Prototype (?) Jabba the Hutt Christmas Greeter by Gemmy Industries

It’s Christmas in July here at Mighty Jabba’s Collection! I acquired this from someone who said he found in a thrift store in North Texas. It’s obviously a variation on the plush Halloween greeter that Gemmy Industries sold at Walmart starting in 2015, but as far as I know this version has never actually been released or even announced. (Or at least I’ve never seen it — I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has this Christmas version.) The fact that it was found in North Texas, where Gemmy has their headquarters, makes me think that this could be some sort of prototype or concept that never ended up getting made, or it could be something that we will be seeing next Christmas. It’s hard to say.

Instead of the treat bag that the Halloween version is holding, this one has a Santa hat and is wrapped in Christmas lights, all of which are sewn into the body. The hands are also open instead of being sewn into a grasping position on the Halloween version. In addition, there is no tag of any kind or evidence of a tag having been removed, while the Halloween version has three tags with various types of copyright information on them. The color and texture of the fabrics used in the two figures also seems subtly different, but of course that’s the kind of thing that can vary even with commercially available products.

I actually think this is a much better idea than the Halloween one. It’s instantly recognizable, while the Halloween version only has a treat bag, and it might take a few seconds to figure out that he’s supposed to be trick or treating.

It seems pretty likely to me that this is a mockup or prototype, but I don’t know if it was abandoned or will eventually get made. I also have a hand-painted prototype of one of Gemmy’s inflatable Jabba figures, so it’s not too far fetched to think that this is something similar. Either way, I will definitely be using it as a decoration around our house at the holidays!