11 Aug 2006 :: Figures of the Month - Vintage Boba Fetts

Welcome to the 'Figure of the Month' for August. Although this is only the second instalment of this regular feature, the rules are going to be broken already, as we take a look at not one, but two vintage figures - the 3.75" and 12" scale Boba Fetts.

Little Fett

If you're over 30, you should have a 1979 edition 3.75" Boba Fett figure in your collection. Out of all the vintage figures, he's one of the most accessible of the best Kenner had to offer at the time. In an era when we knew very little about this mysterious bounty hunter, the tantalising teasers in Kenner advertising and on the packaging of other figures were a stroke of marketing genius to pump the popularity of a character who played a central role in 'The Empire Strikes Back', despite his minimal screen time.

Compared to today's figure tooling, the vintage rendition is a simple interpretation, but all the detail is there, suggesting the sculpt was based on a good selection of reference photos (unlike the cantina creatures of the first 20 figures). He has only 5 points of articulation, and a staid pose, but these attributes characterise the vintage style and in no way detract from his class and charisma. The molding of his torso required some compromise of his jetpack design - and we all wish we had one of the few rocket-firing prototypes we know are floating out there in collectorland (head on over to ToysRGus.com for images and stories related to the rocket-firing versions).

Boba was, of course, the first new 'Empire' character to be released as a mini-action figure. Or, more correctly, he was a 'Star Wars Holiday Special' character that was released some time before the theatrical release of Episode 5, in which he played his second role (not, arguably, the first 'Holiday Special' character, as Snaggletooth's cardback actually used an image from that interesting made-for-TV production). The original Star Wars card introduced Boba Fett with a resume overlying airbrushed pyrotechnics: "A fearsome interplanetary bounty hunter; a threat to the Rebel Alliance, especially Han Solo; a new character in 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'". He went on to appear on an ESB card, and 2 different 'Return of the Jedi' cards - one with the original photo image, and a second utilising a scene from the skirmish at the Pit of Carkoon.

Big Fett

Comparatively speaking, the 12" vintage version of Boba is harder to find, particularly with all his original accessories intact. He's the six million dollar man, GI Joe, and everything that's great about the original trilogy all wrapped into one super-posable figure. A dozen points of articulation, including multi-axis joints at his shoulders and elbows, removable belt, bionic eye, flip-down rangefinder, blaster with shoulder sling, jet pack with rocket, directional jet nozzles, Wookiee braids, grappling hook, and a removable cape. That's a lot of action packed into a 1979 figure. No wonder bits and pieces invariably get lost over time.

Boba Fett and fellow bounty hunter IG-88 were the only Empire Strikes Back characters to be immortalised in this 12" format. Boba was available in both Star Wars and TESB packaging (IG-88 came in TESB packaging only)...and then, in 1980, the line was shelved. I guess, looking on the positive side, we can be thankful that all the best heroes and villains were covered under the Star Wars banner of this line (I wish there'd been a tusken raider too, though), and what we did get under the Empire Strikes Back banner were a pair of new and interesting characters.

The two Kenner Fetts: each a classic in its own right, for very different reasons. The "large-size" is a holy grail of vintage 12" collecting, while his mini companion is a must-have for anyone with even a vague sense of nostalgia. For best effect, you have to let your mind wander back to that time when we'd only seen a few minutes of Fett on the big screen, and he truly was a mysterious "fearsome interplanetary bounty hunter".

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Matt G