Ewok 2 Pack (Paploo & Nho’Apakk)

November 29, 2009 | By More


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It amazes he me how many people online profess hatred for the Ewoks in “Return of the Jedi.” You would think if that many folks despised them, they would be peg warming every time they released a new one.  But they don’t. People snag the little critters when they see them.

I’ve said it before, love them or hate them the Ewoks are with us to stay. I really think more people love them than would let on. I’m guessing the folks at Hasbro have  a soft spot for them and Jawas. Must be their size.

This new 2 pack comes with two furry tribe mates, Paploo and Nho’Apakk. Paploo, of course, is famous for a few reasons. The first being that he has been a “named” Ewok since Jedi came out. As such, he had  a vintage figure. In addition, the furry bear was portrayed by Kenny Baker (R2-D2). Finally, while people may not know him by name, most folks can remember him as the Ewok who swiped the Speeder Bike to distract the guards.

His pack mate Nho’Apakk is famous for nothing on screen. His name is a tribute name for a young fan from the Hasbro team.

paploo_backAppearance:

They’re Ewoks. Both of these guys are sculpted in current style and scale for Ewoks. They have certainly shrunk over the years. The proportions are short and stocky. One nice think about the newer Ewoks is they all seem to be different heights. It works for me.

Paploo is obviously the hero of this pack. While the face on the card looks more like Romba to me, the face on the figure really reminds of Paploo’s on screen version.  The painted lips and teeth go a long way to selling him as the distinct character.

Paploo has fairly intricate hood. It has bones tied in at various places and a tie around his neck. His hood has a deep feel to it, that I think echoes the screen version. The thing I love about it, though, is the paint. It’s got the a wash that gives the hood the look of a piece of leather.

ewok_frontYou can tell the difference when you look at his belt. It’s a single color, except for two spots on the sheath. It looks more “plasticy” than realistic. Also, on my belt, the back of the sheath has an opening where you can see the blade. I’m guessing a molding issue, rather than blade wear.

Nho’ doesn’t have as nice a hood. That said it’s not bad. Three’s a fair amount of texture on it that breaks up the smooth surface look. It has a bit of paint on the front where the closure stick is.  Much nicer that Romba’s.

The coloration, face, and hood remind me a bit of the vintage Lumat.  This stout little guy is pretty good generic Ewok overall.

The only downside with these guys that I have is the fur. It’s just really hard to capture that look at this scale. To me, they don’t quite have that living in trees dirty wet animal fur look they had on screen. The wash on Nho’ helps, but there’s still a little room for improvement. (I think most Wookie figures suffer here, as well.)

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Fun:

I’ve said it before. Any time you get two figures in one package, it’s going to be fun. These guys definitely add some variety to the Ewok tribes (and display shelves).

Both of these furry dudes follow the most recent articulation model for Ewoks, which is more than I would have ever have expected. The missing knee and articulation that taller figures have isn’t really missed here. If you watch the Ewoks in the film they don’t bend well at those places.

As with previous Ewoks, each of these comes with a long stick weapon. Paploos has a sling like detail at the end. Nho’ actually has a more visually interesting three pronged stick. The paint work is good on these pieces as well.

As mentioned above Paploo has a knife that fits in a sheath. These little Ewok knives continue to be pretty cool to me. They fit well in their sheaths and fit well

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Overall:

I can’t say why I’m drawn to these little guys, I just am. It’s not like I have a detailed Endor diorama setup, although with all the Ewoks in my little tribe I probably need to work on that.

I’m guessing somebody at Hasbro has some love for these guys as well. Just Like the two here, all of the recent Ewoks show real care about the final figure. If all of the new figures showed the attention to detail seen here, I’d still be wanting (and buying) everyone.

Engineernerd Score: 96/100

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Category: Star Wars, Toy Reviews

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  1. Errex says:

    Nice review and nice pictures. I personally don’t care too much for ewoks, although they do seem to find a way into my collection anyways. I guess I’ll pick them up eventually.

  2. Engineernerd says:

    I took pictures of about a half a dozen things on the black, just kind of playing around. This one came out the best, but I’ll keep trying it. I played with my flash a bit for this one, as well.

    I never set out to buy Ewoks, I just kind of do. I don’t even really have them on display at the moment.

  3. Errex says:

    Yesterday I saw these at a store and grabbed them. They are totally worth getting. 😉