Sunday, June 29, 2008

CAP-2 Captivator (ESB)




The CAP-2 "captivator" was another mini-rig not found in the movies, but put out to give kids a cheap one-figure vehicle to play with, extending the original line. The CAP-2 was another unique design (they weren't all that way). Suction-cup legs for climbing on...windows? A pivoting front blaster; a bubble-cockpit; two front pincer arms; and a rear capturing device that could hold a captured figure. This was operated by a little knob on top.

Like many mini-rigs, if you didn't have the box, or didn't hear about it previously, there is probably no way you'd know this was a Star Wars vehicle. It does have some Imperial-type design reminiscent of maybe a probe droid, but nothing that strikes it as definitely Star Wars-ish. For a long time as a child, I thought it was used for window washing around Cloud City.

Why should you get this vehicle? Five reasons:

1. Unique. Suction-cups: what the f--- is up with that?

2. That shade of gun-metal grey. Cool.

3. The picture on the box is another example of Kenner ambiguity. So the Hoth rebel is captured on Cloud City by Bossk and turned over to the Empire? What?

4. I always assumed (having not had the box) that it was a maintenance vehicle for Cloud City. It always amused me that they would have made a mundane window washer vehicle.

5. Perfect for dentists - one of the pincer claws looks just like a tooth scraper.

Backstory:
The CAP-2 is one of those rare mini-rigs that was not glimpsed in the movies, even in some other function, and does not have a larger, equivalent, vehicle. It is said that this ship was used by Bossk, but this is based only on the box picture. It could easily be a vehicle used in the Star Wars universe, but has not shown in any works considered canon.

29th in alphabetical order

2 comments:

Yak said...

It's obvious (as you said) you didn't get this mini-rigged boxed! For all of us who didn't steal it from the little kid at the end of the street ;) it was.. and still is Bossk's vehicle and at times even a match to Slave1! Those claws can rip the cargo hatch right off Slave1 sucking that New Zealander clean out of there!!

Anonymous said...

I have had it since i was a kid, and i thot it was a trash collector mech. I know the grasping thing was for humans, and the suction cups were to climb the city's windows, to clean and collect debri like dead birds. The hook hands were for picking up garbage bins, i'd pretend.