Wioslea had the tiniest of parts in the film, but it was important nonetheless.  She was the one to whom Luke sold his land speeder.  Her role was a bit more fleshed out in the novelization of A New Hope.  In the book, she is only willing to pay 1500 credits for Luke’s speeder, but Obi-Wan uses a mind-trick to convince her to pay the full 2000 that is needed for the promised downpayment to Han.  In the new canon, she is officially known only for being the landspeeder buyer.  Her role in the old EU isn’t much more than that, so she didn’t really suffer a whole lot in the purge. 

Wioslea was of the Vuvrian species, which had 12 eyes scattered somewhat randomly around their head.  They were generally a peaceful race, and some of their natural traits made them excel as Jedi throughout history.  In the current canon, there seems to be no mention of another member of this species aside from Wioslea, however in the old EU, there was a Jedi named Nystammall who fought during the Clone Wars.  He is (was) noteworthy because he fought and was killed by General Grievous. According to the Revenge of the Sith novelization (which is not canon), one of the four lightsabers that Grievous wielded against Obi-Wan Kenobi on Utapau had belonged to Nystammall.

The actor playing the character in A New Hope was male.  However, the old EU established Wioslea as a female of her species.  The action figure’s chest is sculpted in such a way as to indicate its feminine nature.  The figure is slight of stature, and wears Jedi garb.  The outfit is very similar to that of Obi-Wan Kenobi.  The soft goods “skirt” allows for the alien nature of the legs to be seen.  She has the “backward knees” that can be found on figures similar to that of Pablo Jill or the Geonosians.  The knees are not articulated, but otherwise, this figure would have standard super-articulation.  Surprisingly, the lack of knees isn’t completely ruinous to the possibility of the figure.  The odd shaped legs with the swivel hips and ball joints feet does allow for a little bit of flexibility with the lower body posing.  But mostly, you’re not going to be interested in that.  Most of you will feel that, “This character just stands there anyway,” which usually drives me nuts because most characters just stand there.  Then what’s the point of having an action figure?  It might as well just be a pre-posed statue.

The sculpt of the head is the real star here.  The head is extraordinarily unique, and bizarre.  It’s well done, and looks very similar to the character.  The eyes are all over the place, and the mouth is oddly agape.  The paint apps are decent, especially the wash that helps give texture and depth to the skin.  There are two antennae (actually, tentacles, according to Wookieepedia).  Basically, she’s like a cross between an insect and a flounder, with a little Stewie Griffin thrown in.  The hood of the robe has two holes to accommodate the tentacles, but is otherwise essentially the same robe as that of a Jedi. Wioslea’s hands have three fingers and have a hard shell-like covering on the back.  Besides the removable robe, Wioslea comes with a blaster, which she can grip well in her left hand.  Sadly, she doesn’t have a holster, so there’s no place to keep it stowed.

This is a tremendous figure from the perspective of its wonderful strangeness, it being a Mos Eisley alien, and the simple fact that it’s practically a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her character.  But due to her direct interaction with Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, she has a special place among backgrounders, and it’s a treat that Hasbro made her into a figure.  As with many other offbeat figures we’ve reviewed recently, this shows us the depth of the 3.75” and the awesomeness of world-building.  On that same note, the red astromech in the dio shot in the above gallery is R4-E1, which was available in a 2006 TSC Entertainment Earth exclusive exclusive set. The droid is seen passing in front of Luke and Wioslea for a few frames, and that’s it.  Between Wioslea and R4-E1, didn’t you just love the glory years?

I give this figure an 8.  It’s missing articulated knees, and doesn’t have place to store the blaster, but it’s a great looking figure with a singular headsculpt.  This figure is absolutely necessary for any fan of aliens, but is essential to having a complete Mos Eisley spaceport setup.

Credit:  Carded sample on loan from the collection of Randy S.

Build-A-Droid 

Wioslea contains head and third leg for the astromech R2-L3, who could be seen rolling in the background in Mos Espa when Anakin and Padmé are looking to meet with Watto in an attempt to find Shmi Skywalker.  Source:  Attack of the Clones.