of it, let alone seen it done on a whole body.  In a Q and A that I read a while back, a Sideshow rep had said that they were looking for a way to do it right.

Perhaps I should hold my excitement until I get my hands on one, but it’s been over 35 years of waiting for a Chewbacca that I could call a centerpiece of my collection, and I’m sure I’m not alone.

 

Just look at those pictures and tell me what you think in the comments below.

 ~kknight – is a lifelong Star Wars fanatic that is incredibly excited to be working with T-bone.  Proud to set the record for the number of times the word Chewbacca (or Chewie) has been used in an article — 16 if you include these last two.

** Thanks to Rebelscum.com and their terrific visual guide for many of the pictures

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