Gentle Giant Leia in Boushh Disguise Mini-Bust
This and the Sideshow 1/6 scale Boushh figure are very similar in size and subject matter, so it’s natural to compare the two. In most respects I will have to give the Sideshow piece the edge. The sculpts for both the helmeted and bare heads look better to me on the Sideshow version. This does depends on the angle to some degree, and it’s hard to capture it in pictures, so it’s difficult to judge based on the photos I’ve got on the site. There’s no question in my mind, though, that the mixed media costume on the figure makes it look more realistic. And of course, you get the entire body (and posability) with the Sideshow figure. Still, this an excellent bust.
Gentle Giant Salacious Crumb Mini-Bust
This was a Gentle Giant Collector’s Club exclusive, and is one of the rarer busts from the original trilogy. They also made a Christmas version with Salacious in a Santa hat covered in Christmas lights as well as some other festive touches. That was limited to only 200 pieces and was only given to Gentle Giant clients, so it’s very expensive and rare. I have no desire to get that version, but this one is very nice.
The sculpt is quite good (although for my money, Sideshow’s Life Size Salacious Crumb is the king of the hill in that department). I also like how they worked in the C-3PO head, which actually lights up. See the video below for a shot of the light effect. It blinks on and off in a pattern.
Vintage Makit & Bakit Jabba the Hutt Suncatcher Kit
You’ve probably seen something like this before. It’s a metal frame that you put little plastic beads into and then bake it in the oven, making for a “stained glass window” effect. I distinctly remember making these kinds of things when I was a kid, although I think the ones I made were Christmas decorations and not Star Wars-related. I got this one unopened, and for a minute I considered keeping it sealed (it’s from 1983 after all), but these are not particularly valuable and the real fun comes from making them. So my son and I made it together. I had to do most of it, since getting the little beads in the right places was more difficult than I would have expected. You will need tweezers.
The “stained glass” effect is actually pretty nice. I did have to add some more beads after baking it for 15 minutes, because some holes had developed in a couple of places. Then I baked it for an additional 10 minutes and it was done. I let it cool for a few minutes and the aluminum foil peeled right off. Interestingly, the wrinkles in the foil make it look like Jabba’s skin is wrinkled, which is kind of cool.
They also have R2-D2, Gamorrean Guard, and Darth Vader sun catcher kits (not sure why the Gamorrean was chosen to be one of the four out of all of the possibilities, but whatever). I wouldn’t mind getting some more.
Vintage Kenner Leia as Boushh Figure
Since I just did the Sideshow Boushh, I may as well do the first Boushh figure as well. Her accessories are her staff and her rubbery helmet, which goes on top of her normal “Leia” head sculpt.
Sideshow 12″ Leia as Boushh Figure
I think this was the second Sideshow figure that I got, and it’s a pretty impressive one. She comes with two heads — one with the Boushh helmet and one with a Leia head sculpt. It’s a pretty good likeness to Carrie Fisher, too. She also comes with her staff and a thermal detonator, as well as some canisters of some sort that fit on her belt. The exclusive version came with an Ubese blaster pistol, which I have somewhere but can’t be bothered to dig out. I don’t think many people would display her with it in any case.
Vintage Kenner Bib Fortuna Figure
The vintage Kenner Bib Fortuna figure has a soft goods cloak that goes over a plastic belt/vest combo of some sort, and he also comes with a staff (although he doesn’t have a staff in the film).
Sideshow 12″ Bib Fortuna Figure
I got this figure brand new a couple of years ago for only $19.77 (cute price, huh?). I guess he’s not the most popular character in the world, and most people consider him to be an accessory to Jabba, so if you don’t have Sideshow’s Jabba setup you’re unlikely to want him. But that’s a steal no matter how you look at it.
The figure is actually one of Sideshow’s better efforts. The head sculpt looks great. If you compare it to an actual shot of the actor from the film it does look a bit off, but I think it captures the character very well indeed, and there aren’t any paint issues like we see with so many Sideshow figures. They even managed to do a subtle patterning of the skin. My main complaint with this one is that he has a “deer in the headlights” look. I think it’s the combination of the open mouth and the wide eyes, but in any case the expression is not ideal.
The outfit is also very well done. He comes with a dagger and one of Jabba’s froggy snacks. The exclusive version of the figure also came with a staff. He never had a staff in the movie, but it’s a nod to the vintage Kenner figure that did have a similar staff. All in all, a very nice figure from Sideshow, even at the original price.
Upcoming: Gentle Giant Slave Leia & Oola Mini-Busts
I’ve only recently started collecting Gentle Giant’s line of Star Wars mini-busts. It might seem like an odd time to start, since there are some indicators that Gentle Giant as a company may be having some trouble, but on the other hand I’ve gotten some pretty good deals.
They recently announced these mini-busts of Slave Leia and Oola and I’ll definitely be getting both of them. Slave Leia has been rather overdone, but this is appears to be well done. Oola on the other hand is a character that we don’t really see a lot of. Attakus did a statue of her, but aside from that there’s only be a handful of things made.
Given the many delays that Gentle Giant has been experiencing, it’s anybody’s guess when these will really come out, but it’ll be sometime in 2010 in any case. They’re around $60.
I have a number of the Gentle Giant “animaquette” statues and they’re well done. Something about the animated style makes me feel like they should be lower in price than they are, but I’ve gotten most of them for well under retail. This one is particularly attractive. I think it’ll be a must-have for me. The only question is whether Gentle Giant’s new low edition sizes will force me to pay full retail for it or not. I would LOVE for them to do a full-size animated Jabba to go with her, but I’m guessing that the popularity of this line is on the decline and that it couldn’t really sustain something like that.
No word on price or exact release date yet.
(Credit for the picture goes to Comingsoon.net.)
Jabba Comic Books from Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics did four one-off comic books featuring Jabba as the main character in 1995 and early 1996. The titles are “The Hunger of Princess Nampi,” “The Gaar Suppoon Hit,” “The Dynasty Trap” and “Betrayal.” The stories are only loosely connected to each other, and all show Jabba’s life as a crime lord before the events of the Star Wars movies (or at least before Return of the Jedi). None of the Star Wars characters make an appearance.
Through these comics we get a glimpse of what Jabba’s past was like. I’m not sure these would be considered canon, but I love how Jabba is shown to be a cunning and ruthless figure. In Return of the Jedi, he is overconfident and too easily outsmarted, but the Jabba in these comics is a force to be reckoned with. In “The Gaar Suppoon Hit” there is a great sequence where Jabba and Gaar, in the guise of some “friendly” negotiations, keep revealing double-cross after double-cross until one side finally takes the upper hand (spoiler alert: it’s Jabba!)
In “The Dynasty Trap” we see Jabba being much more active than I might have thought possible, killing several people with his bare hands (and body). He even, gulp, swallows someone whole, which I’m not entirely sure I buy.
“The Hunger of Princess Nampi” is not my favorite, since it features the somewhat bizarre looking Princess Nampi, but it does have my favorite line of all of the comics: “Vench my skug, we’ve been farkled!” I’m going to have to start saying that.
Finally, in “Betrayal” we see Bib Fortuna’s attempt to betray Jabba and take over (with results that you can probably predict).
One thing I love about these is that since they predate the “improved” Jabba design that George Lucas has been pushing on us ever since he released the “Special Editions” of the films, they use the original Return of the Jedi Jabba. They’re able to have Jabba convey a wide range of emotions without turning him into a cartoon character like they did with the CGI version.
The stories were also reprinted in a compilation called “Jabba the Hutt: The Art of the Deal” (which I also use as reading copy, since I want to keep these comics looking nice).
Mighty Jabba's Collection 
