Tauntaun (ESB)

The tauntaun – that workhorse, that beast of burden of Hoth. What can I say about the tauntaun? They smell like plastic, or really bad, depending on if you’re smelling the toy or a real one (this site does not advocate that tauntauns are real or unicorns for that matter). The tauntaun was another beast (as opposed to sentient alien beings) from the Star Wars universe, one that you could let your figures ride. The only other animal to feature this in the original Kenner toys was the Dewback, which didn’t get nearly the screen time or lines.

The figures were able to mount the tauntaun by inserting their rigid legs into a trap door on its back. With the saddle in place, it looked (vaguely) like the figure’s legs were saddling the tauntaun. The tauntaun only came out in an ESB box, but in two versions. The first was a normal, uneviscerated tauntaun. The second version (with a slightly different box photo showing its use) was the tauntaun with open belly feature. Yes! Our cries of putting Luke somewhere warm until we could get a shelter together were answered! Yes, the new tauntaun came with a pliable belly with a slit to put a deliriously injured Luke into.

Why should you get this beast? Five reasons:

1. Practice your “grackle-grackle” mating call!

2. Get the open belly tauntaun, stuff in some cooked spaghetti, and let the scene begin.

3. Seriously – it’s got an open belly. You’ve got to see this!

4. Hoth Tours is just not the same unless it’s on one of these babies.

5. You wanted Kenner to make a bantha? Too bad! You’ve got a tauntaun.

Backstory:

Tauntauns are native to Hoth, and have several subspecies (scaly, giant, glacier, climbing), giants being the most common. When the Rebels made their Echo Base, they trained tauntauns as riding mounts since many vehicles did not work well in the cold climate. The alpha female of a pack was subjugated first, making the rest easier to train. They are also the primary food source for wampas, but their horns, camouflage, and speed (up to 90 km/hr) are their defense.

Want more? Its Wookieepedia entry

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