Ah, that makes sense. I’ve seen other Wampa sketches (by Joe Johnston I think) which is much closer to the one they filmed but didn’t use. Either way though, its a really cool and creepy design, and since the face was barely shown originally its fun to see McQuarrie reimagine it.
McQuarrie did some awesome packaging art for the Micro machines playsets around the same time . I saw this one at an antique store a couple of years ago and bought it immediately , it proudly sits on the shelf above my stairs …https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m80161997129/?gclsrc=aw.ds&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=11088723978&utm_content=t0&adgroup=110108419673&network=g&device=c&merchant_id=147715357&product_id=m80161997129&product_id=696733478052&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1-m2pOeR7QIVAdvACh2DGQ2aEAkYEyABEgJy-fD_BwE