Mighty Jabba's Collection

For the uninitiated, Kubricks are small figures around 3 inches high put out by the Japanese company Medicom Toy. They’re reminiscent of LEGO figures, but have a lot more detail. They are made for a wide variety of licenses, but one of the most successful has been their Star Wars line. These are made in relatively limited quantities and are also Japanese imports, so they tend to be pricey. The “chase” (or “secret”) figures randomly placed in the boxes are even more rare, and can go for prices in the hundreds of dollars in some cases.

At a recent Asian toy fair, Medicom announced that the next round of Kubricks will have a Jabba’s palace theme. We don’t yet have any details about price or release date, but we do know that Jabba and his throne will apparently be a sort of “build a figure” that you collect the parts for by buying the other figures in the set. Included in the line are Jabba on his throne, Bib Fortuna, C-3PO (with Salacious Crumb), Jedi Luke (with rancor bone), Amanaman, drink-serving R2-D2, and Chewbacca (although I’m not sure how he differs from the previously released figure).

They have also released Jedi Luke (without rancor bone), Slave Leia, Leia in Boushh Disguise, Gamorrean Guard, and Lando in Skiff Guard Disguise figures in some of their previous waves.

I’m a huge Kubrick fan and (of course) a huge Jabba fan, so these are a must-have for me.

Gentle Giant made a set of bookends featuring Han Solo and Greedo in the cantina a while ago, and now they are continuing the series. One of them depicts the trash compactor scene from A New Hope, while the other is from Return of the Jedi (although this one is more of a conglomeration of a couple of different scenes.

While these are technically “bookends” I think Gentle Giant is probably calling them that because they don’t have the license to produce Star Wars dioramas. I’m not sure about the price or release date on these (and with Gentle Giant release dates are only tentative anyway), but I imagine it’ll be around $200.

Sideshow recently announced the latest addition to their line of Star Wars dioramas, entitled “There Will Be No Bargain.” It’s selling for $229.99 and is scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2010. It depicts the scene where Luke fights the rancor in Jabba’s palace. A lot of people had high hopes for this piece, but in the end it turned out to be more of a bust than a diorama (the other dioramas in the line feature entire scenes including 2 or 3 characters and a setting that they inhabit). The parts that are there look exceptionally good, but it is disappointing that we won’t be seeing the whole rancor, or any of the pit.

The Sideshow-exclusive version of the piece (selling for $249.99) comes with a separate switch-out hand for the rancor that allows you to show him about to eat a Gamorrean Guard, rather than Luke. Reaction from fans seems to indicate that most people actually prefer this version, and I do as well. Being able to switch between the two is a nice bonus. I have this on order, although I’m frankly not sure that I will keep it. I do think it might look nice displayed with the Gentle Giant rancor statue. The exclusive version sold out pretty quickly, but the regular is still available, and will also be available at a discount from other retailers.