Tuesday, November 30, 2010

New Custom - Holiday Special Attichitcuk the Wookie ("Itchy")

I am a huge fan of the utterly atrocious 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. I love how it's the one piece of Star Wars history that George Lucas does not want to acknowledge. He even went as far as saying that he wished he could buy every copy out there and have them destroyed. Think about it, it's so terrible that even Lucasfilm does not want to squeeze a buck out of it, they just want to deny it's existence. Despite that major handicap for merchandise potential we actually have received two official Hasbro figures from this special,  Zutton and the Animated Boba Fett. I really would love to see more figures from this craptacular CBS special get made into plastic. There were some interesting aliens in the Cantina sequence as well as a funky family of Wookies. Of all of the characters that appeared in the show I would prefer that they make Ackmena at some point.  I made an Ackmena custom awhile back you can check her out here. Next in line that I would want made would be Chewbaccas father "Itchy". (EU gave him the name Attichitcuk, Itchy was a nickname given to him by humans.) It's worth noting that Kenner actually made prototypes of Chewbacca's family, they actually considered adding them into the vintage line. That would have been pretty cool but I think even back in 1978 they realized how bad it was a decided to forget this debacle ever transpired. Here is a glimpse of the actual Kenner prototypes:


I recently found my DVD copy of this special when I was cleaning my desk. I thought about how bad it was and despite my better judgment I decided to watch it again. I forgot how hilarious Chewbacca's father Itchy really was. From his Muppety flapping lower lip to his addiction to questionable holo table channels (borderline galactic porn) this character really needs a figure. He is just too awesome, look at him:


I wanted to make another Holiday Special custom and Itchy was the perfect candidate. I used a Saga Legends Chewbacca and sculpted the brow, face and lower lip to achieve the look. Overall I think he turned out good but I should have built up the lower lip more to capture the likeness better. It should have had a more overlapping appearance. I plan on taking another stab at him to improve on my first pass at him but I still think he is worth showcasing.  Take a look and let me know what you guys think:







I think this figure would have a lot of appeal and would look great with all of the great Wookie figures we have received. They only have to tool up a few parts to build off of the Chewbacca body so it would not be a risky investment. C'mon Hasbro, consider this aged Wookie for the Vintage line. He would make a great exclusive!


As always your feedback comments and hate mail are welcome!

3 comments:

  1. I wish i bought this one, Looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  2. that is just awesome


    the holiday special is freakin' awful but I do someday want modern figures of Chewie's family

    ReplyDelete