This article contains affiliate links through which Odinstoychest.com may earn a commission. Learn more from our disclosure statement here.
What’s up, everywookiee! It’s DrunkWooky back with another Figure Review! Today, we’re checking out the Galaxy of Adventures Chewbacca action figure from Hasbro! Figures from this fun little line are selling for around $11.00 and measure 5.5″. They have limited articulation, but more than the classic five point of articulation set up from the 3.75″ Kenner line and the first Galaxy of Adventures line. I go into detail about the Galaxy of Adventure history below, but suffice to say, I think Hasbro finally hit their stride with this line, even if it is a bit redundant of Disney’s Toy Box line.
Galaxy of Adventures Figures (Second Release) can be found at these fine retailers:
History of the Galaxy of Adventure Line
I wouldn’t normally walk you through this type of section in a simple review, but this line, I feel, takes some explaining. If anything so we just know what line we’re talking about and to make sure interested collectors buy the right product.
The Hasbro Galaxy of Adventures line has started with some strange product, packaging, and marketing for sure. In particular, it has been somewhat baffling to suss out how the line fit into Hasbro’s other offerings and who the line was really designed for.
Last Christmas, these little plastic tubes, lined with a comic, and filled with a 3.75″ figure with five points of articulation made their way into retailers.
Meanwhile, Disney was producing Toy Box figures which were more in line with the art style of the Galaxy of Adventures comic and packaging than the actual figure included in the Galaxy of Adventures first release. The Toy Box line itself was a re-incarnation of the art style of the unarticulated Disney Infinity figures that interacted with Disney’s video game properties.
Finally, Hasbro re-released the Galaxy of Adventures line with cel-shaded coloring and more cartoony sculpts which more closely matched the art style of the comics, cartoons, and packaging in the Galaxy of Adventure media. However, it’s not as if Disney has stopped producing the Toy Box line. On the contrary, they’ve kept releasing new characters like the Sith Trooper below.
This is all to say that the current iteration of the Hasbro Galaxy of Adventures line has had a rocky start and convoluted history. One that makes you wonder where it fits int he pantheon of toys and why it exists.
Packaging
An improvement from the first release of the Galaxy of Adventures line, Hasbro opted to go with a window box over the rounded plastic tube. If you know the Black Series box, you know this box. A big clear window to view the Wookiee in question, bright, legible graphics one each side and a nice illustration of the Wookiee Slam feature and other figures available. All in all, I’ve got nothing to complain about here.
Sculpt
This new Galaxy of Adventure line, as I mentioned above, has taken some cues from the Disney Toy Box line and has a more stylized sculpt and art deco in general. Gone are the attempts at photo-realism from the Black Series line and more exaggerated proportions are present from his tufted wrists to the oversized feet.
That’s not to say that Chewie is void of detail. There is minimal, but enough individual tufts sculpted throughout his fur to give an effective impression of fur and to play with the light. While his bandolier is a separate piece, it appears permanently attached to his left shoulder. There’s also enough detail on this bandolier to make sure it keeps in line with the art direction of the rest of the figure. The width of Chewie’s fingers vary at the knuckles to give a fun cartoony vibe to the whole thing.
Paint
This is a situation where the paint strategy was to go simple, bold, bright, and sharp. Again, we’re not dealing with photo-realism. So, single colors for each feature is pretty effective. There’s clean application on the pink mouth interior and pearly whites along with different colors of fur on the head to add some definition and attitude to Chewie. The bandolier sports some metallic silver, but there was some lack of follow through ont he sides of the ammo canisters. Other than this oversight, I’d say that the paint application is pretty clean without a lot of smudging or coloring outside the lines. Some of the other details throughout the body actually come from casting the different body parts in slightly different shades of brown which comes across as a simple, yet effective method of displaying our favorite co-pilot’s furriness.
Articulation
Chewie’s head is on a simple single ball joint, his shoulders are a ball and swivel joint, his elbow is a single ball and swivel, waist is a ball joint, hips are each a single ball joint, the knees are a single ball and swivel, and the ankle is a single ball and swivel joint.
There’s a step down in articulation from the 6″ Black Series line here, but there’s enough to keep the poses interesting.
While most Black Series figures boast double joints at the elbows and knees, Chewie has a single joint at each, for example. His head is restricted quite a bit by the fur sculpt, so you’re not pulling off much more than a simple side to side swivel. Also, Chewie’s ankle is quite tight and, beyond that, again restricted by his fur tufts. I’m fine with all this limitation, though because of the price point. This is a lot of figure for $11! Also, I haven’t even addressed the Wookiee Slam feature which I think is a dose of fun sorely missing from a lot of collectibles.
Accessories/Features
Chewie comes with his classic bow caster and, unless you count his attached bandolier and satchel, no other accessories.
The bowcaster is another example of great detail combined with stylized sculpting. All the major features of the weapon are there, including the balls on the end of the sides of the bow. There are also small divots, wires, and details throughout which add to the effect. With some effort, this gun fits nicely in Chewie’s right hand and he can pull off most major poses. Unfortunately, no two handed cross-body aiming pose, though. I blame the single jointed elbows and limiting tufts of fur.
All of this is buoyed up by the great “Wookiee Slam” action feature though! Remember action features!? You’d buy a Ninja Turtle because he could perform a backflip? Or a G.I. Joe because he had Kung Fu action grip!? Well, the Wookiee Slam is a simple spring-loaded downward motion to the arms. Both arms move independently if moved in a counter-clockwise rotation and then snap back to their beginning position. You can separately pose the arms by moving them in a clockwise rotation (if you can stand the deathly sounding clicking noise it makes). This is a simple feature, but one I just had a hoot playing around with. I imagine Han Solo’s quick draw action will be a modified version of this same feature. I’m still looking forward to that, though!
Check out the demonstration video below!
Price/Value
So, Chewie has failings if strictly assessed in comparison to other collectible lines, namely the detail and articulation on the Vintage Collection and the Black Series. But, the price is right! This is a nice little stylized figure with a fun action feature which will add some diversity to your Star Wars figure collection! It’s a buy for me!
