Not even the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy is immune to the occasional wardrobe shift. At some point in the year between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett decided to make some very subtle alterations to his overall look. While the reasons for this have no doubt been covered in some Expanded Universe story, let’s ignore all that for now. In Fwooshian team-up tradition, Ibentmyman-thing (words) and Matthew K (pictures) bring you a review of yet another Fett for your collections.
MAFEX’s Return of the Jedi Boba Fett marks the first time the RotJ version has made an appearance in the 6-inch scale. Hasbro, MAFEX and Bandai’s model kits have all covered the Empire version previously, and while the RotJ has had plenty of representation in other scales, now we’ve finally got the version that gets unceremoniously dumped down into the Sarlacc to slowly digest for a thousand years. Or … not, depending on how you feel about continuity beyond the movies. Did he survive? Did he crawl his way out? Did the Sarlacc find him indigestible? You decide!
If you’re anything like me, you are still gun shy about MAFEX. This version of Boba was pre-ordered way before MAFEX’s version of C-3PO decided to be a loose collective of parts barely held together by hope and crossed fingers. Luckily, this Boba seems to carry forth the legacy of his Empire version, and is a well-put-together figure with sturdy limbs and no general fragility. If they can keep this streak alive, maybe we can all breathe a sigh of relief about upcoming pre-ordered figures.
Bodily, Boba is mostly the same as the previously released ESB version, so a lot of the difference comes from his coloration. There’s a bit of a shift in the hue of his fabric parts — less of a blue-gray, more of a straight light gray, and the green on his armored bits is a deeper green. His gauntlets are now a rusty red instead of pale green, and the patterns of the silver nicks and scratches in his paint job is a little different. The jet pack is vastly different, with some red and bright yellow in place of the bland green of the ESB pack. These deeper, truer colors make him stand out a bit more when compared to the relatively conservative tonal palette of the ESB version.
Since he shares much of the same parts, most people were cautiously optimistic that he wouldn’t suffer any quality degradation, and that seems to have held true. His upper thighs are the only major shift from the ESB version, with differently shaped pouches. Also, the tools in his shin-pockets are the same, but they’re facing a different direction. It’s probably just happenstance, but I like that small little touch, as if he had used them at some point and had slid them back in a different way. It’s a simple thing but adds to the feeling that he actually uses the crap he carries on him. He might actually have actual usable items in all those ’90s-predating pouches of his.
Speaking of pouches, obviously, this version of Boba has a slightly different belt setup. He has a string of pouches right at his abdomen, and a pair of pouches to either side. This time around he has no secondary holstered blaster, which means he has one less accessory than the previous Boba. Oh well. The good thing is that his legs are even less impeded this time around then on the ESB figure, and that wasn’t much of an issue even with that figure, so that’s a win-win.
If you have the previous Boba, then you will find this one poses just as well. He poses fluidly, and the ball-jointed ankles and wrists allow for a natural stance while holding his gun menacingly or aiming it at some foolish fool who dares to piss off Boba. I did have a problem with the wires on his right-hand wrist gauntlet pulling out of their corresponding holes in his upper bicep, so I might have to glue them in so that’s not an issue. I don’t know if they’re shorter or just not as secure, but this wasn’t an issue with the ESB one.
Boba comes with a pair of fists, a pair of open hands, and a single trigger-finger hand. He comes with his blaster rifle, which is a different design than the ESB version and has no strap. Again, I’m sure there’s a story there about what happened to his previous version. I kind of like this version better. It’s more aggressive. He also comes with a clear stand for those poses that just won’t happen on their own, or for jet pack adventuring.
MAFEX has done a fantastic job on this Boba and are well on their way to establishing a baseline of product trust. While I still feel like I can’t give them the almost blind confidence that I give to Figuarts, if they keep up this quality, they’ll get there. For now, it’s nice to have a version of Boba that is brand new to the collection. I can almost hear his high, whiny scream now as he plummets into the Sarlacc’s waiting gullet.
