Paploo (ROTJ 1983-84)

Yes, eventually I had to post another Ewok. Like I’ve mentioned in previous posts, and I’ll reiterate here, small figures like this cheesed kids like me. I just felt like it was less bang for the buck, you know? At least give us a large accessory to make up for the figures, um, shortcomings. A spear, a bow – no. Paploo comes with a ‘battle staff’ which looks suspiciously like a walking stick or a crutch.

Paploo came on either an ROTJ card with Anakin offer (the ghost-of-Anakin figure was a mail-away before he was carded) or a POTF card. The photo on the card was actually of another Ewok, Romba. In the Ewoks animated series the characters Teebo and Paploo got mixed around, so they had each others names. When will people ever learn that all Ewoks do not look alike – this is an urban myth!

Why should you get this furry figure? Five reasons:

1. Recreate the scene where he steals the speederbike (yes, it was this Ewok), except this time he tragically runs into a tree.

2. That Ewok Village playset needs all the Ewoks you can get, or else it might as well be a Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves playset, and we wouldn’t want that.

3. The fur was more realistic than that slicked-down Chewbacca figure.

4. With only 8 Ewok figures in the original line, you have to get them all for the playset, the Glider, the Catapult, and the Ewok Battle Wagon. Crap, they had a lot of vehicles!

5. Paploo vs. Jawa. Two little guys enter, only one makes it out alive.

Backstory:

As mentioned in my top 5 list, Paploo was the Ewok that stole the speederbike and distracted the Imperials. How such a primitive creature figured out how to start, let alone drive a speederbike is beyond me. I don’t think I could even drive Harley-Davidson and I have a clue! Paploo also temporarily replaced Chief Chirpa when they thought the village was cursed because of the arrival of the Imperials.

In ROTJ Paploo was played by Kenny Baker, who played R2-D2, and was scheduled to play Wicket. However, he was sick the first days of shooting, so Warwick Davis took his place. You may have also seen Kenny Baker as Fidget in the movie Time Bandits.

Want more? His Wookieepedia article

117th in alphabetical order