Hutts & Recreation Video
I’m a big fan of the show Parks & Recreation, so I about had a fit when I saw this parody of the opening sequence. Bravo!
Released in 1998, this figure was part of Hasbro’s “Kenner Collection.” It was only available as a mailaway offer and wasn’t sold in stores. In addition, this is the only Oola figure that’s ever been made. Pretty surprising since she had a much more prominent part in the film than many of the background aliens that did nothing in the film and yet still had multiple figures made. I can only guess that the toy companies were skittish about releasing an action figure of a half-naked girl, or that they thought she didn’t have as much play potential as guys with guns. She’s pretty well done for the time, and has real mesh on her legs. I think of Oola as being more green than yellow, though.
Salacious isn’t bad, but he’s pretty cartoony looking compared to most Star Wars figures. I have no idea why they made him standing up. His thin legs don’t really support his body well, and I don’t think we ever saw him standing up like this in the film. This same Salacious was released several years later with the Power of the Jedi Amanaman figure.
Hasbro Power of the Jedi Amanaman and Salacious Crumb
Released in 2001, this was one of the “fan’s choice” figures that Hasbro made after polling their customers about which characters they wanted made. I think this is only the second Amanaman figure that has been made, the first being the vintage Power of the Force figure that came out in 1985, so I imagine that was one reason the fans wanted a new version. Amanaman only appeared for a second in Return of the Jedi, but despite that he’s been rather popular. He comes with a staff (complete with skulls) and a headless skeleton, as well as a Salacious Crumb. Salacious is the same one that came with Kenner’s Power of the Force Oola, although I think the paint on this one isn’t quite as well done. All in all, he’s a good background character for a Jabba display, although not as tall as I might have expected.
Vintage Sigma Ceramic Klaatu Mug
This is one of several “figural mugs” that Sigma put out around the release of Return of the Jedi. You sort of have to wonder why anyone would make a Klaatu mug, since he’s definitely one of the more forgettable inhabitants of Jabba’s palace. My theory has always been that they had to make licensing decisions ahead of time (maybe just based on concept art instead of the film itself), and that it wasn’t clear exactly which characters would end up being popular. But that’s just a guess on my part.
I got this on ebay a while back paired with another item that was what I actually wanted, and in fact I had forgotten that I even had it until I discovered it in the kitchen recently. 😀 Poor Klaatu never gets any respect. I need to get the others in the line. They made a Bib Fortuna and a Gamorrean Guard as I recall.
AMT/ERTL Rancor Model Kit
This is a vinyl model kit released in 1998 by AMT/ERTL (who also did the Jabba’s Palace model kit). I’m MUCH more impressed with this kit than I was with the Jabba’s Palace one. The detail and sculpting on the rancor (sculpted by Jim Groman) is amazing. It really doesn’t suffer any loss of detail due to it being made of vinyl. I think the Gamorrean Guard looks slightly awkward in the Rancor’s hand, but it’s otherwise well done, too. This kit is much more difficult to find than the Jabba’s Palace one (there’s always multiples of that one on eBay, usually only going for a few dollars). I’m going to be painting this one up, although I don’t know how long that will take. I’ll probably add a base of some kind as well. (EDIT: Here is the painted version.)
Another Jabba Sketch Card by Mat Nastos
Here’s my second Jabba sketch card from Mat Nastos (click here for the first one).
Wooden Russian Nesting Dolls (Featuring Jabba)
This is a bit of an unusual entry. This is a set of 5 wooden Russian nesting dolls with characters from The Phantom Menace on them. From what I understand, they were unlicensed and sold in Europe, but I don’t know the details. They appear to be partially hand painted, although the actual characters are some sort of transfer or paper that’s been applied and then lacquered over. Jabba is the smallest of the dolls, and the only one that doesn’t open up. I’m not sure why they went with this selection of characters. C-3PO doesn’t even appear in the movie in this form, and Jabba only makes a cameo, but they’re certainly interesting.
B’omarr Monk Mail-Away Figure by Kenner
In the unstated backstory to Return of the Jedi, the B’omarr monks were the original owners of Jabba’s palace and in fact were still there even after Jabba and his cadre had taken over. They had transferred their brains to spider-like robots so they could spend more time contemplating the universe, and still wandered around the palace not really caring what Jabba was up to.
This figure is from 1997, and was not available in stores. You had to send away for it, presumably including a check for the shipping and some proofs of purchase from other figures. You also have to assemble it, and the legs are sort of prone to coming apart, but it’s a pretty cool figure and surprisingly large. It’s about as tall as a normal figure at its tallest point, and much bigger and wider.
Slave Leia Figure and Cup by Hasbro (The Saga Collection)
This is part of an interesting “figure and cup” series that Hasbro did as part of their Saga Collection in 2006-2007. As you might expect, it consists of an action figure and a themed cup. The cup is plastic, unlike the vintage Burger King glass that it resembles. The figure is actually pretty nice, although I assume that it’s the same one that they sold individually.
Rancor Statue by Applause
Released in 1997, this seems to be a sort of companion piece to the Applause Jabba the Hutt statue. They are both done in what I can only assume is an attempt at a “faux bronze” finish, although both statues are pretty different colors, and neither one looks particularly like a real bronze statue. The sculpt on this is pretty decent, although I don’t think it really matches the slightly cartoony style of the Jabba statue. The paint does drag it down, though.
I’m tempted to repaint this using the technique I used for my Jabba bubble bath bottle, or maybe in a realistically colored style. This statue cost me less than $10, so I guess I could just buy another one and repaint it.
Mighty Jabba's Collection 
