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Star Wars Smuggler's Bounty Jan 2017 Unboxing: The Empire Strikes Back
- Angel Shidaker Photographed by Tom Shidaker
- Jan 27, 2017
- 3 min read
So, I am going to go on record...for probably about the thousandth time, that I am not a fan of Star Wars...
These unboxings can sometimes be a bit treacherous for me, since I do not know much about the franchise . So, for me, I guess a bit of research was in order.
Tom said to me going in that it was a bit unfair to call this box The Empire Strikes Back...with the exception of the pin, most of the items come from roughly the first half hour of the movie, from a place called Hoth. I see what he means. Maybe Land of Hoth would have been a better name for this Smuggler's Bounty...
Speaking of the pin...his name is Lando Calrissian, making his first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Portayed by Billy Dee Williams and Administrator of Cloud City, he is General in the Rebel Alliance with his own comic book series and has said to have taught Hans Solo how to pilot a ship, and hinted at being the original owner of the Millennium Falcon. Here is the pin...
A Patch We Have....
Also making his frist appearance in Empire, an unknown species and Jedi Master...Yoda has actually been voiced and portayed by many actors, but the original concept was to use a child actor or a monkey!
Instead, mostly computer generation and puppets make up the wise one we know today, and has made him one of the greatest and best known fictional characters today.
On a side note, something I am not sure I have really touched on before...on opening many of these boxes..once that first flap is lifted...the pin and patch are what we see first.
On another round of firsts...the first set of Funko Pop socks are making their appearance in this box. Darth Vader...Stormtroopers...Classic Geek. With our newly acquired studio equipment, now even socks can utilize live models! Well, feet in this case...
One of the reasons he wanted me to watch where this all comes from is for the Wampa. For years and years...even until today, I am forever a fan of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. And, the Wampa reminds me of The Bumble..
However, even I know that the Wampa is up to no good, and there is no taming this snow monster running rampant in Hoth, even after Luke cuts his arm off with a lightsaber. And he still managed to eat that poor tauntaun.
Too bad this plush is so soft and cuddly, he is bad news...
"And I thought they smelled bad from the outside"
Luke Skywalker is not only featured on the box because of Empire being his most pivotal role, but this is the Episode here he finds out Darth Vader is his father. He then loses a hand. And after being thrown from his own tauntaun after searching for a meteor, Hans Solo tries to come to the rescue. It is Hans and his tauntaun that are the featured Pop ride, in the scene from their ride through Hoth.
Tauntauns have thick fur and downturned horns, with notorious foul odor emitting from their bodies. Their fur and layers of fat keep them quite warm, but even they cannot handle plummeting temperature without protection. Which is why he meets his demise and soon to be a Wampa's dinner.
In the end, Hans cutting open that tauntaun to keep Luke warm may have saved his life, despite the smell.
What is different about this Pop ride is that Hans does not actually detach from the tauntaun, but the base looks like the snowy ground of Hoth...So, that is kind of cool.
A fun fact.. going into each Smuggler' Bounty, Funko often sends sketches to LucasFilms to get their approval for the products and their likeness. But, with Hans and the tauntaun, they handpainted a prototype for the Powers that Be..and they were so blown away they accepted the first one!
Until next time, stay with us as we go on more adventures and open new possibilities . Always in motion is the future...
