We tried the electronic Chewbacca mask that became the most viral Facebook Live video ever — here's what it's like

A woman named Candace Payne became an Internet sensation on Friday morning when she posted a Facebook Live video that attracted more than 50 million viewers — the most popular video so far on Facebook Live ever.

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Payne went to Kohl's and purchased an electronic Star Wars Chewbacca mask that growls and whimpers when you open your mouth. For nearly four minutes, she cackled with pure joy.

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Business Insider/Alyson Shontell

Naturally we had to get our hands on Payne's mask.

With some Googling, we found the mask was available at a local Toys R Us in Manhattan for $28. We purchased it for in-store pickup and used Task Rabbit, a startup that lets you hire local people to run local errands, to pick up our Chewie toy and deliver it to Tech Insider's headquarters in Flatiron.

Culture reporter Kim Renfro unboxed the mask and put it on.

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Turns out, Payne was right in her video — the mask is worth every penny.

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The Chewbacca mask costs just under $30. You can get it at local toy stores like Toys R Us. Ours cost $24.99

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Business Insider/Alyson Shontell

It's sold out nearly everywhere, but there are also some masks floating around on Amazon.

To get our mask to the office, we paid about $30 more for TaskRabbit, a startup that hires local people to run errands for you, to bring it to us. Our Task Rabbit, Kyle, picked up our mask from Toys R Us and delivered it to Tech Insider within an hour.

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By 2 p.m., we had Chewbacca's mask in our hands.

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Tech Insider's Kim Renfro couldn't wait to rip it open.

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Pure joy and excitement.

Before she could wear it, she had to resize it for her head with some easy adjustment straps.

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It fit! Chewbacca started growling the second we put it on, no batteries needed. Your chin fits right into Chewie's chin, so anytime you open your mouth, the mask makes noises.

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It's honestly impossible not to start laughing when someone puts on this mask. We now totally understand Candace Payne's contagious excitement. Here's the mask in action.

 

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Here's what it looks like from the side.

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Business Insider/Alyson Shontell

The only downer is this is a mask for children, so when Business Insider's Paul Schrodt tried to wear the mask, he had trouble getting his chin to fit squarely in the mask in order to make the Chewie noises.

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We still had some fun with the mask. We had Chewie make coffee in the office.

And then we got back to work (it's actually not too hard to type while wearing the mask). All in all, Candace was right — this Wookiee mask was worth every penny.

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