Star Wars fans celebrate May the Fourth in many ways. Some rewatch the movies. Some get in costume and play with lightsabers. And 77 of them spent $US4,800 ($6,237) on a set of the little holochess monsters seen in A New Hope for about five seconds.
That’s not a typo. Regal Robot charged $US4,799 ($6,235) for its “Deluxe Signature Edition Holochess Prop Replica” which included 10 figures of the little claymated critters, which I didn’t even know had names: Mantellian Savrip, Kintan Strider, Molator, Houjix, Ghhhk, Monnok, K’lor’slug, Ng’OK, Scrimp, and Bulbous. If you’re wondering why they’re so incredibly expensive, they’re 1:1 replicas and hand-painted and sculpted using scans of the original props, and they certainly look fantastic.
If you’re still wondering why they’re so expensive… I am, too? They’re made of resin, they’re non-posable, and the set doesn’t even come with a holochess board, which is the only thing that makes them recognisable as the holochess creatures. Otherwise, they’ll just be vague little monsters sitting on your desk.
Still, all 77 of these Deluxe Holochess Props sold out nearly instantly. If you wish you could have spent an inordinate amount of money on these things, there’s good news: You can still order the figures in two-packs ranging from $US799 ($1,038) to $US1199 ($1,558) — except for ol’ Scrimp and Bulbous, who were exclusive to the Deluxe set. (The pair were originally made for but not used onscreen in A New Hope, but later popped up in Solo.) They’re also limited, so I guess they might not be available too much longer either?
On the plus side, the Dejarik table — which I cannot stress enough was not part of the $US4,800 ($6,237) deluxe set, and is also not a replica of the holochess table in the movie, but a regular table that has the holochess pattern on it — is available for a comparably reasonable $US299 ($388) here.