Ackmena

 Ackmena

A "Star Wars Holiday Special" Etsy Custom

It's Christmas Life Day in July!  And everyone's favorite surly bartender is finally here to reign over the festivities...Move over, Wuher, Bea Arthur is in town!

Yes, I finally found an Etsy seller who has that sense of humor about Star Wars that so many lack.  The Holiday Special must be recognized.  Is it stupid?  Yes.  But is it any different than variety show TV specials of it's time?  No.  Is it an appropriate format for Star Wars?  Probably not, but it served it's purpose three-fold:  keep the movie in public consciousness during a time before home video releases, let people know that the Empire Strikes Back is on its way, and sell more toys for the holiday season.  Sadly, none of those toys were directly inspired by the special...

"Animated" Boba Fett has had more than enough time under the twin suns.  Chewie's family was in the prototype stage, but were never released.  And in "the Case of the Multiple Zutmore's" the shorter version appearing in the special made his plastic debut in 2001.  Of all the guest stars, Ackmena was top of my list for action figures, followed by Gormaanda and trader, Saun Dann.

Okay, so it's more of a resin model than a figure, but I'll take what I can get.  The sculpt and 3-d printing is clean and very well done.  Assembly was fairly simple, though you may need to sand or Dremel the peg holes a bit.  Painting may seem like a daunting task...I hate it myself...but what we have here is a simplistic throwback to the original Kenner days.  No photorealistic shading required.  I used four acrylic paints and a spray sealer from Hobby Lobby.  Eyes and eyebrows made me sweat, but I think they came out pretty darn good.

"I'll run a tab for the Empire..."

Ackmena joins my custom Wookie family.

So why wait til November 17th?  It's hot on Tatooine, no matter when you celebrate!  Grab some Wookie Ookies and spin some Jefferson Starship now!  If you're a fan of the Star Wars Holiday Special, or just a fan of retro Star Wars figures, you need Ackmena in your collection.  And, more important, I need you to support this figure with hope it will one day lead to "Grandpa Itchy's Diahann Carroll Sex Fantasy Chair."

"Just six simple words..."

"Come back soon.  I'll be waiting!"

Until then, look back at some other "Holiday Special" goodness!

Yavin Luke Skywalker

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2019/11/yavin-luke-skywalker.html

Holiday Droid Factory and Custom Life Day Ornaments

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2021/12/holiday-droid-factory.html

Custom Ewoks Movie Figures

Custom Ewoks Movie Figures

Etsy

3D printing has made Etsy a wonderland for all things geek, especially action figure fans with holes in their collections.  It can be tricky to navigate, coming up with just the right search words, but you never know what you can find until you try.  Take these custom Ewoks movie figures for example...

Don't let Disney's canon wipe get you down, true fans.  The Battle for Endor still stands as the best Star Wars spin-off movie so far, even with visible zippers on the furball suits!  The Dis made a partial dream come true by including Teek and mystic Ewok, Kaink, in one of their Star Tours figure sets.  But that wasn't enough for me.  Or for an Esty store in the Czech Republic (Two Mirrorz store), apparently.  More Woklings!  Wicket's mom and sister!  Cindel Towani!

Hasbro has only released one Wokling (Nippet was a pack-in with Leektar), and that's been a good 14 years ago!  Here, you get three different sculpts, all fully painted, for $18.  $6 a Wokling may sound steep, but just look at them...can you deny the original "Baby Yodas?"  

You can save a few bucks by going in on a bundle deal with Shodu and baby Winda.  They scale great with Hasbro Ewoks.  And just check out the paint detail on those eyes!  Wicket's family is getting bigger, but still a few members short of completion.  

At least he has someone to play with now...Cindel Towani!   Sure, she has no articulation, but she's perfect.  The curly ringlets of hair are amazing.  $20 painted isn't so bad, considering I was thinking of butchering/repurposing an Episode 1 kid Anakin figure to undoubtedly mixed results. I'm so glad to have her next to Wicket and Teek.

In-action figures, sure, but great stand-ins for characters that may never be produced anyway. I hope to see a few more Ewoks figures soon, especially Noah Briqualon and Chukha-Trok.  I also hope that 3D printing can push a little further into the forgotten areas of a galaxy far, far away....

Come back soon, I'll be waiting!

Until then, have a look back a my large Ewok army!

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2020/02/at-st-raider.html

Holiday Droid Factory

Holiday Droid Factory

Disney Exclusive

There’s no Christmas in Star Wars, so I’m just going to assume that these festive lil buckets of bolts are celebrating Life Day even longer!  This four-pack is a Disney exclusive, and it sold out pretty early in the season.  

As far as the Droid Factory premise goes, you can expect the same old sculpts and same old interchangeable parts scheme.  The holiday charm comes from the special paint decos, winter hats and scarves, and a few seasonal accessories.

“Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it, but a kiss can be-”  “BACK OFF, NERF-HERDER!”

This is the same drink service tray that came with R2-D2 from Jabba’s sail barge, but more colorful.  

Hoth chocolate, anyone?  Hey, who spiked the blue milk?

And featuring Chewbacca’s family!  *Harvey Korman not included*

This set is $35 if you can find it.  Maybe eBay prices will come down after Christmas?  

As a special treat, enjoy this year’s Tree of Life - featuring hand-painted Holiday Special ornaments from my pal, Eddie Warren!

  

 

Happy Life Day, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Tantive IV Hallway Playset

 Tantive IV Hallway Playset

Hasbro - The Vintage Collection

I've been sitting on this one for a while...over half a year. There are a couple of reasons why.  Tantive IV (the Rebel Blockade Runner) has been one of my most wanted Star Wars ships since the beginning of my collecting days.  Yes, scale would always be an issue, but Kenner/Hasbro used to be masters of adapting large concepts to maximum playability and affordability.  Even if it only fit three to five figures, like the not-too-long-ago unearthed Kenner mock-up, I wanted it.  I get that Hasbro is a money making company that likes to maximize their profits as much as the rest, but I'm never going to be convinced that the market doesn't exist for a scale between Haslab's crowdfunded behemoths (Sail Barge, Razor Crest) and "bite-sized Vintage" (aka - Mission Series).  Maybe the designers honestly feel it shouldn't be done any other way?  Choosing to go the route of playset form for the size-problematic Death Star, and not the goofy-but-fun Star Destroyer?

Any which way, after all this time, we have to settle for a hallway.  It's a nice looking hallway.  But this is nothing I could not have already had from 3D printers.  It's nothing special, but I suppose it saves one a little money ($50 for a good chunk) and time (no painting, gluing, or sanding) packaging it up this way.  You can buy multiple sets to make more hallways...or longer hallways...but that's about it.  The questionably angled design on the right end pretty much says "link four together for a square."  Wow...the possibilities are endless!

The back side isn't detailed at all, but does have these "metal" sections seen in the parts where Princess Leia gives R2-D2 the Death Star Plans and gets "stunned."  An updated escape pod would have been nice here.  Or maybe sections and seats of the conference room from Revenge of the Sith?  Hasbro: "Nah...good enuff for 'em.  They got opening and closing doors, after all."

Yoda: "In your solitude on Tattooine, 3D printing job I have for you."

The pack-in bonus is a Rebel Trooper.  Army building is great and all, but this is the exact same figure that I think has been released to the vintage series twice now?  They aren't clones...how about a different head or multiple heads?  The only change here is that they are featured in vintage packaging within the boxed set.  Why would anyone be buying this not to take it out of the box?  I suppose there are sad people out their that don't play with their toys...but can they resist opening a box to be able to display the figure inside in it's box?  Maybe that's why Hasbro went with "Rogue One" packaging on the figure....only dopes would believe anything was worth keeping pristine about that turd of a movie.  What a slap in the face to vintage collector's wanting any representation of this ship, thinking that it needs current Star Wars garbage to sell it.  Packaging is trash, just like Rogue One.

Darth Vader would like to add: "No ignited lightsabers necessary, nay, allowed on this playset!"

Even with all this negativity, I did have a good time positioning the 15 or so Rebel Troopers I have (who have been oh-so patiently awaiting their demise aboard the Star Tours speeder for many years) on this "playset".  I am enjoying it for what it is, coming to terms with this being all there is for the Tantive IV.  At least, I'm hoping that a coffee table sized Haslab behemoth isn't coming...but considering the success of the others, I wouldn't be surprised.  And I wouldn't be surprised to see Hasbro pushing that dollar sign even higher...$700?  $800?  Make it an even grand?  

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