Jabba’s Palace Bookends by Gentle Giant

These are technically bookends, and at nearly 20 pounds in total weight they are certainly heavy enough to be used as such. But thankfully Gentle Giant had the foresight to make them in scale with their Jabba the Hutt statue. I think most people buying these are probably using them as an accessory to their Jabba statue than as a standalone sculpture or (least of all) as actual bookends. $250 (retail) for bookends is really pushing it, but as an “accessory pack” for the Jabba the Hutt statue, it’s not quite as bad.

As you might expect, they come in two pieces. The first has a mounted taun-taun head (and yes, there really was one of these on the wall of Jabba’s Palace). The other has Han Solo in Carbonite, which is a nice addition to the Gentle Giant Jabba display.

The included characters (Boba Fett, Gamorrean Guard, and Leia as Boushh) are all separate pieces that attach to the base with magnets, meaning that you have a fair amount of freedom in where you want them to be placed. However, Boushh is reaching out with a pointing finger, presumably to defrost Han, so you’re a little more limited in where you can put her. The Gamorrean has big enough feet that you could probably display him off of the base, but Boba Fett and Leia seem like they’d tip over (and break) without the magnets securing them in place. You also get a small table with food and drink on it, and a couple of pillows. These also attach with magnets.

The Gentle Giant Premier Guild-exclusive version includes an additional jawa and an unmasked portrait of Leia, but when you take into account the $60 for the yearly membership and the fact that you have to pay full retail when buying from Gentle Giant, those two little additions could end up costing a fortune. I actually got this for almost half retail during a sale, so I’m more than happy to live without the extra pieces.

Partially due to a lack of shelf space, I decided to try putting the bookends behind Jabba’s throne as you can see above, and I think they look pretty good that way (I left out Leia as Boushh since there wasn’t enough room and I already had Slave Leia on the throne). I did have to put a book underneath the throne since the rear part is resting partially on the bookends. (You may be able to see it a bit because of the flash, but it’s not visible in person.)

When you include these bookends with the Jabba the Hutt statue, Slave Leia Accessory Pack, Max Rebo Band, and Rancor with Keeper statues, you get one of the most comprehensive Jabba’s Palace setups out there. I wonder if Gentle Giant has anything else up their sleeves. They could certainly try branching out into some of the other palace aliens like Amanaman. I look forward to seeing what else they will come up with.