Chewbacca - TBS [SW40] - Six Inch Figures

In order for Hasbro to recreate the original 12-Back figures for The Black Series [Star Wars 40] 6” lineup, they had to go into the history of the line and re-release some of their neo-classic figures. One figure required was 2014’s TBS [P2] Chewbacca (#04) figure. This big and tall 6” figure was a hit when it was originally released and we expect it to be a hit again with collectors. This time packaged in pseudo vintage Kenner inspired packaging, Chewbacca not only gets new packaging, but also a revised paint job. There are intentional repaints and then there are unintentional repaints. For Chewbacca we feel the latter may be a more accurate description. The differences in the paint operations are indeed obvious, but we believe it has a lot more to do with producing the same figure three years apart from each other than a planned update. This time around you’ll find that the darker patches of the fur don’t fade so quickly and are longer and broader. We also noticed that the base brown plastic that was used to cast Chewbacca ever so slightly appears to be a different color as well. But if you’re not cognizant of such things you can skip this one easily without looking back. Chewbacca is a very large action figure, and he takes up most of the left side of the packaging. But Hasbro measured everything appropriately and he didn’t need to be crouched or folded to fit inside of the packaging. Chewbacca’s head sculpt is good but not entirely perfect for us. His eyes are a little too deeply set in and there is no way at all to see his piercing blue eyes we clearly see in the film.

No one can deny that Hasbro did a fantastic job on the sculpt. But we would have preferred his mouth to be closed or at the very least closed a tad more. This is a very specific look for Chewbacca where he is making noise. He talks often in the film, but not as much as he is silent. But aside from this preference Chewbacca really possesses a remarkable sculpt and stands apart from so many others in this scale. At his original release, Chewbacca was the tallest figure in the entire The Black Series 6” line. We still think he holds this record as a re-released figure. He looks perfectly scaled next to Han Solo and other figures in the line. Based on his appearance in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Chewbacca is hopefully going to make many collectors happy and continually impress the growing fanbase the line is attaining. Chewbacca is a ray of light for The Black Series 6” range and we have to say that he stands out from among so many others released before and after him in the line. Not only does Chewbacca have a wonderful sculpt, he has also been given a pretty decent paint job. He seems a little too light in some areas, but we believe Hasbro did that as a concerted effort to draw out more of the texture of the fur. There are plenty of instances of contrast which work hard to bring out this extra texture. And speaking of the fur, we will be shocked if anyone is displeased with how it turned out. But it is how Hasbro approached the fur that leads to the figure’s detriment. Hasbro sculpted hanging fur to cover the joints. It’s beautiful and big thanks goes to Hasbro for this. But this limits the full articulation capability of the premium joints they added to give Chewbacca the greatest range of movement possible.

Chewbacca does possess a great range of motion regardless of his limitations, so should we be pointing out that we’re a little disappointed that he doesn’t have more movement? We’re honestly stuck. For instance, don’t expect his head to turn as needed or desired. While a wonderful convention having a carved out section for his bandolier to lay flatly on him and a space on the right side of his neck area to tuck it under, Chewbacca instantly looks awkward and silly when this accessory isn’t in place. So why make it removable then? At the same time, what else could have Hasbro done to make this feature better? We don’t know if they had any other options quite honestly. So again, should we be pointing this out as an issue? We are however thoroughly impressed with the bowcaster accessory. Just like the 3.75” range, Hasbro decided to cast this weapon in three separate pieces. To our surprise, Hasbro decided to omit the strap that goes along with the bowcaster, but we are nevertheless impressed with its design and how well it can be held in his hands (both can hold it). But as a whole we think this Chewbacca figure looks pretty darn alright. As with the 3.75” Chewbacca figures, expect the 6” sculpt to be used multiple times to bring us all of Chewbacca’s looks throughout the rest of the Star Wars films where he seems to have a slightly different hairdo in each one. We have decided to maintain giving Chewbacca a relatively good score despite nitpicking on multiple facets because we truly believe that many of the “issues” are unavoidable here. But we would encourage Hasbro to save articulation when it won’t be fully utilized.