Chewbacca (Dejarik Champion) - POTJ - Basic

The mighty Chewbacca, a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk, is the friend and copilot to Han Solo. Known for his great strength, bravery and loyalty, Chewbacca often serves as Solo's conscience in their smuggling endeavors.

The Episode I line was a massive hit, but it began cooling off sooner than expected. With toys getting made in high production numbers, the demand that was there originally wasn’t towards the end of the line. As a result, final waves of Episode I figures didn’t get out in readily available numbers to retail. Many toys and exclusives were also canceled. Comm Tech figures were losing interest and in general the fever for everything related to Episode I was breaking. Whether it was actually dying off or not is an argument that will be debated forever, but it was the catalyst for Hasbro to begin revisiting/refocusing the toy line so that it would become fresh and new again. Likewise, Hasbro also canceled The Power Of The Force “2” line at the very same time and thought it best that action figures from across the Star Wars saga would be grouped under one banner. That banner became the Power Of The Jedi line. As you might imagine, figures that were planned to continue in The Power Of The Force “2” line (that were ultimately canceled) were marketed as such and some early packaged sample images surfaced. One of these figures was Chewbacca (Dejarik Champion). Originally scheduled for POTF2 (with a revised Comm Tech chip), plans were canceled and the figure was held back for the first wave of the Power Of The Jedi line.

Chewbacca (Dejarik) is another one of those “bittersweet” figures. There is no doubt that many collectors have waited to see this version of Chewbacca released in the basic figure line (especially because of the holochess set). The accessory is the shining star of the set indeed, because the Chewbacca action figure isn’t that wonderful by itself. Talk about a scene specific action figure. Chewbacca looks silly without the Dejarik table (and set). His arms are permanently sculpted in a “v shape” so that you can have him pose his hands behind his head. The sad thing about this is that if you decide to bring his arms to the front of his body, it looks like he is cupping his hands over his stomach which makes him look like he has a belly ache or he is trying to do his best impersonation of Santa Claus without the red suit and hat. Also, in a line that seems to focus on screen accuracy, Chewbacca is out of place structurally because he is too short and honestly looks like a refreshed version of a good The Power Of The Force “2” version of him already released in the basic figure line. This is a fair assessment because that’s actually what he is. We can’t fault this figure for turning out the way it did because it was designed for a previous era, when such things weren’t at the forefront of Hasbro’s mind. Chewbacca (Dejarik Champion) is instantly dated, but it is not without merit.

The enhanced hinge-jointed knees work wonders for the holochess table, but they don’t really offer anything more than that. Again, Chewbacca (Dejarik Champion) looks absolutely ridiculous without his accessory, and we find that a shame because a good action figure should looks great independent of any accessories included with it. As far as his head sculpt, Chewbacca (Dejarik Champion) looks good, although it does have that aged POTF2 look to it. Yes, it looks like Chewbacca, but some details are ultimately lacking and inevitably gives the impression that this isn’t exactly the Chewbacca you recall from the film. Many collectors will likely be buying this action figure for the Dejarik game table. We understand that. It’s very well done. Hasbro used an orange translucent plastic to recreate the game monsters. It would have been great to have more color here, but the approach utilized here works. Four of the monsters in the game have been recreated in what appears to be a very close and perhaps accurate 3.75” scale. You get the idea. We like it a lot and it is the best part of this release. Chewbacca (Dejarik Champion) isn’t a letdown by any means, but it would have benefitted everyone if Hasbro had decided to push this figure further down their parking lot list until a more articulated version of Chewbacca could have been made to coincide with the Dejarik game table.