Box Back (click to enlarge)
Box Back (click to enlarge)
| Catalog Entry | |
 |
Catalog Description:
This exciting new ENDOR vehicle gives kids the opportunity to re-enact even more of the RETURN OF THE JEDI and EWOK Saturday morning TV series battle scenes involving their favorite EWOKS. The EWOK BATTLE WAGON has two levels to hold a whole band of EWOK warriors. Once aboard, the action begins: this vehicle/playset features a manually-operated battering ram to crush unsuspecting intruders! And, any IMPERIAL STORMTROOPERS or evil DULOKS that are captured may be taken prisoner inside the EWOK BATTLE WAGON Prisoner Cage in the back. The vehicle sides are removable so that an EWOK fort can be built separately. Up top, there's a ceremonial skull which serves as a lookout for the EWOKS. Adding to this vehicle's versatility are a ceremonial drum and lever which allow the EWOK BATTLE WAGON front to recline while the EWOKS take the enemy by storm. Free rolling wheels keep the action going--at least until the EWOKS have won another forest victory! Action Figures each sold separately. Ages 4 and up.
Image Source: 1985 JC Penney Catalog |
Description:
I don't care what anyone says, the Ewok Battle Wagon was freakin' cool. It had an inventive design, great box art, and, shoot, it almost managed to make the Ewoks look cool, something Lucas and company failed at miserably. In fact, I've always envisioned this as Kenner's attempt to rehabilitate the Ewoks, as though the toy's designers were sitting around saying to one another: "Okay, we know that Ewoks are lame, but what if we gave them a super-bad war wagon, with a battering ram and a huge skull on its top?" Actually, if you take a look at an early version of the box art for this toy, you'll see that it shows our furry friends being blasted by an AT-ST; the vehicle is actually shown being toppled over. If that wasn't a ploy to make the Ewoks look tough, then call me Teebo and slap a dead pig on my head.
As the above catalog description states, the thing came with a bunch of neat features, not the least of which was the aforementioned giant skull, which the Ewoks seem to have employed as a hood ornament. It's often referred to as a Bantha skull, but Banthas have horns not huge tusks, so I don't buy that. At any rate, it's hella neat; it makes the entire toy, really. The Battle Wagon also came with a battering ram and had a pretty neat cage suspended from its rear. Remember that Ewoks TV special that starred Wilford Brimley? Well, this is where the Ewoks put Wilford when he tried to make them eat oatmeal.
Unfortunately, as cool as it is, the Ewok Battle Wagon is pretty darn rare; it's at least as scarce as its contemporary, the Tatooine Skiff. Kenner planned to release the toy as part of its Ewoks line, based on the Saturday morning cartoon series of the same name. They never got around to it, probably because the toy sold poorly enough in its original incarnation to make the idea of re-releasing it a fruitless notion. However, all Ewok Battle Wagon instruction booklets I've seen bear the Ewoks not the POTF logo. As the box front states, the Battle Wagon also came with a "planetary map," a sort of catalog cum poster with attractive graphics.
In the early '90s, Kenner used the tooling developed for this toy to produce their Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Battle Wagon. Collectors need to be wary of this later release when shopping for loose Ewok Battle Wagons as the two toys look quite similar. The Robin Hood wagon is identified by a bronze battering ram cap, "metal" straps on its wheels, and an early '90s copyright date. It also lacks the skull. (For more information on Star Wars toys that were re-issued as parts of other lines, click here.)
First Issued: 1985 (POTF Packaging)
Re-issues: None
