Jabba the Hutt Garage Kit (Unlicensed Model Kit)

A garage kit is a model kit for amateur modelers, often produced and assembled by hobbyists working in their garages, hence the name. They’re usually unlicensed and produced in small numbers. I had a lot of trouble tracking down any information about this particular kit online. The person who sold it to me said it was made by Narin, who is a sculptor from Thailand most famous for his Predator garage kits. He said that it was made about 7 or 8 years ago, and that only 20 were produced.

However, before I bought the kit I contacted Narin, and he told me it wasn’t his. He did recognize the kit, though, and said that it was made by a team of sculptors from Thailand called “B-Shop,” which is apparently no longer around. He also said that about 20 were made, but according to him it was produced more like 15 years ago. It’s difficult to know what the real story is, but since they both independently said that around 20 were made, I’m comfortable with that part at least. I think it’s safe to say that this is an exceedingly rare kit. While you could probably recast something like this fairly easily, I’m not sure the demand is there, especially now that we have relatively inexpensive, high-quality options like the Sideshow 1/6 scale Jabba.

As you can see, it comes in six pieces cast in off-white resin: two arms, the tail, the body, the head/torso, and a railing. The railing is a bit strange, since it’s so simple, but I guess its presence is sort of suggestive of his throne. Each piece attaches with a slot. I’ve decided to keep this kit as it is, just loosely assembled rather than gluing it together and painting it. I’ve already got more than enough realistically painted Jabbas, and I think it’s more interesting this way — almost like a marble statue. In fact, I think I’m going to buy a black marble cutting board and use that as a base. I think it should look cool.

Overall, I’d say the sculpt is excellent. The face in particular does a good job of capturing Jabba’s asymmetric features. The tail seems a little misshapen (too flat, and too thick at the end) but that’s relatively minor.

They did include Jabba’s tattoo, although I noticed after getting the piece in hand that they actually gave him thumbs in addition to his three fingers, which is not accurate. Still, you can only see it if you examine his hands closely.

I was told that the kit was in 1/6 scale, but as you can see it’s considerably smaller than Sideshow’s 1/6 scale Jabba figure. But at 14.5″ long and 8″ tall, it’s still pretty sizable. It is a fair amount larger than the Jabbas in Sideshow’s “You’re Going To Regret This” diorama or Gentle Giant’s Jabba the Hutt on Throne statue.

This is has been sort of a “grail” item for me. (“Grail” is a term often used in collecting circles to talk about something that is rare and sought-after, or something that is high on your want list.) I first found out about it about a year and a half ago, when one was listed on Yahoo Auctions Japan. I was actually in Japan at the time on business, but I was only in the country for a few days, and didn’t have the time to get it, plus the price was more than I really wanted to spend. Then a few months ago someone put another one on eBay. Again, their price was too high for me, but I kept the person’s contact info and several months later finally managed to purchase it for a bit less than they had originally wanted. It was still more than I really wanted to pay, but I really wanted one in my collection, and they are quite rare.

Here are a few more pictures: