Chewbacca - Unleashed

An immense, fur-covered warrior of great strength and loyalty, Chewbacca approaches everything with the intense ferocity so characteristic of Wookiee temperament, demonstrating a total commitment to defending those he has sworn to protect, and fighting those who challenge him as his enemy. He has seen and experienced much in his long years – the crushing subjugation when he was enslaved by the Empire, the reckless days of smuggling with his friend Han Solo, and his dramatic adventures as a Rebel Alliance fighter. Beneath the fearsome and savage countenance is a gentle and loving being, but, like all Wookiees, Chewbacca has a notoriously short temper and explodes into a berserker rage that cannot be halted until the object of his fury is sufficiently destroyed. Even though he is armed only with a bowcaster, he is a terrifying sight when he raises his huge, furred arm and points his weapon in a wordless gesture of fierce courage and searing defiance against all who threaten him or anyone under his mantle of protection.

Always keeping the line fresh and never dull for a moment, Hasbro has often thought outside of the box when producing some of the incredible Star Wars: Unleashed figures in beautiful seven-inch scale. That is probably the perfect assessment for Chewbacca, a figure that perplexed collectors at first not knowing Hasbro’s source of inspiration for the piece. But it really isn’t all that difficult to process. You can tell that from the lush green base that he is standing on a portion of Endor. The dirty, mossy texture of the base can really be no other films specific terrain. And because the Battle of Endor happened on Endor (duh), it makes sense why Chewbacca is at the ready with bowcaster aimed defending himself on a green surface during this history changing battle. The only thing missing from this figure is an Ewok or two to help prove this is the Battle of Endor and to help add a little more character from the figure (not that it really needs it). There is no way to deny that Chewbacca is an excellent sculpt. We will get to all of the details of that in a moment, but we want to state right from the start that we’re thrilled that Hasbro is intent on keeping scale in this widespread Unleashed line. It seems it would be easy to fit all of these characters within seven inches generally speaking, but Chewbacca is tall and towers over most others. We’re quite pleased with how he turned out.

We’re stuck on one detail of Chewbacca and it bothers us. For reasons unknown, despite the ferociousness in his face, Hasbro has decided to give Chewbacca eyes that looks like they were made the team at Littlest Pet Shop brand instead of the Star Wars brand. All Chewbacca needs are welled-up tears and he would fit in seamlessly with the Littlest Pet Shop line. We really jest here, but there is something much too friendly in his eyes that diminish the ferocity in his expression. Thankfully his snarl showing off his perfectly straight and bright-white teeth help to diminish that diminishment. Ultimately, the portrait of Chewbacca works quite well. Apparently it’s quite windy on Endor as evidenced by Chewbacca’s windblown hair, but it also could mean that he is in the middle of moving at a brisk pace or perhaps running from danger to defend himself. Whatever the reason, we have to say that we’re impressed with the attention to detail. Locks of brown hair with varying highlights are flyaway and they look beautiful. The paint operations given to Chewbacca, his accessory and his terrain are also beautifully colored. When fully assembled, Chewbacca is a sight for sore eyes. He looks marvelous and is quite weighty when compared to most of the other figures in this range. You get your money’s worth in plastic here. There is no doubt about that.

Not too many Unleashed figures have articulation, but Chewbacca does. Actually, Hasbro created an impressive ball-jointed left shoulder which not only gives the figure the standard swivel movement, but lateral movement also. Although technically this should give the joint an infinite amount of planes to be posed, it is inhibited a bit from his fur. It’s not that big of a deal, but it’s important to note that you do not get full and complete range of motion. But you do get enough movement to pose his arm upwards and downwards, backwards and forwards. These are really nice points of articulation to have. The top have of his bowcaster is a actually a removable accessory. It snaps loosely into place into a square peg hole on the top of his arm, and then the free-floating strap also can be secured into a hole in his fur on the side of his arm. Again, once fully assembled, this is one impressive Chewbacca figure. From the grip of his left hand to the large bulky “Big Foot” feet, Chewbacca is proof that when designers have a scale and budget to make Star Wars characters look as good as they can in plastic form that anything is possible. And despite the friendliness in his eyes, there is enough rawness in this sculpt to show that Chewbacca is a fighter and someone who you would want fighting for you, not against you. We love how the Unleashed line can reinforce that through the proper utilization of this medium.

As a bonus feature to this review, we have provided the original artwork created for this Star Wars: Unleashed figure. Click the thumbnail to the left to see the amazing illustration.