Slave Leia Sketch Card by Irma Ahmed
Irma Ahmed did this breathtaking sketch card of Leia as Jabba’s prisoner for me. Amazing how much detail she can get in a card the size of a baseball card. I have this framed and matted together with Irma’s Jabba sketch card.
Jabba the Hutt Sketch Card by Irma Ahmed
Irma Ahmed did this card for me with Jabba, Bib Fortuna, Oola, and Salacious Crumb. She has a great anime-inspired style, and always gets an amazing amount of detail in her cards. I have this framed and matted with her Slave Leia card:
Clone Wars Jabba the Hutt Marb (Marble)
This is one of a series of “Marbs” — marbles that feature Star Wars characters. I’m not really a fan of these since they are so expensive — around $4 apiece. If they were $1 or $2 apiece, I could see wanting to collect the entire series, but I really get the feeling that these are overpriced, especially given their relatively small size (I’d say they’re 3/4 of an inch in diameter). They don’t even feel like glass to me, although I’m not sure about that.
They do each come with a little stand which is nice, since otherwise you’d have no way to display it without it rolling all over the place. They also made a Ziro the Hutt marb which is a rarer “chase” version. I’ll have to see if I can track one of them down. I’d like to see them do a classic Return of the Jedi Jabba as well. (EDIT: I got the Ziro Marb later on.)
Asian Super Deformed Jabba the Hutt Figure
I say “Asian” because I’m not entirely sure where this is from. I’ve heard both Singapore and Hong Kong, so maybe they were sold both places. The Star Wars Super Collector’s Wishbook doesn’t even list a manufacturer for this series, although they have them all listed and pictured. I think they’re unlicensed.
In any case, it is part of a series of super-deformed figures of figures that can be used as pencil toppers and are about 2″ tall. It’s made of a hard material (the Wish Book says they’re painted ceramic, but I think plastic is more likely). They feature characters from Phantom Menace. This Jabba is a little odd since the way they sculpted him makes it look like he’s got hair or feathers.
Declan Mulholland (Original Jabba the Hutt) Autograph
Jabba the Hutt is mentioned in the first Star Wars movie, but we never saw him until Return of the Jedi several years later. However, he was originally supposed to appear in A New Hope in a scene where he confronts Han at the Mos Eisley Spaceport, and they actually shot the scene using an Irish actor named Declan Mulholland in the role of Jabba. (Here is a restoration of the cut scene.)
I have read that George Lucas always wanted to replace Mulholland with some sort of alien creature, but it wasn’t possible given the technology at the time, so they cut the scene. I’m not sure if I completely believe that, since it should have been obvious before shooting that 1970s technology wasn’t up to something like that (at least given the way they set up this scene). And if he had always intended to remove Mulholland you would think that he wouldn’t have needed to be in full costume, and they would have been more careful about things like Han moving around in front and in back of him, which caused problems even decades later when they were trying to add the CGI Jabba (they had to make it look like Han somehow stepped on Jabba’s tail, which seems ludicrous).
In any case, the scene was taken out of the original release of A New Hope, but was restored for the Special Editions released in the 1990s, using a (horrible) CGI version of Jabba in place of Mulholland. They did improve it a bit a few years later, but it’s still not much like Jabba as he was in Return of the Jedi. (Here’s a clip comparing the unchanged version with Mulholland, the original CGI Jabba, and the improved version they made a few years later for the DVD release). Aside from the fact that the CGI Jabba looks silly, the scene doesn’t work for me in the story. I think it’s better if we just hear about Jabba until the big reveal in ROTJ, but maybe that’s just me.
Mr. Mulholland passed away about 10 years ago, but was a successful character actor in his own right and also gained a little fame amongst Star Wars fans as the “original Jabba the Hutt.”
Jabba the Hutt Stein by Dram Tree
This is part of a series of steins put out by Dram Tree in the late 1990s. They’re about 5 or 6 inches tall. Each stein has the same sculpted part showing some Star Wars ships, but they all have different pictures on them.
These are part of a series of Return of the Jedi-themed buttons made by Adam Joseph. You sort of have to wonder if many people would actually want a button with Jabba on it, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless. There are three Jabba’s palace-related buttons in the series, including Jabba, Max Rebo and a Gamorrean Guard. You can see the entire series here.
Vintage Jabba the Hutt and Sarlacc Pit Presto Magix
In case you never used Presto Magix, they consist of a sheet of artwork and a sheet of transfers that you can apply to the artwork by scribbling on the back with a pencil. The idea is that you can place the characters or items anywhere you want on the sheet, making your own scene. The artwork is a little odd on these, almost like it was traced from an original image. Comparing the Jabba to the one on my vintage Jabba the Hutt sticker, for example, shows that they are both clearly based on the same artwork, but the Presto Magix version seems a little deformed somehow. Anyway, these are fun little pieces and inexpensive enough to actually use if you want to (assuming that they still work after all these years — I haven’t tried yet). They make a larger boxed Presto Magix set based on Jabba’s palace that I still need to track down.
One funny thing to note is that they included Admiral Ackbar with the aliens from Jabba’s palace for no apparent reason. On the Sarlacc Pit one they also used Leia in her Endor outfit instead of the slave outfit she should be wearing. The latter might be because of the skimpy nature of that costume, but I can’t help but think that Ackbar’s presence is just a mistake.
Vintage Jabba the Hutt and Gamorrean Guard Stickers
I don’t know a lot about these, except that they were apparently sold in the UK around the time of the Return of the Jedi. They’re pretty large, at around 4″ tall. The Jabba artwork was used on a lot of products at the time, including the Jabba Playdoh playset and Presto Magix sets, although each one has subtle changes. I know that they also made stickers of some other Jabba-related character such as his skiff guards, but I’m not sure exactly what the lineup consists of.
Repainted Power of the Force 2 Jabba the Hutt
As I said before, I’m not a fan of the POTF2 Jabba for a variety of reasons. When I won one very cheaply on ebay, I decided to repaint it. I had to dremel out the insides to make it possible for him to face to the side like most Jabbas. I didn’t know what the mechanism was that was preventing him from turning to the side, so I basically just had to stab around with the dremel until I figured it out. They made this figure out of very thick and hard plastic, which made things difficult.
It’s still not a great figure, but I think it looks quite a bit better than before, at least. I decided to repaint the eyes rather than leave the existing plastic eyes, since they had always kind of given me the creeps.
Mighty Jabba's Collection 
