New Star Wars 40th Anniversary Return of the Jedi Black Series Figures Preorder

New Star Wars Black Series figures were revealed today focusing on the Return of the Jedi movie given it is the 40th Anniversary of the movie next year! Five figures were revealed on the 40th Anniversary Return of the Jedi card backs but if you remember from the vintage line, some of these figures were not part of the RTOJ wave. These figures will be going up for preorder at major retailers on November 30, 2022 at 10am PT, which are live now!

Chewbacca

Chewbacca first appeared in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. He had a major role in both of the subsequent films of the original trilogy, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and also appeared in the prequel film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. He was portrayed in all films by Peter Mayhew, who also reprised the role for Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens and its sequel, Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi.[80] Finnish basketball coach and insurance salesman Joonas Suotamo doubled as Chewbacca for some of the more physical scenes in The Force Awakens, due to Mayhew’s advanced age (source: Wookiepedia)

While Chewbacca was never released as a figure in the Return of the Jedi wave, Hasbro is paying homage to this iconic character with his own vintage style card back! There were a few updates to this figure, including the addition of a collar from the scene where he is held captive in Jabba’s palace by Leia. The colors were also updated to be more accurate to the deco they did for the Solo movie.

He comes with his trusty crossbow that comes apart so you can also use it as a traditional blaster.

Paploo

Paploo was a male Ewok of the Bright Tree tribe on the forest moon of Endor. During the Battle of Endor, Paploo aided the Rebel strike team that was led by Han Solo in destroying the generator powering the Death Star 2’s deflector shield (source: Wookiepedia). It is very cool to see this figure finally making it into the main line so get ready for his Star Wars Black Series 40th Anniversary Return of the Jedi preorder!

Paploo was a part of the Return of the Jedi Wave 2 figures and Hasbro is using the same card back as the vintage figure.

He comes with a staff and a small knife that looks to be molded into the belt so we are not sure if this accessory is removable.

Bib Fortuna

Bib Fortuna was a male Twi’lek who lived on the desert planet Tatooine. He served as Jabba Desilijic Tiure’s majordomo and chief of staff for decades, handling all of the day-to-day operations at Jabba’s Palace. By 32 BBY, Fortuna had assumed the position as Jabb’s majordomo, and it was he and the Hutt who oversaw that year’s Boonta Eve Classic, in which a nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker won the podrace. By the time of the formation of the Galactic Empire, Fortuna continued to serve Jabba as his right-hand-man. In 19 BBY, Fortuna contacted Cid and asked that she retrieve a rancor, Muchi, from Zygerrian slavers. With the help of Clone Force 99, Murchi was brought to Fortuna, who in turn brought the rancor to Jabba. Twenty-three years later, and Fortuna continued to serve Jabba. That year, Luke Skywalker and the Alliance to Restore the Republic went to Tatooine to rescue Han Solo. During a battle over the Great Pit of Carkoon, Jabba was killed by Princess Leia Organa and his sail barge, Khetanna, was destroyed. (source: Wookiepedia)

Bib Fortuna was originally part of the Return of the Jedi Wave 1 in the vintage line and Hasbro is using that same card back to pay homage to this character. In the vintage line, he came with a staff that was never seen in the movie but they’ve included a couple of accessories in his pack out.

This version of Bib Fortuna is a pack refresh with some updated paint apps!

He comes with 3 cups as an homage to him holding a cup in the Return of the Jedi Movie

The Emperor

Darth Sidious, born Sheev Palpatine and also known simply as the Emperor, was a human male Dark Lord of the Sith and Emperor of the Galactic Empire, ruling from 19 BBY to 4 ABY. Rising to power in the Galactic Senate as the senator of Naboo, the secretive Sith Lord cultivated two identities, Sidious and Palpatine, using both to further his political career and deceive his way into accomplishing his goal. He orchestrated the fall of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order through the Clone Wars, and then established his reign over the galaxy which lasted until his death at the Battle of Endor. However, the dark side of the Force gave rise to powers which allowed the Emperor to return from the grave. (source: Wookiepedia)

The Emperor was released as a carded figure in wave 2 of the vintage Return of the Jedi line and he came with a cane!

Like the vintage figure, The Emperor comes with his trusty cane but one big difference is the soft goods cloak. You can remove his hood to reveal his wrinkly old head.

The stitching on the soft good cloak looks top notch and adds to the mystique of the figure. This iconic figure is part of the Star Wars Black Series 40th Anniversary Return of the Jedi preorder!

Stormtrooper

Stormtroopers, also known as Imperial Stormtroopers or TK Stormtroopers, and colloquially referred to as “bucketheads” were the elite shock troops of the Galactic Empire and were part of the Stormtrooper Corps, an independent paramilitary branch operating under the Imperial Army. These obedient and zealous soldiers wore armor consisting of white plates over a black body glove, and their standard weapon was the E-11 medium blaster rifle (source Wookiepedia). No updates were made from previous releases aside from updated articulation.

While the Stormtrooper was never part of the Return of the Jedi vintage wave, Hasbro is using the card from A New Hope and replacing that logo with the RTOJ logo.

The figure comes with a simple pack out as he only comes with his trusty blaster.

Where to Buy

You can preorder the figures from the following retailers:

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