Tag Archives: Ewoks

#3363: Wicket

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

WICKET

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Isn’t it great how the Star Wars movies are all spaced out in such a way that you’re bound to be celebrating some sort of anniversary for them, almost every year?  The more recent theme on the Hasbro side has the been the 40th anniversaries of the Original Trilogy films, and up to bat this year is Return of the Jedi and its original 1983 release.  As with all the other 40th celebrations, Black Series is getting a couple of rounds of retro carded figures, which are a mix of old and new offerings.  There’s but one new offering in the very first of those assortments, and it’s one of those devilishly divisive Ewoks.  But it’s not just any Ewok: it’s Wicket!  He’s, like, the best one!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wicket was released alongside re-carded versions of Endor Leia, Endor Han, the Scout Trooper, and Skiff Guard Lando in the first series of the RotJ Retro Carded Black Series figures.  As noted in the intro, he’s the only unique figure this time around, and he’s our third Ewok in the line.  As the main Ewok, it’s a little surprising that it’s taken quite this long to release him, but he’s at least a good choice for an anniversary.  As of right now, he’s exclusive to the Retro Card, but it wouldn’t be that shocking to see him show up in the standard line later, as they’ve done with a few of the other anniversary figures.  The figure stands 3 inches tall and he has 20 points of articulation.  Given how small he is, he’s honestly got a pretty impressive articulation set-up.  The only major joint missing is the knee, but that would probably have broken the legs up too much, and it admittedly doesn’t mess with the movement too badly, due to the range on the hips and ankles.  Wicket’s sculpt is all-new, and it’s a very strong one.  He’s very small, of course, but that’s proper scaling for him, so it makes sense.  Even with his smaller stature, there’s a ton of texturing, and it’s got a great likeness of the Wicket costume from the movie.  The face in particular really captures the look of the character.  His hood is a separate piece, which can be removed if you’re so inclined, but it’s not really much to look at that way.  He just looks extra goofy.  But, it’s cool to have the option, and it stays in place very well.  Wicket’s paint work is pretty well handled, with accenting on his hood and his fur.  The fur jumps a bit in intensity from piece to piece, but the head is again the best work, with a rather subtle set-up, as well as gloss on the eyes that really helps to make they pop up against the rest of the face.  Wicket is packed with his spear, which is his signature weapon.  Presumably to make up for his smaller size while still occupying the standard price point, Wicket also gets a bow, an arrow, and two different styles of club.  They’re not things that he uses in the movie, but they’re good base Ewok weapons, and it’s not like he *couldn’t* have used them at some point, and it does give you extra options.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back when I was still operating under the delusion that I was only buying a very select run of figures from Black Series (in 2013, when the line first launched), Wicket was one of the figures on my list that I was definitely buying.  I assumed he’d be the first Ewok at the time, and also thought we’d be seeing him sooner than ten years into the line, but I knew I wanted him all the same.  In an otherwise kind of lack-luster launch wave for the 40th RotJ figures, Wicket was a pretty exciting figure, and in hand, I really dig him.  Sure, you’re paying full price for a figure that’s half the size, but there feels like an extra attention to detail on this one, and to me he feels like a better deal than Yoda and R2 were.  And he’s just a fun little guy.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#0564: Return of the Jedi Digital Release Commemorative Set

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

BOBA FETT, BIKER SCOUT, WICKET W WARRICK, & LUKE SKYWALKER

STAR WARS: DIGITAL RELEASE COMMEMORATIVE COLLECTION JediDigital1 Happy Star Wars Day everyb—oh, wait, sorry, I already did that last week. Well, hey, why not have this Star Wars-themed review anyway, just because? So, the Star Wars movies have finally been released digitally! Provided you don’t count the DVDs, Blu Rays, and Laserdiscs as “digital.” I guess you could say that they’ve finally been released in a fully digital format, or something like that. Of course, it’s still the same re-cuts of the original trilogy that they’ve been pushing for a while, so it’s not like there’s much new to celebrate. But Hasbro wanted to celebrate, so dammit they’re gonna celebrate. Being a toy company, they celebrated with the release of TOYS! Shocking, I know.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were released as part of the Return of the Jedi-themed boxed set, which was one of the six sets that make up the Star Wars: Digital Release Commemorative Collection. Try saying that name five times fast.

BOBA FETT

JediDigital2Everyone’s most favoritest bounty hunter, Boba Fett! Making figures of this dude is like printing money (it ruins the economy?), so it’s no surprise that Hasbro managed to find him a spot in one of the sets. Boba stands roughly 3 ¾ inches in height and features … 5 points of articulation. Yeah, this is one of Hasbro’s articulation-lite sets. Structurally, Fett is the same as the single release Boba from last year’s Star Wars Rebels Saga Legends and his two-pack release in the Mission Series. It’s not a bad sculpt; the proportions are all pretty good and there’s plenty of texturing and detailing. It would kind of be nice if his right arm was either fully pre-posed so that he could hold his blaster properly or not pre-posed at all; as it stands, he looks like he’s been caught mid-arm lift or something. That aside, the sculpt is generally pretty strong, and one can hardly blame the re-use here. Fett has what is probably the most complex paintjob of the set, and it’s all petty cleanly applied, which is good. It’s worth noting that he’s actually features his color scheme from Empire, not from Jedi. I guess they wanted him to fit with the other bounty hunters from the Empire set. Fett includes a blaster which can be held in either hand, albeit rather awkwardly.

BIKER SCOUT

JediDigital3The Biker Scouts were one of two additions to the Star Wars universe brought on by Jedi’s Endor battle. I’ll get to the other shortly. Height and articulation is pretty much identical to that of Boba Fett, so it’s consistent, I guess. The sculpt is a re-use of the Mission Series two-pack version of the character. It’s actually a pretty strong sculpt. The proportions are all about what they should be, and, best of all, he doesn’t have the weird arm pose thing that Boba’s got going on. Really, this figure feels really similar to the vintage Biker Scout. He’s got a greater level of detail and texture work, but they do give off a the same kind of vibe. The paintwork is fairly straightforward on this guy. He’s molded in all white, with black and a little bit of grey paint. Most of It’s pretty clean, although there are a few spots of bleed over. The Biker Scout includes a small pistol, which he can hold in either hand, or stow in his leg holster, should you so choose.

WICKET W WARRICK JediDigital5

Here’s the other addition from the Endor battle. Yes, Ewoks, those divisive little so-and-sos. Wicket was kind of the central Ewok, being the one that rescues Leia and all, so he earned his spot in this set. It’s worth noting that he’s given the last name “Warrick,” after his actor Warwick Davis, who played him in the movie. That’s a nice touch. Wicket is about 2 inches tall, with only 4 points of articulation instead of the 5 the others have. Wicket’s sculpt was previously used as part of the same Mission Series two-pack as the Biker Scout at which we just looked. It’s a pretty great sculpt. There’s a lot of texture, and it’s a pretty straight re-creation of the movie character. The head covering is a separate piece, which, although it’s not removable, does help to add some depth to the sculpt. Wicket has a paintjob to match the sculpt. It’s not as detailed as some of the larger Star Wars figures, but there’s still some decent work, and everything is clean and well applied. Wicket is armed with a spear which is taller than he is. Talk about compensating.

LUKE SKYWALKER

JediDigital4Last up, there’s this other guy. He’s sort of important to the movie, I guess. It’s not like he’s the main hero or anything. *ahem* Anyway, Luke is about 3 ¾ inches tall and he has those magical 5 points of articulation. Luke is based on his look from the end of Jedi, which, to be fair, is only slightly different from his look in the rest of Jedi. This whole sculpt has been seen before as part of the Star Wars Rebels Saga Legends line. Right up front, this is probably the strongest sculpt in the set. It has some great proportions, great texturing, and great detailing. The pose they’ve chosen is just far enough away from standing straight up and down that it’s still interesting, but not so much that he looks weird. In addition, he’s the only figure in the set with any sort of likeness work on the head. It’s not a perfect match, but there’s definitely some Mark Hamill in that sculpt. He goes lighter on the paint, being mostly molded in black, but the work on the face is cleaner than a lot of Hasbro faces, and the other painted areas manage to not suck, which is always good. Luke includes his lightsaber from the film, and just about the only downside of the figure is that he can’t hold his saber in both hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These four were bought for me by my always incredibly supportive Super Awesome Girlfriend. We stopped at a Toys R Us while I was down visiting her a few weeks ago, and I saw this set. I found a few other things I wanted, so I wasn’t sure I would get this one. Super Awesome Girlfriend was having none of that, and insisted on buying it for me. This is a set made up completely of re-issues, however, since I didn’t have any of the originals, that doesn’t bug me too much. Luke and Wicket are the strongest figures in the set and the Biker Scout is a pretty great figure too. Boba isn’t as good as the others, but he’s not terrible, and he’s Boba Fett, so… you have to like him, I guess. You could do a lot worse with $20 than get this set.

#0492: Ewoks and catapult

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Backstories, Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

CHUBBRAY, STEMZEE, & CATAPULT

STAR WARS: THE VINTAGE COLLECTION

Ah, yes, Ewoks. The very first thing to split Star Wars fans. No one is simply okay with the Ewoks. You love them or you hate them. And you certainly can’t ever, under any circumstances see the other side’s point of view. They’re wrong and that’s just how it is. They must accept it.

I fall into the camp that likes the Ewoks. I was probably 3 or 4 when I saw Return of the Jedi for the first time, so I never had a problem with the Carebears from Hell. Thing is, I never actually had any of the Ewok action figures for some reason, even though Jedi was my favorite of the movies growing up and I had just about every other Endor themed figure. But, things change, so here I am reviewing some Ewoks. Yay!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The two Ewoks and their catapult were released as part of Hasbro’s second go at the Vintage Collection line. The set was released exclusively through K-Mart stores and it was done in packaging that replicates the vintage line. So, no window boxes for these guys! I just had to trust that I was getting figures and not like, two rocks or something. (Incidentally, there are totally two rocks in this box! Also figures, but that’s not the point!)

CHUBBRAY

According to Wookiepedia (which I totally had to use to figure which of these two was which), Chubbray is “an Ewok who participated in the Battle of Endor alongside the ewok Stemzee.” Which I actually could have figured out on my own, just from this set. Hilariously, the entry on Stemzee reads: “Stemzee was an Ewok who participated in the Battle of Endor alongside ewok Chubbray.” That’s sort of the equivalent of two words using each other in their definitions. I’m honestly shocked that there’s not even some sort of EU stuff for them. I mean, there’s a freaking entry for Ice Cream Maker Guy! Obviously, these two have gone over looked for far too long. So, I’ll just have to give them some backstory myself.

“Chubbray is the greatest Ewok warrior of all time. The Chubster (as he is known to his friends) is a total mechanical genius (especially impressive in a society still based around trees and rope technology.) He is a revolutionary, responsible for leading the cavalry charge against the tyrannical Empire. In Ewok language, Chubbray is synonymous with death, because that’s what Chubbray rains down upon his enemies. Also, he makes a killer martini.”

See? That wasn’t so hard! Chubbray is about 2 ¾ inches in height and he features 14 points of articulation. While that’s certainly more articulation than most previous Ewoks, the lack of elbows and knees do make the figure a little stiff. I don’t have an expert on the previous Ewok figures, so I don’t know if any pieces are shared here. Regardless, the sculpt is nicely done. It looks like the creatures from the movie, and there’s some very nice detail work on the fur and the head covering. About the only downside of the sculpt is that the joints are really visible. Chubbray’s paintwork is generally pretty clean, though, to be fair, it’s not the most complex paintjob of all time. Still, it’s all well applied and all the colors are well chosen. Chubbray includes a spear, which is probably just a normal spear, but I’m going to pretend it’s some sort of an energy spear that’s powered by some minutely scaled generator that Chubbray built himself. I mean, the greatest Ewok warrior that ever lived has to have a top-notch weapon, right?

STEMZEE

“Stemzee was the best friend of Ewok hero Chubbray from childhood. When Chubbray led the Ewoks against the Empire, Stemzee stood by his side the whole time. Stemzee proved himself quite the formidable warrior. After the battle, Stemzee professed his long-standing love for Chubbray, and the two settled down in a house built from the skulls of the freshly killed Empire forces. Stemzee drinks a killer martini.”

Aw, wasn’t that one kinda sweet? They’re so happy together! Stemzee is roughly 3 inches tall and features 20 points of articulation. Check out those elbow joints! Those are certainly a nice thing. Stemzee’s sculpt seems to be a more advanced one than Chubbray’s, which leads me to think that these two use bodies from previously released Ewoks. It’s a pretty good sculpt, with lots of fine detail work and such, and the articulation is even pretty smoothly worked in, which is good. Stemzee features a slightly more complex paintjob than Chubbray, and he’s a better figure for it. The colors look nice and everything is applied rather cleanly. Stemzee includes a spear, which is different from the one included with Chubbray.

CATAPULT

“The Catapult is the unsung hero of the Battle of Endor. It’s life began when it was built by brilliant Ewok warrior, Chubbray the Great, who was having something of an off day. The Catapult, known as ‘Leslie’ to its closest friends, fought bravely throughout the battle, and was personally responsible for saving an entire platoon of Ewok soldiers. Leslie was forced to make the ultimate sacrifice while facing off against one of those chicken-walker-thingies. It was given an honorary medal of…honor, and another catapult was constructed in its honor. There was a lot of honor. It may or may not have been killed by a killer martini. Evidence was inconclusive.”

Oh no! We killed off Leslie the Catapult! The tragedy! So, the catapult isn’t really a figure, but it is the centerpiece of the set, so it gets its own section. It’s about 3 inches tall, 4 inches long, and 2 inches wide. It doesn’t actually have any articulation to speak of, but you can wind the winch up to pull the arm back for a throwing action. It doesn’t work fantastically, but it’s okay. The sculpt of the catapult is rather nicely detailed, and it actually does look a little like it was constructed out of something that at least resembles wood. It’s like imitation wood. There’s also some nice work on the ties and such, which helps to further illustrate the “built from trees thing.” The paintwork on the catapult is pretty decently handled, with lots of nice accent work to bring out the details of the sculpt. The catapult includes two large rocks, each with a small hole on the bottom so they can be placed on the catapult’s arm.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was picked up while I was killing some time at a K-Mart with my Super Awesome Girlfriend (it was the same trip which got me the FOOT NINJA!!!!). We were wandering through and I noticed this set in the clearance section for about $10. With a little encouraging from SAGF, I figured “why not?” and went for it. I can kinda see why the set might get clearanced. It’s not the most thrilling set, and I can imagine the whole “not being able to see what you’re getting” thing probably turned some people off. Still, I kinda feel bad for the poor set. It’s really not a bad set, and at clearance prices it’s a fantastic way to get a couple of Ewoks. Plus, there’s a really cool catapult!