Warok (POTF 1985)

Oh good gravy there are a lot of Ewok figures! The worse thing is there are still more to post and we're already in the "W's!" Warok is simply another one of our fine furry friends, and he comes with a bow, a quiver slung over his shoulder, and a removable cowl. He only came on a POTF card with a coin, so he is still rarer and more collectible than some other more likable characters.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:
1. One of the few coin figures, so he’s simply more collectible.

2. No one can help hijack an AT-ST like Warok.

3. His name sounds like a He-Man figure or something. Hey, just saying.

4. Wow! A bow! A quiver! I’m an archer, so I must have this! (Disclaimer: I am not an archer.)

5. You have to populate that Ewok village with somebody.

Backstory:

Warok was one of the two Ewoks that helped Chewbacca hijack an AT-ST. He was also father to Teebo. Supposedly he was also one of the tribe’s best Glider pilots.

Want more? His Wookieepedia entry

173rd in alphabetical order

Wampa Snow Creature from HOTH (ESB 1980-82)

Another in Kenner’s line of monsters-that-tried-to-kill-Luke, the wampa is available by himself. This, in itself, is kind of lame. The wampa is not big, like the rancor. You cannot fit someone in its mouth, like the rancor. He has no accessories – well, neither does the rancor, but you can put someone in its mouth!

The “Wampa Snow Creature from HOTH” (or “Hoth Wampa” on later boxes) came in an ESB box, and featured spring loaded arms that could be pulled back to…swing. Presumably this was to knock Luke off his tauntaun. It sported short,stubby legs, which were neither fear-inspiring nor menacing. Due to the many different versions of the wampa prop (they tried stop-motion, a guy in a suit, a puppet, etc) Kenner might not have gotten this exactly right, and it may be more of a hybrid of body parts.

Why should you get this creature? Five reasons:

1. You’ve got the tauntaun. You’ve got Hoth Luke. Now get yourself a freakin’ wampa!

2. No one scars Luke like a wampa.

3. Your tauntaun numbers are getting out of hand. A predator helps control the population.

4. Best catcher on the baseball team. Look at those mitts!

5. Those dreamy vacant eyes.

Background:

Wampas were indigenous to Hoth, and fed mainly on tauntauns, but would eat other creatures as well. Mainly solitary hunters, they would only eat when hungry, but hunt and store prey in their cave (like Luke) for later consumption. Echo Base came under many attacks by these creatures, and there was even a deleted scene from ESB where C-3PO rips a warning sign off a wampa room, and some unaware snowtroopers run into it.

Want more? Its Wookieepedia entry

172nd in alphabetical order

Walrusman (SW 1978-79)

Walrus Man is another poorly (many would say humorously) translated Cantina character into figure as far as clothing goes. This garish presentation wouldn’t be corrected until the updated figure in the 1990’s line. Sometimes it hurts my eyes just to look at it, like the tint on my TV is way out of whack. The figure has an, um, orange turtleneck, with blue arms and legs. It came with the same blaster that many of the Star Wars aliens came with, a Stormtrooper-issue model. Walrus Man came on the original Star Wars card, as well as ESB and ROTJ.

What always bothered me about this figure, other than the eye-straining colors, was that the card back wasn’t a photo but a photo-like picture. This character had real screen time and they couldn’t put a real photo on there? Really, I joke (Hasbro give me free stuff). Not only that, but the picture shows – glaringly – that the figure has the wrong clothing.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:

1. Common weaponry. Lose the figure and you’ve still got a gun that goes with a dozen other figures.

2. It is so damn funny. Orange turtleneck. Orange turtleneck!!!???

3. Again, no Cantina scene you make should be without him. After all, he gets his arm cut off.

4. Get enough of these and put them around a sleeping friend. When he wakes up convince him he’s having some kind of acid trip.

5. Finally, you have an excuse for ripping the arm off a figure – it happened in the film!

Backstory:

Like many of the aliens names from the original films, Walrus Man was more of nickname than anything else. In the mythos, his name is Ponda Baba and his race is Aqualish. Because of the mix-up in the original movie, where the standing Walrus Man has webbed hands and the severed arms has hairy fingers, the Star Wars universe says that there are two species of Aqualish, each having one of these traits. So, in actuality, Ponda is kind of a hybrid. It is also never explained why his is the only lightsaber wound that isn’t instantly cauterized.

Ponda Baba rescued Doctor Evazan (the other bad guy in the Cantina) from a bounty hunter and the two became partners. Eventually they ran into Luke and Obi-Wan, who cut off Ponda’s arm. Evazan made him a prosthetic arm which didn’t work, but he kept trying to make Ponda whole, even trying a mind transference device to another body. To this day they are probably both still alive.

Want more? His Wookieepedia entry

171st in alphabetical order

Vlix (Droids 1990's?)

The last of the Droids line! I know that I said previously that there were only 12 figures produced in the Droids line. While that is very much true for most purposes, in actuality there were 13. The last was Vlix, but it only came out in Brazil, and only years after the rest of the line. This figure was actually part of a second wave of Droids figures that were never produced, except, mysteriously, this figure. His accessory is a blaster rifle molded in black that is very close to the one with the Imperial Stormtrooper (Hoth Battle Gear).

Because of its one-country and delayed release (and scarcity at that) this is the rarest Star Wars action figure of them all. Forget the European-only released Yak Face, this is the one. Go ahead, I dare you to do a search on Ebay and find one. Even a loose authentic one is quite rare. The only theory that anyone has as to this figure's reason for being is that Kenner was trying to recoup costs associated with making the molds for these unproduced figures, so they sold one to Glasslite, who manufactures their figures in Brazil. Brazil also was the last holdout for the Sega Master System (a personal favorite of mine) where it continued on for years after other countries stopped getting new stuff for it.

Why should you get this figure? Five reasons:

1. Realistically – you can’t. Also, you probably couldn’t afford it if you could find it now.

2. Unless you’re Brazilian and living in the 1990’s, fugeddaboutit.

3. If you could own it, you would have the single most valuable Star Wars Kenner item.

4. Only 13 in the line, so why not own them all?

5. The best bodyguard in the entire SW universe...just kidding. General Grievous’ androids did a better job.

Backstory:

Vlix Oncard was bodyguard/head of security to the Fromm gang. He was friend to Tig Fromm, and served on the weapons satellite Trigon I before it was destroyed. He was taken in by Boba Fett for the bounty placed by Jabba the Hutt. His last name is a joke since the figure was so hard to find “on card.”

Want more? His Wookieepedia entry

170th in alphabetical order