Sculpt--4.5/5
As the first completely new Ewok since the Power of the Jedi Teebo, Chief Chirpa should be a welcome addition for Ewok collectors. The sculpting is excellent here, and I love the way Chirpa's fur looks. It must be hard for a sculptor to capture the fuzzy look of furry creatures, and I think Chirpa came out looking great. Chief Chirpa's face came out great and I love the way his teeth are showing; there's some nice detail there. The removable headdress has some nice detailing, and you can tell that the sculpt was based on the photo of Chief Chirpa that appears on the package insert. Once you take off the headdress, Chief Chirpa's head looks a bit small and I think it could have been a little bigger, or fluffier...or something. But perhaps they made the head a little smaller to help make the headdress easy to remove. If you have the Teebo figure then you know how hard it is to remove his headdress; you don't have that problem with Chirpa.

Other points of interest include Chief Chirpa's small stature. This is the smallest-looking Ewok figure, with the Wicket figure being about the same height. The height for Chirpa seems accurate though, as Chief Chirpa should be shorter than Logray. The proportions of the figure (with headdress on) look spot on as well. The arms may seem a bit short (especially if you're used to the other Ewok figures which have longer arms) but their length is accurate, and the figure accurately portrays the proportions of a little-person. Chief Chirpa also has a separately sculpted knife in its sheath attached to his belt. At first I thought that the sheath was glued onto his body, but found that you can remove it and replace it at your leisure.

Articulation--3.5/5
Chief Chirpa has eight points of articulation: ball-jointed head, standard shoulders, wrists, waist, and hips. Given Chief Chirpa's small stature, I really don't expect much more than this, though I think ball-jointed shoulders are possible and would have helped with this figure's posability. As it is though, Chief Chirpa really can't do too much. He can sort of sit, be posed to look as if walking or running, or possibly attacking someone. The biggest limiting factor here is his headdress, which gets in the way of his arms, restricting them from full motion. I don't mind this though, since Chief Chirpa is supposed to be an old Ewok and all he really did in the movie was stand around and maybe dance a bit. So for that, his articulation is fine. The ball-jointed neck is also useful in that you can tilt his head to the left or right for an inquisitive look. I suppose I should also mention the hip joints on Chirpa are different from those of past Ewok figures. Chirpa's hips bend straight forward and back like most figures, whereas past Ewok figures had their hips cut at an angle which makes their legs spread apart in a sitting pose. In the end, Chief Chirpa is the most-articulated Ewok figure yet (older Ewok figures don't have a waist joint), so I guess I can't complain too much.

Accessories--4/5
You get Chief Chirpa's cane, knife, removable headdress, figure stand, and one randomly packed "hero" mini hologram figure. The knife is a nice surprise since it's so small that one might not think that it could be removed from the sheath. But it can, and it's a great little detail that adds to the figure's charm. The cane looks pretty accurate with its little bone piece at its top. No complaints here. I do however imagine that some people might complain that they're not getting as much "stuff" as they would with a regular sized figure. For instance, some people might say that since Wicket came with Logray, shouldn't Chief Chirpa (who is Wicket's size) come with another Ewok or at least something more substantial? I'd have to somewhat agree with that logic, as there is plenty of space in the package to include more. I would have liked to see a fire pit or some baby Ewoks for example. On the other hand, maybe we've been a bit spoiled into thinking that we're entitled to two figures when it comes to small characters. But in our defense, Hasbro has been "grooming" us into thinking that way with all the two-pack Jawas, Ewoks, and droids they continue to put out (the Saga Collection Power droid with treadwell droid being the latest one).

The included stand is the standard one we've been getting with the name of the movie embossed on the surface. The Rebel Fleet Trooper hologram figure came with my Chief Chirpa, and its an alright piece, but I personally have no use for it.

Paint--4/5
I like the paint job on this guy. The fur looks really great thanks to a dry-brush paint application which really brings out all of the detail in the sculpt. Looking back on older Ewok figures, I'm amazed they haven't done this before. An interesting note is that they added a dirt effect to the back of Chief Chirpa's legs...at least I hope that's dirt! It's kind of strange that it only appears there. Anyway, besides the fur, the face of an Ewok is a crucial area and this figure looks great in this regard. The eyes look pretty accurately colored and they have that glassy look they had in the movie. The mouth and nose also look great and the colors are again pretty spot on. I feel like the headdress could use a bit more color, as there seems to be some foliage above the forehead area that could be painted a darker brown. At least they added a bit of weathering to the headdress which helps make it not look too plain.

Packaging--4.5/5
The Saga Collection goes back to a more rectangular cardback and retains the edge-to-edge blister that Hasbro has been using since the ROTS and animated Clone Wars figures. Thankfully, the tape holding the edges of the blister has been reduced, so it is now possible to get the figure out without even dealing with the tape. The blister itself is more rectangular this time, but is still rounded on it's surface. This makes it a bit harder to stack the packages on top of each other, but if you store your MIB figures in boxes then this won't trouble you too much.

As for the actual card, it tapers off a little at the bottom so that it is not truly rectangular. The front of the card continues the retro feel of the Original Trilogy Collection, but this time the silver lettered "Star Wars" goes straight off to the sides instead of creating a frame around the figure. This packaging also continues the use of a background image that compliments the scene or movie the figure is from. I've always liked this as you can potentially cut them out and use them as a background for displaying your figures. Plus, it just helps make the packaging feel all that more special and individualized. Another nice touch is the color-coded upper left corner of the card front which tells you which episode the figure is from. This helps make it easier to find new figures at the store and it has come in very handy.

The back of the card has a bevy of information. An image of the character from the movie is in the upper right corner while below it is a full body shot of the action figure. To the left is information about the character, plus little bits of data relating to the character such as "Mission: Rescue Han Solo". It's a nice addition and they're kind of fun to read. Below that are cross-sell images of other figures in the line. In the bottom right corner is a window displaying the included hologram figure, which adds to the cool factor of the overall look of the card. What can I say? I like this packaging, and I think it's some of the best I've seen since the Freeze Frame series.

Overall--4/5
This is probably the best rendition of an Ewok that Hasbro has done. Excellent sculpting, accurate proportions, and slightly improved articulation put this figure at the top of the Ewok heap. The functional sheath and knife was a nice surprise and the removable headdress may help customizers make variant Ewoks. Value-conscious buyers may balk at there only being one Ewok in the package, but I feel that this is a great figure and is totally worthy of adding to your collection, especially if you are in need of more Ewoks. Now I'm hoping that they re-sculpt Wicket--he's in need of an overhaul.

--Photos and review by Garett Yoshimura
garett@carrotnetwork.com