Like most I was in awe of the Imperial Stormtroopers from Star Wars. When these shiny, white troopers emerged through that blasted hatch at the beginning of the film I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Even better a few scenes into the movie and the Sandtroopers arrived, on giant lizards no less. The lizards are known as Dewbacks, and while they are supposed to be pretty common in Star Wars I will always associate them with Sandtroopers.
So if you have been following the blog you know I did a little feature last year called Stormtrooper of the Week. I started it a few weeks into the blog, and it was where I highlighted troopers from my collection. I ended it in the new year, but that was not because I ran out of troopers, oh no, far from that. So, I thought I would throw a trooper up on the ole' blog every once in a while to satisfy the Star Wars side.
Here we have the 1997 Creature set of Mr. Dewback and his pal Stormy Mc Sandtrooper! I've shown a Dewback before, and if I ever land my mitts on a complete vintage one you know that a third post is coming. This guy is in scale with the 3 3/4" line of toys so it's not as big as the previous one I spotlighted. The set comes with the Dewback, molded saddle, reigns, a Sandtrooper rider (his legs were made to ride!) his back pack, a rifle, and a long pole or pike to poke at stuff or Dewbacks! Wow, that seems like a lot. The Dewback him or herself has articulation at each shoulder and the head and tail move. Actually moving the tale makes the head move from side to side and the mouth open.
These creature sets were released when the Special Editions came out at the theater, and there were three in the set. Dewback/Sandtrooper, Jawa /Ronto (a new creature), and Han Solo/Jabba, all to celebrate the digital enhancements made to the film. I didn't mind the new scenes with the Sandtroopers, the Ronto seemed a little forced in there, and the whole Han talking to Jabba just didn't work for me. I will say though I appreciate how they tried to tie the toy line into the new releases. Plus it was the first time we get a Dewback since the vintage line.
6 comments:
i had the original dewback toy--i could NOT get enough of the "wag the tail and the head moves" thing.
Great pics!
Dewbacks -- as a kid, I wouldn't have known they were in the movie, except that a 'Sandtrooper' on a dewback was prominently featured on the Star Wars lunchbox. Every summer when they'd re-release Star Wars, I'd get my mom to take me and I'd try to find that dang dinosaur -- it's on for a fraction of a second.
They were more prominently featured in the 97 version, but their legs seem kind of screwy to me. The brief glimpse from the original Star Wars suggested a way less 'cat-like' creature.
BTW, my four year old son loves going thru your 'Stormtrooper of the Week' archives.
Well all right! A fan of the Stormtroopers, I'm going to have to scare up some more and maybe revise the SOTW!
this is a great release but to be honest, there haven't been too many bad SW action figure and playsets released. To me, the dewback always seemed a bit out of place and I figured that they needed transportation that was native to the heat of the desert heat of the region. Think about it...you see speeders and ships all over mos eisley etc...but the sandtroopers rode giant lizards. I don't care, they are great. And the Jabba scene with Han in A New Hope was actually one of the only parts of the special editions that I welcomed. I appreciate that it was originally supposed to be in the film.
I have to go to the library today. Do you want to know why? My books are Dewback. (taken from the X-Entertainment blog) :)
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