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The Wampa monster episode in The Empire Strikes back provides a bit of a departure from the main plot of the film and I suspect it's main purpose is to get Luke Skywalker in to a delirious enough state following his ordeal that he is open to communing with Obi-Wan Kenobi in spirit form. It's quite a neat device since Luke is not quite yet in tune enough with the Force to be properly open to the channels of spirit communication, perhaps with the exception of times when he is in extreme danger as he was during the assault on the first Death Star.

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There's not really much for the Wampa Monster to do either as a character or as a Kenner action figure. Once he's swiped Luke and hung him up in his larder, Luke has chopped off the Wampa's arm and escaped, that's about it really. We get much longer fight sequences with many of the other Star Wars monsters, but the Wampa monster scene is all about sorting out one small plot element and getting Luke motivated travel to Dagobah.

As for the Kenner Wampa creature itself, getting the Wampa monster to stay stood up was always a bit of an issue. The spring action arms were a great feature though as they can be pulled apart to hold up your Hoth outfit Luke Skywalker horizontally.

The appearance of the Wampa monster in The Empire Strikes Back obviously plays into Yetti folklore of a mysterious abominable snowman who, if he exists at all, eye-witnesses only ever catch glimpses of (or find footprints). In The Empire Strikes Back Luke is the only person who encounters the Wampa creature and we might even ask ourselves whether the episode is actually a product of Luke's delirium. Only shortly later he is having a conversation with the spirit of a dead Jedi. When we first saw the movie I'm sure many of us questioned whether Luke was hallucinating at this point, and when we find out that he is not we perhaps forget to question whether the previous events in the Wampa cave actually happened. After all, the next time we see Luke in a cave is on Dagobah where he finds himself doing battle with the product of his own imagination. Could the Wampa cave scene be a more primitive version of this hallucination as a prelude to Luke's more profound premonition in the Dagobah cave I wonder? If you watch the Wampa monster scene closely it's almost like it happens in a dream, and within this reading when Luke awakens upside down within the Wampa's cave this could be interpreted as simply being a dream within a dream. See also my article on The Isolation of Luke Skywalker in The Empre Strikes Back.

The Kenner Wampa Monster itself not only gives us a 'Yetti aesthetic', the bulbous nose also gives a nod to the troll-like quality of the creature. This is a monster whose apprearance is steeped in myth and folklore and that alone should lead us to question whether the Wampa really exists.

We almost got proof of the existance of Wampa monsters in a deleted scene from The Empire Strikes Back in which two Wampa monstera break their way into Echo Base and go on the rampage, attacking Rebel troops and even delaying Vader's invasion of the base. It's quite an inplausible scene, but the Wampa did almost become canonical monster rather than potentially a product of Luke's delirium combined with his steadily heightening Force sensitivity. You can watch the deleted scene on Youtube here.

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All Star Wars action figures, vehicles, collectibles and Star Wars toys shown on this website are the 3.75 inch scale and from my own private Star Wars collection unless otherwise stated. Where possible original vintage accessories have been used but in some instances I have placed Kenner Star Wars figures with either reproduction weapons and accessories or for Hasbro figures close approximations have been used. This is mostly the case for modern Star Wars lightsabers where the correct item can be very difficult to identify on some ocassions. Vintage Star Wars action figures are shown with their original weapon or accessory when I have them. When a vintage Kenner action figure is shown with an accessory which is not original I have tried to point this out where possible.

All of the Star Wars action figures shown were purchased second hand, usually incomplete, and in bulk. They have been reunited with their original weapons and accessories where we could get hold of them.

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