Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Poor Balance Cannot Stop The Cloud City Capture Chewbacca From Looking Very Cool!


The Good: Great accessories, Generally decent playability, Coloring detail
The Bad: Poseability issues, Poor balance, Better sculpts exist,
The Basics: The 2002 Chewbacca Cloud City Capture figure is neat, but has been improved upon in most ways in subsequent releases.


There are so few permutations of Chewbacca that it is unsurprising that he is often one of the last characters merchandised when it comes to the Star Wars toys. So, when Hasbro prioritized making one for the 2002 post-Attack Of The Clones assortment, I was originally skeptical. Fortunately, my skepticism gave way to my consumer instinct and I made sure to pick up the Cloud City Capture Chewbacca. I am very glad that I did!

For those unfamiliar with the concept of the Cloud City Capture Chewbacca, at the climax of The Empire Strikes Back (reviewed here!), Chewbacca flees through Bespin with a damaged C-3PO attached to his back in a net. As Chewbacca blasts everything he can, C-3PO complains.

The 4" Chewbacca figure is the first Chewbacca since the Power Of The Jedi line and the 2002 version is made more by its accessories than anything great going on with the figure.

Basics

The Cloud City Capture Chewbacca figure stands a full 4 7/8” tall, making one cry out “What a Wookie!” Chewbacca, as normal, is not wearing anything but his bandoleer and his full body of fur, which makes him look like a walking carpet. Hasbro got the sculpt right, though and this version of Chewbacca features a mouth that is open so he looks like he might be howling. This is one of the early sculpts that featured the hair on Chewbacca’s arms hanging down. Chewbacca’s left hand is molded mostly open, while his right is molded mostly closed. The figure is textured to look like he is hairy and not a tree and the bandoleer and its pouch on Chewie’s right thigh stand out as a result.

As for the coloring, Chewbacca can be tough to render, but Hasbro makes the Cloud City Capture version of it interesting by having it at all monotonal. Instead, there is depth and shading to the fur, Chewbacca’s eyes are vividly blue and in his mouth, his tongue is a deep red. This is a very nicely colored figure. Hasbro actually took some time and attention to make sure the bag on this Chewbacca looked worn as opposed to clean. This is a very cool detail and while this Chewie looks great, it does not fit in as well with many of the figures produced around the same time.

This version of Chewbacca is molded – for the legs – in a very neutral pose, which is nice. Unfortunately, his arms are very specific as to how they may be posed.

Accessories

The Cloud City Capture Chewbacca comes with a decent number of accessories! Chewbacca in this form features a blaster pistol, C-3PO body parts and a cargo net. The cargo net is an actual little mesh bag used to carry around the broken parts of C-3PO. The bag easily holds all three pieces and then may be closed using a drawstring which pulls shut.

The blaster that Chewbacca comes with is a small blaster which looks like a pretty standard Imperial blaster, like the one he had on Bespin. This 1 1/8" long black plastic accessory that is monotonally colored and fits only in Chewbacca’s right hand. Given how richly the rest of the figure and its accessories are colored, it looks pretty out of place in his hand.

The key selling point for this Chewbacca figure is the C-3PO scrap that the figure comes with. There are three pieces of scrap, a pile that has most of C-3PO’s appendages lumped together – like the Ugnaughts had them on the conveyor belt on Bespin – C-3PO’s torso and his head. The neat thing is that when the head is placed in the neck hole on the torso, C-3PO’s eyes and the back panel on the droid light up. This is a pretty neat function, especially for an accessory!

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and the Cloud City Capture Chewbacca is generally good in that regard. Chewbacca has pretty terrible balance, but everything else about him is pretty wonderful. Fortunately, he has the holes in the bottom of each foot to allow him to stand on any of the many playsets that have the corresponding pegs.

This Chewbacca is articulated at the groin socket, shoulders, elbows, wrists and neck. All of the points of articulation are simple swivel joints, save the shoulders which are hinged ball and socket joints that giving them a full range of motion. The head also appears to be on a hinge, which allows Chewbacca to move his head back and forth, but not from side to side.

The C-3PO scrap helps improve the playability, though the novelty of getting the junk heap to light up fades pretty quickly.

Collectibility

The Chewbacca Cloud City Capture is part of the 2002 extended collection (extended off the Attack Of The Clones line and is 2002 Collection figure #38. Chewbacca was exceptionally overproduced and demand for it was easily met. As a result, this figure is a poor investment figure.

Overview

The 2002 Chewbacca Cloud City Capture is cool, but seems to be sold more on the strength of the accessory than the actual figure. Given that other, better Chewbacca figures have since been made, this one should only be picked up when it is dirt cheap.

For other Chewbacca figures, please check out my reviews of:
2010 Saga Legends SL18 Chewbacca
Power Of The Force Chewbacca As Boushh’s Bounty
Shadows Of The Empire Chewbacca As Snoova the bounty hunter

7/10

For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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