'Star Wars' Collectibles and Toys Review: Hasbro's 'Star Wars Saga' Wampa (with Ice Cave) Ultra Figure

-
(C) 2004 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

 The bone-chilling cold is not the only danger that awaits a traveler on the Hoth plains. Despite standing over two meters in height, the Wampa ice creature is nonetheless a stealthy predator. Camouflaged by its white fur and the howling Hoth winds, a Wampa surprised Luke Skywalker while he was on patrol and dragged him to its cave as his next meal. When the Jedi freed himself, the Wampa fought him - and lost an arm in the struggle. – Product blurb, Wampa (Hoth Attack)

I've been collecting Star Wars figures for 40 years, and even though my collection is far from being even close to complete, I own enough of the small action figures to know that the quality of the figures has improved over the past two and a half decades. Not only are the 21st Century Hasbro figures more detailed than their 1978-1985 Kenner Toys counterparts, but they also now include little "extras" that make them more attractive to adult collectors.


The Wampa, that carnivorous beast that menaces Luke Skywalker at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back, is a fine example of how Hasbro has improved the Star Wars action figure line.
The original 1982 Wampa from Kenner's The Empire Strikes Back collection. Photo Credit: www.rebelscum.com. (C) 1982 Kenner Toys/Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) 


Although Kenner (the original action figure manufacturer before Hasbro acquired it in the 1990s) produced a first-generation Wampa Ice Creature figure in 1982 for its The Empire Strikes Back collection, the 2004 Star Wars Saga Wampa (with Ice Cave) Ultra figure is far better. It looks exactly like the one that appears in the 1997 Special Edition of Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. 

The figure comes in a carded bubble package, complete with a hunk of raw tauntaun leg and an "ice cave" base that connects with the Luke Skywalker (Hoth Attack) action figure. This allows collectors to recreate the scenes where the young would-be Jedi Knight escapes from the Wampa's lair. The right arm detaches to simulate the effects of Luke's lightsaber, and if you examine the Wampa's facial fur, you'll see that he's not exactly a neat eater, as there are drops of blood matted onto the white fur. (Yuck!)


Although the Wampa (with Ice Cave) Ultra figure is sturdy-looking and seems durable enough, I recommend it for collectors who are interested in displaying it along with its Luke Skywalker (Hoth Attack) companion figure (sold separately).



           

Film Source: The Empire Strikes Back

 Year: 2004

 Assortment: Ultra Hoth

 Retail: $9.99



Weapons and Accessories:

  •  Hoth Cave
  • Tauntaun Leg
  • Removable Arm

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How many movies have been made based on Stephen King's 'It'?

-
Image
How many movies have been made based on Stephen King's It ? It  has been adapted twice for filmed audio-visual media. The first filmed version of  It was a TV limited series; the second was a duology of theatrically-released movies.  The first adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 doorstop of a novel was a 1990 adaptation made as a two-part ABC miniseries for television. Among the cast members: Tim Reid, Harry Anderson, Annette O’Toole, John Ritter, and Richard Thomas. The miniseries also featured Tim Curry as the evil Pennywise the Clown. Adapted for television by director Tommy Lee Wallace and Lawrence D. Cohen (who also adapted King’s  Carrie  for director Brian De Palma in 1976),  It  was okay but a watered-down take on the scary novel about a group of friends who must face off against a monstrous entity known as “It” twice. Once as kids in 1960, then again as adults in 1990. (Like  11,22.63,  the TV version of It avoids the year 1958, which is where parts of  11/22/63 
Read more

Talking About Tom Clancy's 'Ryanverse': Was Jack Ryan a Republican or a Democrat?

-
Image
Harrison Ford starred in two Jack Ryan films. © 1992 Paramount Pictures On Quora, member Maya Lachman asks: Was Jack Ryan a Republican or a Democrat? My reply: If you’re talking about Tom Clancy’s iconic character John Patrick Ryan, Sr., he is depicted in the novels as being Republican, especially in most of the books that follow 1991’s  The Sum of All Fears. In the early Jack Ryan novels ( The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, The Cardinal of the Cardinal, Clear and Present Danger,  and  The Sum of All Fears ), Ryan works his way up the ranks in the Central Intelligence Agency, starting out as a recently-recruited analyst and rising all the way to Deputy Director (Intelligence), or DDI. During his time at CIA, Ryan doesn’t have much to say about politics (except in the context of U.S.-Soviet relations, in which case he is obviously a Cold War Republican), but his pre-CIA resume includes a stint as a Marine Corps lieutenant, a successful stockbroker who, despite
Read more

Movie Review: 'PT-109'

-
Image
In June of 1963, five months before the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Warner Bros. released director Leslie Martinson’s  PT-109 , an adaptation of Robert J. Donovan’s non-fiction book  PT-109: John F. Kennedy in World War II.   Starring Cliff Robertson ( Charly, Spider-Man ) as Navy Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy and co-starring Ty Hardin, James Gregory, Robert Culp, Robert Blake, Norman Fell and even an uncredited George Takei (Hikaru Sulu of  Star Trek: The Original Series ), the film is a fairly accurate depiction of JFK’s naval service in the South Pacific as the commander of a motor torpedo boat given the Navy pennant number PT-109 (the PT standing for the Navy ship designator “Patrol Torpedo”).  Although Hollywood had made movies in which former Presidents (either living or dead) were depicted, producer Bryan Foy, under the direct guidance of Warner Bros.' head of production Jack Warner (who, in turn, was influenced by Joseph P. Kennedy, a f
Read more