When you’ve been collecting Jabba the Hutt items as long as I have, finding something new can be difficult, but it’s always a bit of a thrill when it does happen. This shirt by Union Underwear showed up on eBay a while ago and while it was frankly overpriced, I bought it because I had never seen one before. This shirt and its artwork is completely new to me. I also asked around a bit among collectors and couldn’t seem to find anyone who was familiar with it (although it’s probably fair to say that most people don’t pay as much attention to this sort of thing as I do). Have any of you seen this shirt before, or any other products using this artwork? I’d be interested to hear it. It doesn’t even appear to be on the Star Wars Collector’s Archive.
Anyway, I was glad to be able to get it for my collection. Years ago I passed on a couple of items I thought were too pricey (although they weren’t actually all that much in hindsight) and I’ve regretted it ever since, as I’ve been unable to find them anywhere. So I guess I don’t mind paying a little extra when something like this comes along.
I also have a Gamorrean Guard t-shirt and an iron-on from Union Underwear in my collection, but neither of those is particularly rare.
Airblown Inflatable Jabba the Hutt Figure by Gemmy (Canadian Exclusive, with YouTube Review!)
When I first heard about the Morbid Enterprises inflatable Jabba, I hadn’t seen a picture of it. So when a picture of this Jabba showed up online, I naturally assumed that it was the Morbid Enterprises product. But no, in fact this is a completely separate product made by Gemmy Industries (who also put out the plush Halloween greeter I posted about a while back). Who would’ve thought that we’d have two completely separate inflatable Jabba products released in one year!
After some research, I discovered that it was only sold in Canada, which made it rather difficult to get. I did have someone in Canada who looked for me, but they were unable to track one down, so I had to resort to eBay. At least waiting until after Halloween allowed me to get it a bit cheaper. Interestingly, the listing that Canadian Tire had on its website used this photo, which I’m betting is a prototype version of the product. It uses the same “trick-or-treat” bag design as the plush greeter. The face is also somewhat different.
As you can see below, it’s a rather different product from the Morbid Enterprises version. It’s a bit smaller, more cartoony, has a different color scheme, and is also Halloween-specific due to the inclusion of a jack o’lantern.
I actually prefer this one overall, though. Maybe it’s the color scheme, or maybe the face, which seems to be a better representation of the character.
They did include his arm tattoo, which now seems to be on the list of required features for Jabba. Overall, I kind of wish the jack o’lantern wasn’t included, or was removable, so this could be used at times other than Halloween.
I made a YouTube review comparing these two figures, so take a look if you’re interested.
Small Talking Jabba the Hutt Plush by Underground Toys
I showed this plush in my video about Jabba the Hutt plushes that I made a while ago, but I realized that I never posted about it on the site. This is a smaller version of the large Jabba plush from Underground Toys that I posted about last year. I originally got one of those from the UK, since it seemed like they were only available there. But just a couple of days ago I found one at my local Walmart, so they are finally starting to become available in the US. The version I got at Walmart is basically identical to the one from the UK (shown above) with the exception that it has a tag attached instead of using a cardboard tray.
As you can see, it’s quite a bit smaller than the original plush — the body in particular has been drastically reduced — but otherwise it’s very similar. The plush material is the same and the talking feature uses the same voice with lines from the Special Edition of A New Hope, interestingly enough.
Upcoming: Rancor, Oola and Jedi Luke 3-Pack of Funko POP! Figures?
Pictures of these prototype Funko POP! figures have recently surfaced, and they appear to be heading for another Walmart 3-pack, similar to the excellent Jabba’s Palace set I recently reviewed. At this point we have no idea when it will be released. I’ll definitely be picking this up to go with the Jabba set. Below are some better pictures of the rancor and Oola. The photos are marked “Toy Monster” but I’m not sure if that’s a site, a person, or what.
I know I’ve been posting mostly videos recently, but that’s partially because I’m catching up on everything from the past that I can make videos about. This time, I looked at the Black Series Jabba the Hutt figure, in both its regular and SDCC-exclusive versions.
Now on YouTube: “The End of Slave Leia Merchandise?”
The site “Making Star Wars” has posted an article suggesting that no new merchandise or even artwork of the so-called Slave Leia character will be produced in the future. I’ve made a short YouTube video detailing my thoughts on the subject.
“Jabba the Hutt Plushes!” Video Now on YouTube
I’ve posted about all of these items at various times on the site, but here is a video outlining all of the Jabba plushes (aka stuffed animals) that have been made.
Link: Why Jabba the Hutt was Actually a Good Guy
In this video, Gabe Pacheco makes a (very tongue-in-cheek) argument that we should rethink Jabba’s role as a villain. I have been #teamjabba since the start of course.
Original Artwork from Dark Horse Jabba the Hutt Comics
I posted about the Dark Horse Jabba the Hutt one-off comics way back in 2009. They told stories about Jabba’s past as a crime lord, before the events of the Star Wars movies. They’re one of the few stories that have Jabba as the star, and while I’m not sure whether they would be considered canon now, I think they do a pretty good job of showing how cunning and ruthless Jabba might have been. I was very happy to be able to get some of the original artwork for these comics.
I got these from Monty Sheldon, who was the inker for the comics (and who is still selling some of the other pages on eBay if you’re interested). He didn’t have all of the pages, since some were apparently given to the penciller Art Wetherell, but even so it was difficult to choose. In the end I chose two pages from “The Gaar Suppoon Hit” because that’s probably my favorite of the comics, and these two pages are sequential. They tell a little story that you can probably understand even without reading the rest of the comic.
The third page below is from “Betrayal” and I got it because it showed Jabba and Bib Fortuna in his palace, with Jabba on his throne.
Below is a comparison of one of the pages of original artwork and how it appeared in the comics after being colored by computer. (I also have a colorist page for one of these comics that I’ve posted about before.)
These are on illustration boards that are roughly 19″ by 12″, which is why I had to take photos of them instead of scanning — they’re just too big for the scanner. One thing that I found very cool were the little imperfections, like where whiteout was used to correct something, or where the pencil lines had been left behind. On the two pages from “The Gaar Suppoon Hit” the speech bubbles have been pasted on separately on top of the art. Of course none of this shows up in the finished comic.
Since the comics came out in 1995 and early 1996, they weren’t influenced by George Lucas’s “improved” CGI version of Jabba that started with the “Special Edition” of “A New Hope” and that’s fantastic for me, since the Return of the Jedi design is what I vastly prefer. I think these are great just as pieces of art, but the connection to the comics makes them even more special. I plan to frame these and display them, hopefully with the two sequential pages side by side.
“Jabba’s Palace Roll Call #2 – Yak Face” Now on YouTube
Just added to my YouTube channel is the latest installment in my series about the slightly more obscure denizens of Jabba’s Palace, which I call “Jabba’s Palace Roll Call.” This time I focus on Yak Face and the merchandise that has been made for him.
Mighty Jabba's Collection 