With all the other toy releases hitting right
now, it might be easy to forget Star Wars. Okay, so it' s not
possible to forget Star Wars. But the flood of figures has certainly
slowed slightly in the last month.
The entire first 40 new Saga figures are
now available at a wide variety of stores. For me, the last one to
finish off the 'poster' set was Cloud City Capture Chewbacca, or Quad C as
his homies like to call him.
I found mine at a local Wal-marts, but
I've seen them since at Meijers and Toys R Us. They are shipping
with the new Obi-Wan and Han Solo figures.
Packaging - ***
The packaging looks fine, and it's still too early in the line
change. I just start getting bored quick.
The graphics are solid, and
the text interesting. For Hasbro, this is a nice job. They
also managed to design the bubble to hold the figure and the blaster in a
great pose without the need for rubber bands or twisty ties.
Sculpting - ***1/2
This is easily the finest Chewbacca we've been treated to so far.
Okay, there's been a couple very nice versions in recent history, but this
one really is sharp.
The work on the head, fur,
and accessories sculpting is just terrific, and the level of detail and
quality is really surprising. While Hasbro hasn't done great on all
the new stuff, this is an example where they hit one out of the park.
My only nit to pick is that
the forehead seems a bit too big. It makes his head look large, or
extended. But it's a minor nit on an otherwise great sculpt.
Paint - ****
The paint work is clean and solid, a great job for Hasbro. I've had
hit or miss luck with various figures in the new line, but this one is
clearly a hit. The detail work on the eyes, nose and teeth is
especially well done.
The wash on 3PO works as
well, and he has an excellent weathered appearance.
Articulation - ****
The articulation couldn't be better on this figure. Well, maybe
slightly, but I'm giving them credit for stepping outside their usual zone
of comfort on this figure.
Chewie has neck, ball jointed
shoulders, cut elbows, cut wrists and hips. That's 11 points, if you
count the shoulders as two each. Pretty amazing for a Star Wars
figure! The wrists are particularly useful, and the sculpting on the
hands and fur make it possible to pose the hands in any pose and not mess
up the overall look of the figure.
The neck joint is truly
unique. It bends way back, to allow Chewie to do his 'scream'
pose. It's a great touch, and one that sets this Chewbacca version
above the others.
Accessories - ****
There's really 5 accessories here. Yes, you read that right - 5
accessories! Not just a little blaster or a bow here.
There's a blaster of course,
and it fits into his right hand perfectly. There's a pile of C-3PO's
parts, all wielded together, along with two more separate pieces of the
droid - his torso and head. The head fits into the neck of the
torso, and pushing down on the head lights up the eyes. On a regular
Star Wars figure! Can you believe it!
There's also a bag to hold
the 3PO parts, that can be slung over his shoulder. I couldn't get
it to ride quite as high as in the pictures on the package, but it does
fit well and Chewbacca can stand with just a little lean while carrying
it.
Value - ****
I paid $4.77 for all this at Wal-mart. I haven't gotten that good a
toy value in years. If we can get this much on a regular basis,
Hasbro will have me singing their praises.
Overall - ****
I'm tremendously impressed with some of the new Star Wars figures.
No, not all of them are this good - figures like Puhr disappointed me, and
others have been far too pre-posed. But there have been four or five
now that simply are outstanding, and that's pretty impressive for Hasbro.
Where to Buy -
I found mine at Wal-mart, but they are showing up at Toys R Us and Target
as well.
On-line, I struck out.
Lots of places had them listed, but are currently out of stock.
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