I got back from vacation to find the latest Star Wars Smuggler's Bounty box waiting for me, and it was HUGE! Easily the largest box I’ve gotten from any of the Funko subscription series to date. This month’s theme is the 40th anniversary of A New Hope, which I first saw at the Coronet Theater in San Francisco during its initial run. The movie is represented by an image of Princess Leia on the box. Let’s take a look at what’s inside!
Upon opening, we find the usual patch and pin glued to a flap inside the lid. As usual for Smuggler's Bounty, there’s nothing printed on the inside of the box. (I say “as usual,” but this is the first time I’ve noticed it. The Collector Corps, Disney Treasures, and DC Legion of Collectors boxes all have artwork on the inside. I had to go back and look at photos of previous boxes to see that Smuggler's Bounty always seems to be blank on the inside.)
The patch is a nice image of Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing pilot helmet. As with this month’s Wonder Woman patch in Legion of Collectors, this patch makes a nice use of color to delineate the details on the face.
The pin features Chewbacca, also using color without lines to illustrate the face. It’s reminiscent of last month’s Collector Corps Gamora pin, in terms of using color and shading. I really like this style.
Surprisingly, this box did not include an insert card revealing next box’s theme, or detailing the contents of this month’s box. I don’t know if this is an oversight; the one other unboxing account I’ve read said that they did not receive a card either.
Without the card, the contents were pretty obvious as soon as I lifted the inner flap.
The big item had already been announced by Funko, so it wasn't a surprise. It’s a Pop of Luke Skywalker in his landspeeder. This thing is huge; it may not be the biggest Pop Funko has ever done, but it’s easily the biggest one I’ve seen.
The landspeeder from the first Star Wars movie holds a particularly special place in my heart. When the first batch of Star Wars toys was released by Kenner, the line included a speeder with spring-loaded wheels that looked like it was floating (or so the catalogs promised). My mom drove me to toy and department stores all over the Bay Area looking for one. We finally found one, and it became one of my favorite early Star Wars toys. I remember it fondly because it was a cool toy, but I also remember it fondly because it represents my mother’s unreserved and nonjudgmental love and support for me and my nerdy love of Star Wars.
This Pop is really cool. It’s got a nice base that makes it look as if it is floating. Between the sculpt and the paint, the level of detail is fantastic. The only drawback is that we need to move our displays around to make room for it.
This particular Pop is so big, we only get a couple of other items in this box. From the Pop Home line, we get Han and Greedo salt & pepper shakers. Decide for yourself who shot first while seasoning your meals! The only hesitation we have about using these is fear of them being knocked off the table by our cats.
The final item is a pair of Star Wars wrist bands. These are okay, but they’re wrist bands. I don’t have a whole lot to say about them.
While it’s a relatively few number of items in this box, they’re all pretty neat. And the Luke and speeder Pop is a big enough ticket item (and exclusive to this box) to justify the purchase.
Interestingly, listening to the Funko Funkast podcast has given some insight into how their licenses work. For example, all their Marvel figures need to be bobbleheads because that’s part of the license. Similarly, I suppose, all the Star Wars figures need to be not only bobbleheads, but also need to have a Star Wars base on them, like this speeder figure does. In fact, in a recent podcast, Yoko made it very clear to the other members of the marketing team that this, legally, is not a Pop Ride or vehicle, but a Pop! Deluxe. Clearly, their license does not extend to toys of vehicles, or at least not toys marketed as vehicles.
And that’s all I got this week. I can’t even show you a picture of the insert card, because I didn’t get one. And if I were to pick a Pop! of the Week, it would be this Luke Skywalker one, so that’s all taken care of.
See you next week!
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