Chewbacca (Cloud City Capture) - SW [S - P1] - Basic (’02 #38)

When a Star Wars character doesn't wear any clothes, it's a bit difficult to come up with new takes for action figures. Releasing multiple versions of Chewbacca throughout the long-running Star Wars line hasn't been a simple task. Thankfully, Hasbro has made the most of its toy-making prowess to the fullest and found ways to make Chewbacca new and fresh in the basic figure line.Many collectors are content with repeated versions of Star Wars characters, if they're different in some way. That's what we have here. They've brought us countless Chewbacca action figures throughout the years. Whether sitting back and relaxing playing Djarik, crouched in a frostbitten pose spying on Imperial Probe Droids on the icy Hoth tundra, or defending the bunker on Endor, Hasbro gave Chewbacca multiple identities in the action figure line. They've successfully executed this with diverse interpretations of the character to accommodate and fit all of your Star Wars display needs at home. In The Empire Strikes Back, we perhaps see Chewbacca in the most configurations of all the films. However, it was only a matter of time until Hasbro created the long-awaited version of carrying a disassembled C-3PO in a cargo net. And it would help collectors who grew up with the vintage Kenner line recreate one of our favorite scenes as kids.

Getting two figures and the cargo net into one package, along with electronics, is not something Hasbro could cost out unless they thought it through carefully. And they did. This set is nearly a dream come true. The all-new Chewbacca action figure isn't "all that," but the C-3PO "parts" are. It's not fair to refer to the C-3PO parts in this set as a figure. They function as accessories here. Still, we think they're the highlight of the set, so we beg to differ. As far as we're concerned, it's a near-definitive modern replacement to 1982's ESB C-3PO (With Removable Limbs) Kenner action figure. The "parts" are a "battle-damaged" version of the protocol droid, and they look realistic and screen-accurate. Collectors love things that light-up. So, Hasbro gave C-3PO an action feature that includes lights. When the head presses down into the body, the back panel and the photoreceptors illuminate. It's a decent "action feature," but it looks just as good without the light. To further sweeten the deal, Hasbro has also woven a soft-goods cargo net that holds the multiple parts of C-3PO almost flawlessly. We couldn't be more impressed with how this figure set turned out. C-3PO comes in three parts: head, torso, and limb "pile," and you throw all three into the cargo net and then onto Chewbacca's back. You'll truly be impressed with how awesomely this looks when it's all together.

As you can probably tell by the tone of this review, the C-3PO accessory is the main feature here, because it steals the show. And not to take away from Chewbacca, it's a decent action figure but lacks the star power of the C-3PO "accessories." Chewbacca appears inaccurate with its scale compared to the other action figures in the line. However, Chewbacca has an excellent paint job. We're also disappointed by the articulation, and the figure lacks here, too. We don't think this action figure has a superb likeness to the Chewbacca character in The Empire Strikes Back. Interestingly, Chewbacca comes with a head sculpt that's slightly cocked back. The posture is odd and doesn't fit on this particular take of Chewbacca. We wish Hasbro pursued a better portrait that's closer to screen-accuracy. For less than five dollars, you get a healthy dose of plastic here. We shouldn't be cavalier that Hasbro gave us a lot of stuff in this package to enjoy. We are getting value for our dollars here. Hasbro adds many premium additions to the basic action figure line that help make the five dollars go very far. Chewbacca (Cloud City Capture) is an example of this. And while it won't be the definitive interpretation of Chewbacca, the C-3PO "accessory" will be the main reason to consider this for your collection.