Star Wars Smuggler’s Bounty review: Dagobah gets weird

Shipping issues aside, the latest Smuggler’s Bounty opts for some unconventional choices in its trip to Dagobah, leaving this Star Wars fan a bit confused.

The transition to Amazon as a partner with Funko in the creation of the Smuggler’s Bounty boxes has led to smaller themes and smaller boxes, more often than not, but the Dagobah box added in a new wrinkle. Like many fans who posted about their anger on Twitter, shipping delays are why this review is not as timely as it typically is.

But outside factors aside, let’s talk about what’s in the box. Suffice it to say that there will be spoilers from here on out if you’re still waiting for your box.

We’ll start with the smaller items. First up is this set of R2-D2 sticky notes.

R2-D2 sticky notes from Smuggler’s Bounty Dagobah box. Image taken by C. Wassenaar; Smuggler’s Bounty via Amazon/Funko/Lucasfilm

These notes deserve some praise for actually being useful; occasionally, you get something like the “toothpick holders” from the Jabba’s Skiff box and sit there wondering when you might find yourself needing them. Sticky notes, however, go a long way. The print on them isn’t so bright that it’d detract from text, but still recognizably portraying the Pop! version of Artoo.

As with every Smuggler’s Bounty box as of late, there is a Mystery Mini in this month’s box, and it portrays Yoda, who also brings a Jedi Order sticker with him:

Yoda Mystery Mini and Jedi Order decal from Smuggler’s Bounty box. Image taken by C. Wassenaar; Smuggler’s Bounty via Amazon/Funko/Lucasfilm

First of all, we know that the box theme is Dagobah, but did the Jedi Order sticker have to be such an ugly shade of brown? Yes, that’s the color it is on Wookieepedia, but it’s a golden color when it appears briefly in The Last Jedi. For such a cool insignia, the color ruins it.

This may be this writer’s favorite Mystery Mini ever, though. The design aesthetic really suits Yoda as it usually doesn’t for the human characters. Having his eyes closed and his cane close at hand makes you think he’s about to lift the X-Wing from the swamp.

But the weirdest choice of all is what got Pop!-ified for this month’s box:

Dagobah Face-Off Pop! Movie Moment from Smuggler’s Bounty box. Image taken by C. Wassenaar; Smuggler’s Bounty via Amazon/Funko/Lucasfilm

The moment where Luke Skywalker faces what he believes to be Darth Vader, only for the broken helmet to reveal his own face, is not really what we think of when it comes to iconic scenes from Dagobah. It’s a weighty, heavily symbolic scene, yes. However, it might have been more interesting, as my fellow editor Mia Johnson comments in the below video, to get Yoda on Luke’s back as he trains as a Pop! figure.

Alternatively, give us the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi as a Pop! figure; his appearance on the swamp planet in Return of the Jedi is arguably his most important Force ghost moment, as it’s when he reveals that Luke and Leia are siblings. Sure, the box has settled into alternating between multiple Pop!s and the Movie Moments, but that predictability is, in its own way, boring. Surprise us, Smuggler’s Bounty!

Watch the full unboxing below:

April’s theme will be Wookiee, and for the first time since Amazon took the box over, there will be a T-shirt.