Boba Fett only needed a few lines to capture imaginations. If you have to ask or wonder why Fett is so popular, then chances are you won’t ever get it, and you may not quite “get” Star Wars as a whole. There are stories behind stories in this little lived-in galaxy, and Boba’s take-no-crap attitude even in the face of Darth Vader himself made him larger than his limited role allowed.
Because of his popularity, much has been done with Boba after his few appearances in episodes V and VI. A quick read of his Wookiepedia entry shows a mind-boggling amount of history and future (yes, even post “death”) that’s been catalogued for the greatest bounty hunter ever. It seems like his entire life has been written down note for note, from his father to his childhood to his own child.
I’m all for the idea that stories grow and that they never really stop; these movies aren’t just what I see on the screen, but also what happens when cameras aren’t filming. But for my purposes I tend to ignore certain things. I don’t need Boba to have a childhood. I don’t need to have every mystery solved. I don’t need to imagine some actor’s face behind one of the coolest helmets ever. Boba’s the guy that gets stuff done better than anyone else. For me, the mystery is the point.
And he sounds like Jason Wingreen — he in no way sounds like that guy from the prequels. Stupid George.
But on to the figure. After the insane SDCC Boba w/ Han in Carbonite set came and went with heartbreaking speed, the only way for legions of us to get him would be the long wait for series 2. For those that managed to grab one either at SDCC or on Hasbrotoyshop.com afterwards, he’s the old news of the wave, but for those of us who weren’t so lucky, he’s pure bliss — with a few minor problems.
First the good, of which there is plenty. There’s no bad pose. None. He looks great standing and holding his gun, he looks great pointing it, he looks great giving an ominous turn of his helmet … he probably looks great reading Galactic Cosmopolitan while on the toilet. The most important part of Boba is his helmet. There’s an icy cool to that thing, as iconic as Vader or the Stormtrooper’s helmet — simple in design but full of personality. It’s angry, I think, with the slightly downturned visor slits and the single black line descending downward. That’s the reason I never needed to see his face; to me, the helmet is his face, and that’s all I need to know about him.
His jet pack took a bit of work to get into the hole, and I was worried for a second that I’d ruin it, but it finally slid in. I’m not sure if everybody had the same troubles, but the peg seems too big for the peg hole. It’s fine now, and it’s on nice and secure.
The problems with the stiffness of the material for his pouches have been well-documented, but for those not in the know … the pouches are definitely stiff. They impede his articulation there quite a bit, so you have to make some concessions with how you pose him. No deep lunges for Boba, unfortunately, unless you completely rearrange his pouch situation. That’s a shame, since theoretically Boba should be perfect — even if that doesn’t exist in toyland — and the fact that there’s plenty of flexible plastics out there adds to the sting. Oh well, probably a great way to get everyone to buy a second one down the line. And you know that’s inevitable.
He comes with his standard rifle and holstered blaster pistol, both of which he can hold in either hand perfectly and which he (of course) looks great holding.
He does have “soft goods” (I sincerely hate that term) fabric for his cape. The fabric is pretty stiff, like, starched, so it doesn’t really drape so much as hang. Doesn’t bug me, though. Being fabric, it doesn’t get in the way of posing and it looks good.
He’s got the requisite scuffs in his paintjob. He could have used a bit more weathering, but overall it hits all the right notes.
Despite the slight hang-ups regarding the stiffness of his pouches, overall this is a hugely fun toy. It speaks volumes about the strength of this toy line that, as fun as Boba is, he doesn’t drastically overshadow his wavemates, or those that came before. While Artoo and Leia have their detractors — even X-Wing Luke didn’t appeal to some — to me this line has been 8 for 8 for delivering massively fun toys that are fun to play around with and fiddle with.
I bought tons and tons of the smaller figures when Star wars started back up in 1995, but eventually had to bow out of collecting the same figures over and over again with only minor differences. I ended up with plenty of Boba figures, including that deluxe version that was supposed to be the pinnacle of Boba action figures. I’m sure after that was released they went on to release a better, more articulated version, which is the big reason I had to stop. But it feels great to be picking up Star Wars toys again, and having a kick-ass version of one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite movie series after only two waves makes me giddy for the future. Bring me more bounty hunters!
Fantastic figure and a great review