Saturday, July 17, 2010

Star Wars 3.75" Legacy Collection: Boba Fett

When I was a kid, there were only good guys and bad guys.  And Boba Fett was a bad guy, dangerous and mysterious.  That's all I knew about him because I was too young to know what Bounty Hunter was.  I already had too much evil to handle in the Star Wars universe with Vader and the Emperor running around Force choking/"lightening" guys to kingdom come.

Looking back, Boba Fett's helmet was what intrigued me the most.  It wasn't as scary as Vader's but it was equally, if not more, mysterious, hiding the character's face and the whole history of how he came to be along with it.  The fact that he was always silent deepened the sense of mystery.

I'll always remember the nod he afforded Boushh in Return of the Jedi after the latter activated "his" thermal detonator while in negotiations with Jabba the Hutt.  One nod, just to say, "I like your style."

One nod that revealed so much about Fett to the audience.  One deadly nod to say, "Let's see if you're as deadly as you claim to be, if you are who you say you are."

Well, this figure is able to recreate that mysterious deadliness with its design.  But that's never been a problem with the vast majority of Star Wars figures--they've got the character's appearance down pat.  What this figure can do is move and pose like the classic Boba Fett.  And as an added bonus, we get to see what he looks like under the helmet!!!

Ok so maybe it's not as big a deal anymore what Fett looks like under the helmet--I blame the Prequel trilogy for this--but it's interesting to note that the head is sculpted kinda in the likeness of a young Jeremy Bulloch, who played the role because the costume just happened to fit.  At first I thought it was a clever re-use of the head sculpt of the captain Jeremoch Colton figure, who's Bail Organa's chauffeur (glorified pilot of the Tantive IV) in the prequels.  But it isn't, and he sure doesn't look like a grown up Daniel Logan either.  Kudos to Hasbro for maintaining a certain sense of mystery about the character.

That's the first thing I like about this figure:  His removable helmet.  Not only do you get a get an additional accessory, but it's a good one because it's not been molded too thick so that when he puts in on, he doesn't look like a bobble head.  Whether he's got the helmet on or off, he looks proportionate, and that's a real plus. :)

Like: The weather-worn paint apps.  In Empire and RoTJ,  Fett's armor is all beat up and worn out.  Same with this figure.  And they've done a great job of making his armored parts and guns appear this way with silver paint apps.  While they did dry brush his guns, the silver on his helmet is actually painstakingly painted on!

Like: His accessories--and he comes more than you think he does.  Helmet, Sawn-off blaster rifle, blaster pistol, and jet pack.  Plus, you also get a droid part: R2-A3's torso!

Like: His "back-pocket" style usable holster.  This has got to be one of the best holsters I've ever seen on a figure in this scale.  Not only does the holster provide a snug fit for his pistol, it's also flush with the back of his leg.  It's also very well hidden.  I didn't notice it until I got him out of the package and flipped him around to check out the cape.

Like: His extra molded "out of sculpt" detail.  First off, there's the cape, which hangs of his left shoulder, attached to a slot in the back of the shoulder.  Then there's the wire running from his right upper arm into the gauntlet.  And last but not least is the pouches, belt and holster ensemble. Such great detail!

Like: That they gave him an extra bicep swivel on his right arm. There's some molded wire that connects his upper arm to his forearm that restricts the elbows swivel.  So they gave him a cut right above the wire, thus allowing everything below it, wire and all, to swivel 360 degrees.  This is especially important for the classic two-handed "rifle-at-ready" look.


Dislike: That his jet pack keeps falling off!  It doesn't peg into his back tightly and tends to fall out also because it's not flush with his back.

Dislike: Bendy helmet antenna and weapons.  I don't actually mind that they're soft.  What I do mind is that they come out of the package bent.  My figure had a nice and straight pistol, but the sawn-off rifle had a bent butt.

Dislike: His trigger fingers don't quite fit into the trigger guards.  The right barely fits in the the guard, while the left index finger is bent.  Still,  fits Boba Fett looks naturally great though.  I mean, what kind of bounty hunter are you if you haven't broken a couple of fingers, right?  He would definitely hold his weapons better if his forefingers worked right.

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 9/10 - Great looking version of Boba Fett.  I simply don't think they'll come up with a better looking Fett in this scale, especially when it comes to proportions and the fit of his helmet.

Poseability: 8/10 - Star Wars figs tend not to have the ball-jointed hips/legs that the Marvel Universe figures enjoy, let alone the swivel/hinge balls that the Iron Man 2 line enjoys.  But they have pretty much everything else that they need.  Since I don't need my Star Wars guys to know any kungfu, and Boba here has got everything else a Star Wars fig can get in terms of PoAs, he's pretty much top of the line for...er...this toy line.

Fun: 9/10 - Having Boba Fett makes you want to have everything else you associate him with to recreate scenes from the movie.  The one that always comes to my mind is the battle on the skiffs above the the Great Pit of Carkoon.  Han Solo unknowingly takes out arguably his greatest nemesis there in the funnest way possible!  And all I need to recreate that scene is a skiff! (And Chewie, and Luke, and Slave Leia, and Jabba...)


Value: 8/10 - I got this guy at the retail price of s$18.90 (US$13.50), from Toys R Us (in Vivocity) when the Rangerlord pointed the 6 or 7 or so of Boba in the "pay-first-at-the-cashier-before-you-collect" glass case. He said that they were rare because they were much sought after, but I didn't know it was this rare/coveted, because they were all gone in a matter of days.  Getting one online right now seems relatively easy, though, and would only set you back about US$10 for a loose figure.

Overall: 8.5/10 - Boba Fett is the rock star of bounty hunters real or imagined, and his figure kicks ass.  Aside from the loose jet-pack problem I can't really have any complaints because there's lots of great little things about him.  The fact that he's been voted a few times on certain popular "Most Memorable Character" lists demonstrates the impact he's had on pop culture.  It's this X-factor which is brought to his toys, and which this figure oozes because of how well they made him!

9 comments:

  1. The last comic looks like it came straight outta LEGO Star Wars (the video game)!

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  2. LMAO! That was fantastic! Wow, sometimes I feel I'm missing out by not collecting Star Wars figures. I was very tempted earlier this week when TRU had a BOGO 50% off on SW. There was no Boba in sight, but I thought long and hard about picking Han & Chewie with the O2 masks.

    It's just too much great stuff available nowadays! Damn you, Mattel, Hasbro and sometimes NECA!

    Also, these pics are excellent (as usual)! I'm amazed how clear you photograph this scale. Nice job, Sir!

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  3. @3B - Thx! Glad you like the photos. ;) Agree on the abundance of great stuff. Well if you're looking to pick up Star Wars stuff, watch out for the new Saga Legends figures, which come with a stat card and dice so you can turn it into an action figures game!

    @Roc - Really? Lol, love the game. But only played the GBA version from a few years back. :)

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  4. GREAT review... this figure looks absolutely fantastic.. I almost wish they had just sculpted on the rocket pack, but other than that it looks really sweet.

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  5. Yeah WesGR, or if they just made the peg a little longer. As it is, Fett's back isn't flat (as it should be) so the pack doesn't sit flush against it.

    I like that it's an extra accessory. It's just too bad it's not the tightest fitting one.

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  6. I find that placing Bobas jetpack through a thin area of his cape gives the peg a bit more friction to stay in place, but sometimes it falls out even easier so its just a matter of careful placement I guess

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  7. Thanks for the suggestion--sounds like a good idea! I'll have to try it out. :)

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  8. this I disagree with only slightly..i give it a 9.5,with only points knocked off for the nightmarish jetpack,but i solved it by drilling a small hole through the peg and the hole in his back and used a thick piece of wire to keep the jetpack in place while still retaining the removabltly of it..this figure hasnt left my nightstand in years,since the sculpt was first used in 08 as part of the fett legacy 3 pack.i only replaced it with this version because of the better paint appsand now the vintage version..i even got the new clone wars slave one just to go with it

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  9. Yes, that jetpack is nightmarish indeed. I'd surely bump him over 9/10 at the very least if he had swivel/hinge leg joints like Bespin Luke--it's tough to balance him with only swivels. But I like the mods you made to attach the jetpack better. Also, I think he does look like the Boba Fett, not least due to the great paint! :)

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