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Hassk Thug

September 8, 2016 | By Errex More

In many ways, the seventh movie in the Star Wars saga felt somewhat like a rethread of themes we knew from the previous two trilogies. Among other things, we got to see desert planets, immense weapons of mass destruction and last but not least, a place where the most disparate creatures hung out together while relaxing and having a drink.

It is precisely Maz Kanata’s establishment where we get to catch a glimpse of the Hassk triplets, barbaric thugs to whom access to interstellar travel and associated technology came too early for their species, as attested by their rather primitive look.

Is this appearance what made me hesitate before purchasing the Hassk Thug, as these creatures would look more at home chasing dwarves through the dark halls of Khâzad-Dûm rather than hanging out with aliens in a cantina far, far away.

Then again, the Hassk was based off an early Chewbacca design made by Ralph McQuarrie back in 1975, slightly updated to fit in the new movie. You can see a lot of similarities between this guy and the infamous wookiee, although the Hassk seems to be slightly more modest by incorporating things like loincloth into their wardrobe.

Other than the “clothing”, the Hassk Thug is covered in a shaggy, furry texture that display fairly with deep recesses between the strands of matted hair. Also, hassks are skinnier than wookiees and the body proportions of the figure replicate this trait well, although the Hassk was given a much fiercer expression to compensate the lack of bulk.

Articulation is reduced to the standard 5 points of articulation, although the neck joint is pretty much useless because of the mane blocking any movement.

The paintjob on the Hassk Thug is relatively simple, consisting mostly on drybrushing with a darker tan color to convey the texture on the fur. The face is where most of the painted details are, with the creepy yellow eyes and the mouth full of teeth.

This Hassk Thug comes armed with a small carbine, molded in dark, gunmetal gray plastic, and also includes yet another piece for the Build-A-Weapon gimmick, this time in the form of a harness/backpack accessory with control arms and a bunch of gadgets of indeterminate functionality.

This backpack thingy is nicely decorated and I have to concede that it is far from being the worse addition to the Build-A-Weapon library from this line.

Overall, the Hassk Thug is simply an OK action figure. It is not as attractive a design as, say, Constable Zuvio; nor does it look particularly sci-fi to me but overall, it is still a perfectly decent monster to add to my collection.