| Wax Sculpt for Ree Yees Action Figure | |
| I always thought Ree Yees was a pretty lame character. But then I read his bio at Wookieepedia. Says there that he's an alcoholic assassin on the run from the law who somehow ended up as the caretaker of Jabba's hideous burping frog-dog. It also claims that he's the bane of galactic travelers because -- get this -- he has a habit of using the flash on his camera when he's not supposed to. (I wonder: Is that more or less serious than being an alcoholic murderer?) Reading this has given me a new respect for Ree Yees -- he actually sounds a bit like the space version of Hunter S. Thompson. But it's also increased my nerdiness by about 800%. It's going to take a long time for my brain to purge itself of all this Ree Yees trivia.
Anyway, I'm making jokes at the expense of poor Ree Yees because I don't have a ton to say about the item spotlighted in this entry, which is the original wax sculpt for the Ree Yees action figure. It's a great piece, obviously, being the origin of every Ree Yees action figure produced and sold around the world. One of the nicest things about it is its state of preservation: I don't think I've seen another wax sculpt in such immaculate condition.
I'm fortunate to own a few pre-production items related to Ree Yees. Above you see, from left to right, a painted protomolded figure, a painted hardcopy (with protomolded gun), and an unpainted hardcopy. I also own the glorious Ree Yees conceptual item seen here. It's the only known toy depicting Ree Yees preparing to deploy his dastardly camera flash. |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Ron Salvatore |
| From the collection of: | Ron Salvatore |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Return of the Jedi |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1983 |
| Size: | 3.75 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Action Figure Related |
