Saturday, November 10, 2007

Hammerhead (Star Wars 1978-70)




Yet another to complete your cantina diorama, Hammerhead was an interesting figure. It was the only one who had to be turned sideways (well, just his head). Although this was another character that was in the original movie for all of 5 seconds, it was still one of the more interesting aliens. Like many of the alien figures in the original Kenner line, his clothes weren't quite right, but his head and feet were nicely done. The blaster was fairly generic (the same one that came with the Stormtroopers), but, you know, Kenner had to include something.


Five reasons to get this figure:


1. Hammerhead - that name is enough there. Any character named after a shark has an instant cool factor.


2. That head. Wow. What other figure has such an interesting and off-center head.


3. As mentioned before, he is a cantina alien, and it thus can't be completed without him. Of course, the original line didn't include a band member, totally ruining the experience.


4. The card picture with that giant twisty head? Oh yeah, that's worth the price of admission right there.


5. The Boba Fett offer on the back is great. Later, all instances of the "shooting" backpack were covered up with a black sticker, since the shooting feature was deemed a safety hazard.


Backstory:


The "hammerhead" from the movie was named Momaw Nadon, an Ithorian. The Ithorians are a peace-loving naturalist race. This backstory was made all the more funny since this original figure came with a blaster. When the figure was reissued in the 1990's line, it came with a huge double blaster. Get your stories straight people! Momaw and his race worked with the Rebellion against the Empire. Ithorians also live in giant floating cities above their planet so as not to disturb the ecosystem.
This figure came on cards from all three movies.

2 comments:

China said...

I remember thinking it funny that he's basically wearing his underwear at a bar. Reminds me of San Francisco's "Castro" district at night.

Alec said...

Just bought a used (original!) Hammerhead yesterday! He's one of my all-time favorite characters from 'Star Wars'. Even though he had seconds of screen time, I always thought he was cute. I love how he's looking sideways like he's thinking.