Green and with attitude - no, I'm not talking about the Incredible Hulk, I'm talking about the Patrol Dewback! This iguana-like creature was seen in the first movie while the stormtroopers were looking for the droids on Tatooine. Do you think riding the Dewback was the preferable job, or being on foot?
The dewback came with a removable saddle and harness. To put the figure in the "saddle" was really to put it in a collapsible panel on its back. The harness made it look like there were legs straddling the beast. Move the tail back and forth and the head would do the same.
The Dewback only came in a Star Wars logo box, but also came out with a "Collector Series" emblem in 1983. The box is hilarious, like a keystone cops caper. Luke and the gang are conspicuosly hiding out, and peeking, behind a sand dune. All the stormtroopers are looking in the same direction - directly away from the gang.
After the Special Editions of the original films, where a CG Dewback was inserted in the original, the figure was re-released with a Sandtrooper with bendable knees, and the Dewback had a more lithe physique.
Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:
1. Basically, it's like having your own iguana, without having to worry about it pooping on your shoulder. or moving.
2. Freak out your own iguana. If you have an iguana. You freak.
3. How many riding animals can you get for your original figures? It was pretty much a tautaun and this.
4. Humiliate your stormtroopers - "Who gets to march behind the Dewback today?"
5. Give the dewback the respect it deserves - let it languish in your trunk for 20 years until your forget what in the hell it is.
Backstory:
Dewbacks, native to Tatooine, got their names from the dew that would accumulate on their backs overnight. In packs of 2-5 they would lick each others' back in the morning. Many Tatooine inhabitants used these animals as packs animals and as food sources. They usually came in green, but could also have shades of red , brown, gray, and blue. Dewbacks were cold blooded, and thus very sluggish if still active at night. Their use as domesticated animals was often because of their ability to rebel sand fleas, unlike the hairy Tatooine bantha.
1 comment:
I wonder if anyone in Star Wars lore has ever pointed out the fact that an iguana-like creature really wouldn't survive on Tatooine. Nor would he be green.
Post a Comment