Greef Karga, Grogu, and Zutton

 Greef Karga, Grogu, and Zutton

Star Wars - Hasbro Vintage Collection, Hot Wheels

Who would have thought that Apollo Creed and a Mogwai-cute version of Yoda would be the winning combination in bringing Star Wars back from the brink?  The Child has been marketed to death, but why so slow on my Greef Karga fix, Hasbro?!  After having to suffer through seeing a sub-par likeness on the 6-inch, Black Series figure, he’s here and ready to rumble!

It looks just like him...much better than the 6-inch figure.  This is my third Carl Weathers figure (having 2 versions of Apollo in the NECA Rocky line)...and I just can’t get enough of him.  I would have preferred Greef in his season one outfit, but his city administrator gear is a bit more flashy.  Maybe we’ll get season one before the slew of garbage Star Wars shows kill the franchise again?  (Hasn’t Cassian Andor peg-warmed enough already?)

The cape overlay is removable, but like most figures with plastic outfits, leaves him looking a bit long-necked.  The gun can be holstered, but looks a bit off...like it was supposed to fit a different model?  I would have to go back and look at reference photos to be sure.  In any case, it doesn’t hurt the overall presentation.

On the same run in finding this figure, I picked up a Hot Wheels version of Grogu in his pram.  I have a season two model in the form of the weird Mission Series (2-inch figures?!) line that I worked in a Grogu from a Walmart exclusive two pack, but this is the season one pod and it scales quite well with the Vintage line.  

The pod is die-cast metal, and has a nice, clear display stand to complete the hover effect.  It’s also just under $5...good enough compared to the close to $15 Vintage series.  Sure, Baby Yoda isn’t removable, but  he doesn’t necessarily need to be.  He can wield the force in a seated position just fine.  If you want to fast-forward and ruin him by giving him a lightsaber like they do all Jedi, you’re out of luck.

Also found on this run, another Cantina creep:  Zutton.  He’s not a particularly exciting looking alien...a person wearing a cow mask and a fake hunchback.  His “Snaggletooth” is very present in this sculpt, and he completes the Snivvian triad (along with Zutmore and brother, Takeel) in my collection.  

The most this guy has going for him is the controversy of blue/red outfit colors in the original Star Wars line.  His belt has a makeshift holster loop in the back.  Sneaky Snaggletooth...the kid is off limits!

With the Mando show going on hiatus while Disney + attempts to kill the brand via over saturation with shows no one asked for, these may be some of the last Star Wars figures I pick up for some time.  Get ‘em while you can, because you never know if you’ll get another shot.  Despite what some may think, even Star Wars a shelf life.

More Carl Weathers and Baby Yoda goodness from blogs past:

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2017/10/rocky.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-mandalorian.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2019/12/baby-yoda.html

Baby Yoda

Baby Yoda

Star Wars - The Mandalorian

Custom 3 3/4" scale figure

I have seen "The Mandalorian", and as far as the future of Star Wars goes...this is the way.  Fan service done right without the goofy "Guardians of the Galaxy" humor and without lightsaber-a-second action sequences.  You also get the most adorable practical effects character since baby Ewoks:  Baby Yoda!  Yes, even the Terrible Toyman is on the cutesy bandwagon.  If it's good enough for Werner Herzog, it's good enough for you, cowards!  Baby Yoda is everything and bag of Star Wars Pop Chips!

Even though the floodgates are about to be opened on merch (The quick-fix Disney cranked out looked like Cafe Press garbage and the good stuff won't arrive until early 2020) covering this adorable lil fella (dubbed "The Child" or "The Asset), I'm betting us die-hard, crotchety 3 3/4" figure collectors are getting left out.  At best, we get ten to twelve "vintage" figures a year, and we're not even getting a Mandalorian until April 2020!  They could always surprise us with a pack-in accessory, but I have a back-up in case they don't.  

Ice Cream Maker Guy's ice cream maker isn't a Rebel data core anymore?  It's just a storage safe? Oh, that crazy canon!

I found three different tiny Baby Yoda sculpt to choose from with one seller alone, and the quality looked pretty decent...I took a shot, and I am not disappointed!  Sure, $10 for a figure that stands about an inch high sounds steep.  And sure I have to paint him myself...but it's Baby Yoda!  The savior of Star Wars!  

My paint job is pretty minimalist, with the appropriate greens and browns.  I'm not much of a painter, and I certainly don't have the customization skills of a Warhammer miniatures fan.  I think it turned out fine, especially compared to other tiny Hasbro offerings of late.

Get Disney Plus just for "Mando." (Looking at the other content, one should burn out on it in two months tops.)  Feel all that Star Wars could and should be.  (Future prediction:  this feeling cannot be found in Ewan "I've-got-an alimony-payment-to-make" McGregor's Obi-Wan series or the Cassian Andor series.  Who cares about Cassian Andor, seriously?!)  Get your fix on Baby Yoda.  Buy this tiny figurine for your tiny figures.  Be happy...until Disney mucks it up again.