Chewbacca - Premium Format Figures

The mighty Chewbacca distinguished himself from his kin at an early age, when he began to exhibit keen longing for travel and adventure. After aiding Jedi Master Yoda during the initiation of Order 66, Chewbacca left his home in the giant wroshyr trees of Kashyyyk and began to explore the galaxy.

Because of their great strength, Wookiees in those days were coveted as slaves by the Galactic Empire. Proving himself to be a difficult catch for slavers, Chewbacca increased the already-sizable bounty on his head when he began to systematically free his Wookiee brethren from Imperial bondage.

Then came the day when one such rescue ran afoul of an Imperial TIE Fighter squadron. While the rescued Wookiee children evaded the Empire's clutches, Chewbacca himself was captured and tortured. But the leader of the TIE Fighter squadron, a young Imperial lieutenant named Han Solo, took pity on the Wookiee's plight. Forswearing his oath to serve the Empire, Solo rescued Chewbacca and the two escaped together to the stars.

Chewbacca swore a Wookiee life debt to Solo, and a contentious but steadfast friendship formed between them. The two shared many misadventures, doing their best to avoid any Imperial entanglements, but all-too-often failed. Until ultimately, just such an Imperial encounter led Chewbacca and Solo into service with the Rebel Alliance.

Wrapped in the protective hull of the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca and Solo aided their Rebel friends with unflinching navigational skills, daredevil panache, and plain old luck. They played a game of high-stakes chicken with an Imperial Star Destroyer, sent Vader spinning into space at the Battle of Yavin and even shook off a flight of Imperial TIE Fighters in a high-speed chase through an asteroid field (at odds of 3,720 to 1).

In the end, Chewbacca would play a crucial role in the Rebellion's final victory. With his Wookiee battle-cry echoing through the trees, he led an organized band of furry savages to victory at the Battle of Endor. In paving the way for the downfall of the Galactic Empire, Chewbacca also saved Solo and his friends, proving himself a paragon of Wookiee honor through the fulfillment of his life debt.

If there was one character that Sideshow Collectibles has avoided like the plague to produce under their Star Wars license, the award would have to go to Chewbacca. While most collectors are dying to receive a stellar 1:6 Scale Figure version, other collectors have been temporarily satiated by the announcement, and now the release of Chewbacca in the Premium Format Figures line. Admittedly, it’s still salt in the wound to not have Chewbacca in the 1:6 Scale Figures assortment. It’s really all collectors have pined for when it comes to this character, and Sideshow has been quite noncommittal about determining how they would go about designing him. Until the day arrives where a 1:6 Scale Figure version of Chewbacca is produced, fans will have to enjoy other collectibles of this Wookiee in other formats. Thankfully the Chewbacca Premium Format Figure has been done well enough to take periodic attention away from the intense desire of a 1:6 Scale Figure interpretation of him. While Sideshow Collectibles didn’t go crazy with mixed media here, they did add some texture to the mostly polystone piece with some metal and leather highlights. Regardless of how much effort went into this Chewbacca collectible, it is understated to assess that there will be disappointment over the fact that this piece hasn’t been manufactured with real hair/fur.

The first thing you’ll notice is Chewbacca’s stature. He is gigantic and easily the tallest Premium Format Figure produced to date. As Sideshow Collectibles has already shown on their site, Chewbacca towers over C-3PO and R2-D2 as well as the Stormtrooper Premium Format Figures also in the line. What’s especially nice is that Sideshow is slowly but surely completing the original 12 characters from the vintage Kenner line in the museum quality Premium Format Figures line. Whenever any license can call comparisons to the blessed classic Kenner line, it makes that scale all that more important to collectors. Too bad it isn’t a priority for most licensees, even including Hasbro. But whatever their goal or mission, collectors can rest assured that they will be getting an incredible collectible of the most favorite Wookiee of all time. And we personally have to hand it to Sideshow Collectibles because they’ve really impressed us with what they have pulled off with this Chewbacca “statue”. If you have seen the prototype images on the site and were happy with them, then you’ll also be happy to know that the final production piece came out almost identically to it. So, no quality in the likeness or overall approach had been sacrificed on the production line. This is always a risk with collectibles of this magnitude, so we can all count ourselves fortunate that it turned out as originally intended.... if not a bit better.

Chewbacca comes in four separate pieces: body, portrait, and removable right arm holding a bowcaster. These form Chewbacca obviously and you stand him on an environmental display base which is the floor of the detention cell block where Princess Leia Organa was being held prisoner. The base is a brilliant design, and lights up with the appropriate batteries. It lights up brightly and adds a great deal of character to this pieces. We are so glad that Sideshow Collectibles added this extra feature to make collectors happy. The light-up lightsabers can be burdensome and not always look right, but a light-up environmental display base seems like the best way to go all around. Exclusive collectors are treated to an interchangeable right arm that is holding a Blastech DLT-19 rifle. What makes this so interesting is that it is the rifle that he is using mostly in Episode IV, whereas you really only see him holding the bowcaster in the restored deleted scene where Jabba the Hutt confronts Han Solo. He used the bowcaster much more frequently in The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. It may be worth your while to track down the exclusive version so you can have him hold the blaster rifle he uses more than his signature weapon. With an MSRP of $384.99, Chewbacca may be out of the budgets for many collectors, but he is a signature character, and he is based on his appearance from Episode IV. We think he’ll do just fine and sell through completely.