Suvudu Universe

New York Toy Fair (NYTF) is currently underway at the Jacob K. Javits Center, home of my favorite convention, New York Comic Con. The NYTF is a trade-only event for toy and youth entertainment professionals, bringing together various manufacturers and distributors to showcase their upcoming products. Earlier this year, the Nuremberg International Toy Fair unveiled a life-sized LEGO model of the cantankerous droid from Star Wars Rebels, Chopper. Additional products revealed to the world included The Ghost and Phantom LEGO sets as well as the mini-figures of members from the rebel crew.

Since then, the identities of Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger have surfaced through popular media outlets. With two male characters with introductory backgrounds already in place, the fans are eagerly waiting for the spotlight to shine on gender and species diversity. That said, NYTF certainly served up some intriguing characters over the weekend!

At the Hasbro Preview show, Justin LaSalata of Jedi News UK confirmed the fan community’s suspicions and tweeted that Zeb Orretios is, in fact, based on Ralph McQuarrie’s original Chewbacca design.

Although Twi’lek and suspected pilot Hera Syndulla didn’t have a significant presence at the NYTF, another female character made her debut. Meet Sabine, a Mandalorian rebel. She has no introduction video or description yet, but she has certainly caught the attention of the Star Wars community.

In my opinion, Sabine has what appears to be stylized Jaig eyes on her helmet, similar to what Captain Rex had in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Upon zooming in, the design does have a bird-like quality to it with gold eyes and a beak feature.

Like Captain Rex, she also carries dual blasters. According to Rebels Report, “Sabine is wielding a variation of the WESTAR-35 blasters,” which are weapons associated with Death Watch, a Mandalorian splinter group.

Is she really Mandalorian, though? If she’s carrying the beskar’gam (Mandalorian armor), wearing what could be a Mandalorian sigil of honor on her helmet, and carrying Mandalorian-like weapons, then it’s safe to say that she’s Mandalorian (either by culture or by blood).

As for her name, if you were a fan of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, then you would have noticed the striking similarity to Satine Kryze’s name. Is it pronounced the same way? Most likely, but we’ll have to wait for her introduction video to find out. So far, there could be a few variations, including Sa-bee-neh, Sah-bin, and Say-bean.

Personally, I jumped for joy when Sabine showed up on my Twitter’s timeline. A few things came to mind, and the Republic Commando series was one of them. Since the show could potentially incorporate some aspects of the Expanded Universe, could we hear some Mando’a? Oya manda?

Regardless, Sab’ika is going to be an awesome addition to the Star Wars universe–I can feel it already! Also, given the comparisons I made to Rex, wouldn’t it be interesting if she turned out to be the daughter of a clone? Let the speculation begin! Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Sabine from Star Wars Rebels. Image has been altered for brightness. Credit: Justin LaSalata.