“Original Gangsta” T-Shirt by Giant
This is a shirt sold a few years ago, possibly at Hot Topic stores, although I got mine on eBay. It shows Leia and Jabba, with the motto “Original Gangsta” underneath. Thematically, it’s kind of similar to the “Slug Life” shirt I got from etsy.com.
Vintage Return of the Jedi Lunch Box
This Return of the Jedi lunch box has a number of Jabba-related illustrations on it. I got this in a box of random Star Wars things, and I didn’t even realize how much Jabba stuff there was on it until I saw it in person. This one isn’t in very good condition — it’s rusty and the paint is chipped in places– so I’m tempted to get an unused one. The artwork is quite well done. On the front is Jedi Luke at Jabba’s palace, just before he falls into the Rancor pit.
Jabba himself was relegated to the bottom of the box for some reason.
The Rebo Band (minus Sy Snootles) is on the top with the handle.
On one side we have skiff guard Lando fighting one of Jabba’s guards by the sarlacc. Wicket is on the other.
Finally, on the back we have the Death Star II, Darth Vader, and some Imperial starships.
Star Wars Adventures in ABC
This is a “read along” book that has one entry for each letter of the alphabet, from AT-AT to Zuckuss. Of course “J” is for “Jabba.” The accompanying audio tape is read by two different people. Some entries are read by Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, while others are read by some anonymous “announcer” type. I’m not sure why Daniels didn’t just read the whole thing, but in any case, it’s pretty cute. Here is a short clip of the audio from the Jabba page: J is for Jabba. The sound of R2-D2 at the end was the signal for kids to turn the page.
The picture of Jabba is pretty good, although his tail seems overly thick. I like how his throne is just this huge square block with one little gargoyle head in the corner.
Vintage Jabba the Hutt Bookmark by Random House
Produced in 1983, these were part of a set of 16 bookmarks featuring various characters from Return of the Jedi. I’m not sure if they were all sold as a set, but I imagine so. Most of them are quite well done and very colorful as well. The Jabba-related ones are Jabba, Leia as Boushh, and Skiff Guard Lando. I have all but two of these (missing Han and Boba Fett) and I really like the art style overall, although Leia looks a little off.
Vintage Return of the Jedi Bowl and Cups
Deka Plastics made quite a few of this type of plastic cereal bowls/mugs/tumblers for the Star Wars license. In this case, we have two mugs, one tumbler, and one bowl. If you look closely you can see that the graphics have been applied in the form of a sort of clear transfer, and in some cases this starts to peel off. These also have some discoloration, especially on the mugs. I think they were all originally the color of the bowl, which is basically an off-white, but the mugs have turned yellow over time.
The star of the set is the bowl, at least to me, since it has Jabba on one side and the Rebo Band on the other (as well as Luke and Yoda on what is probably supposed to be the front — the side with the ROTJ logo on it). The tumbler has Leia as Boushh and Skiff Guard Lando on one side (the other side shows Han Solo and Chewbacca on Endor). The mugs don’t really have anything to do with Jabba, but since these are sort of a “set” I decided to include them all. One mug has Darth Vader and Royal Guards on one side and Luke and Yoda on Dagobah (again) on the other. The other mug has R2-D2, C-3PO and Wicket on one side and Princess Leia and other ewoks on the other.
“It’ll drive you crazy!” “It’s a crazy mixed up puzzle!”
Excuse the slanty photography, but I had to take the photo from an oblique angle to avoid getting a reflection of the flash. This odd puzzle measures 11″ by 14″ and features images of Jabba, Jedi Luke, Leia as Boushh and Skiff Guard Lando. Instead of having differently shaped pieces that you fit together as with most puzzles, all of its pieces are square. The characters are mixed up in such a way that you can only complete the picture correctly using one arrangement of the pieces. But there are only nine pieces, so it’s not as if it’s all that difficult. Far from being “fun and challenging for everyone” I found it to be rather boring. Maybe small children would enjoy it more. Anyway, it’s an interesting piece that I hadn’t seen before.
Sideshow has posted images of the prototype for their 1/6 scale Gamorrean Guard in their Production Blog. While it looks pretty good, I’m not as enthusiastic as I had hoped to be. The skin tone actually looks better in these pictures (not as dark a green), but something about the overall package seems slightly off. In some ways I still prefer the Hasbro version (repainted, of course). I plan to get one, though, so I hope it won’t look too odd in the same display as the Hasbro version.
The figure will be priced at $119.99 (which isn’t really that bad) and will be available for preorder as soon as Sideshow’s newsletter goes up on June 24th (around 8:00PM Central time).
Two chase figures for the Jabba’s Palace wave of Kubricks have now apparently been found (chases are rare “secret” figures that are packed in some of the boxes for normal figures). One is a Return of the Jedi-version of Boba Fett, which was actually a chase in an earlier wave. I’m not sure if there are any differences between this and the earlier chase — probably there is some minor paint difference. This chase is found in the Amanaman box. The other is Bib Fortuna with a red robe, apparently a nod to the Mexican Lili Ledy line of Star Wars figures, which had a red robe variation. As you might expect, this is found in the Bib Fortuna box. These are kind of disappointing in that most collectors were hoping for unique characters, not redone versions of existing ones. There is probably still one more chase that has yet to be discovered, and I will amend this post when it is.
In other news, here are some in-hand pictures of the figures, still in their plastic packaging. (No, these aren’t mine. I found these on eBay. But I’m hoping to get mine soon.) Jabba comes in three sections, as does his throne (plus the hooka and railing).
Here’s a shot from Sandtroopers.com of the new throne on top of the vintage one. I’m kind of surprised that it’s actually slightly smaller. This comparison also makes the tiny gargoyle heads on the new throne stand out all the more. Not sure what they were thinking with that.
Here’s Photoshopped comparison of the new Hasbro throne and the Sideshow throne. Obviously these thrones are very different sizes, but it just shows how much smaller the new throne’s heads are in relation to the rest of the throne.
I think I may replace these heads with ones from a vintage throne (slightly modified, of course). They’re just too small. In fact, I think I may use the smaller heads to make a throne for the Galactic Heroes Jabba. On the bright side, the new throne should fit in easily with any displays that people have made with the vintage throne.
Boushh Magnet by Artbox
This is part of a series of 24 magnets featuring the heads of various Star Wars characters. They were originally put out by Kotobukiya/Tomy in Japan (as part of the Real Mask Magnet series), but now they are being sold in the US in Target stores. They are blind boxed, so you can’t tell which you are going to get, which makes their $3.99 price tag seem kind of high. I’ve been picking up one of these each time I go to Target, and now I have three (this one, plus a Stormtrooper and Biker Scout). They’re kept with the trading cards, which in my store are towards the front near the registers, kind of far away from other things like the toys.
They are essentially 1/6 scale heads, and in fact this is practically identical in size to Sideshow’s 1/6 scale Leia as Boushh figure. The paint and detailing on the magnet is not as good as the on the figure, but that’s to be expected, I think. This is the only Jabba-related character in the current lineup, although the Japanese series does include a Gamorrean Guard as well. Overall, these are quite well done, and a fun little impulse buy if you happen to be at Target.
Mighty Jabba's Collection 
