Ever wanted a set of plush Lekku? Then this is your lucky day! Etsy seller Creative Art Shop has a number of different designs available, including ones inspired by Bib Fortuna and Oola. They’re not cheap at $115 to $170 (converted from Euros) but they’re certainly unique.
Disney Racers Lando Calrissian (Die-Cast Car)
Disney Racers are a line of die-cast cars similar to Hot Wheels cars, but with designs inspired by Disney Characters. They also have a sub-line of Star Wars-inspired ones, though, like this one based on Lando Calrissian from Jabba’s Palace. I also have the R2-D2 and C-3PO versions, and they’re pretty cute. Bizarre, yes, but cute. They’re only officially available at Disney theme parks, but you can get them on eBay fairly easily.
I think they’re still working on adding new characters to the line, so I really hope they’ll add a Jabba. Because if there’s one thing my collection is missing, it’s Jabba the Hutt as a car.
Jabba the Hutt Stick Puppet by My Son
It was my birthday yesterday (sadly, no Jabba cake this year) and my 6-year-old son made this Jabba stick puppet for me as a surprise. How cute is this little guy?
Fighter Pods Jabba the Hutt by Hasbro
Fighter Pods are only just now starting to appear in stores. They’re Hasbro’s answer to Squinkies, which are teeny tiny little figures made for a variety of licenses, including Disney, Hello Kitty, and Marvel Comics to name a few. Apparently they’re pretty popular. Hasbro ‘s first wave of Star Wars Fighter Pods includes a variety of Star Wars characters from both the original trilogy and the prequels, and they come with little spherical cases that you can insert the figures into and then spin them like tops. I guess the idea is that you can do battle somehow, but I’m not really sure I get that aspect of it. They also make some cases that are shaped like vehicles (in this case, I got Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator).
They come in a number of different packs that feature different numbers of figures and ships, and some of the figures are exclusive to one store or another. But in general these are randomly packed. On the bright side, you can see all but one or two of the figures in the packs, so you can at least try and avoid buying too many duplicates. (They also sell them in two-packs that are blind packed, but since they cost about half the price of the set above, buying those doesn’t make any sense to me).
I quite like this little Jabba figure. It’s a pretty cute sculpt, especially in person. His tiny size (about 3/4 of an inch) makes him seem cuter. There aren’t any Jabba’s Palace aliens or anything in this wave, although there are a few figures that could possibly go with Jabba — like Han in Carbonite or Boba Fett. I’m probably just going to get Jabba and leave it at that, but I’ll keep an eye out for future waves.
Vintage Sarlacc Pit Rub Down Action Transfers by Thomas Salter
Thomas Salter sold their own versions of the Prestomagix transfer sets in the UK, although the multiple languages on the package imply that they were also sold in other European countries. I find the naming to be rather amusing — I wouldn’t expect a child’s toy to feature something called “rub down action.” 😉
While the basic concept is the same, some of the Thomas Salter sets came in sizes that were much larger than the Perstomagix versions. This one is about 10″ tall and folds out to be about 24″ wide, while the Prestomagix version is 5″ x 24″. Since the UK version is twice as tall as the US version, you can see a lot more of the background art — it’s a pretty huge difference, actually. The two sets also come with different transfers. The colors used for the various characters are different, and you get different items with the Thomas Salter one — like some ships. My son and I have already completed the US version below, but you get the idea. Now that I know how different some of these are, I’m more interested in finding the Thomas Salter versions of the Jabba’s Palace sets.
A few days ago, I wrote about a poster featuring a painting of Jabba and his retinue that Sales Corporation of America released in 1983. They also released this poster, which is the same 11 x 14 size. The main image is one of the most commonly used images on Jabba and Leia on the throne, but I think it’s pretty funny how they’ve included an insert showing Jabba getting ready to give Leia a big smooch. 🙂
Vintage Italian Ad Featuring Jabba’s Palace Store Display
I picked up this vintage Italian ad from an ebay seller recently after being tipped off by a friend of the site. I think it was originally in a comic book or something similar (it’s about 5 x 7 in size, and on the back is an ad for Barbie dolls). The image on the auction was small, so I couldn’t make out much of the text (plus it was in Italian, which I don’t speak at all), but I could tell that the picture was of a cardboard store display that I saw listed on the Star Wars Collector’s Archive. Take a minute to look at that page.
This display is very interesting, since not much is known about it. It was apparently used in stores in Italy around 1983 or 1984. It’s pretty similar in concept to the Power of the Force 3D Jabba’s Palace diorama, although considerably bigger. When I got the ad in hand, it was obvious that the display was actually a bit different than the one on theswca — there was text about a Rancor Keeper figure giveaway across the top (similar to the one on this Palitoy flyer), as well as a mention of some sort of contest where you can win 61 figures. I’ve been told that the display on theswca may be the only one known to exist in a collection, so finding a photo of this different version is pretty interesting.
I’d love to have one of these displays, but it might be a little tricky to find. If you know where I can get one, please let me know! 🙂
According to Google Translate (with a little editing by me), the text of the ad reads something like this. If you can improve on the translation, by all means leave a comment.
(Text at the top)
A GIFT FOR YOU
ANSWER YOU KNOW (?)(Text on the display itself)
If you buy 5 figures, get a RANCOR KEEPER as a gift.
And also you can win the 61 stars of Star Wars.
Details through TOPOLINO (Magazine) or at this store.(Text at the bottom)
THE HEROES OF STAR WARS
To relive the emotions of the most famous space movies, use the great characters of Star Wars distributed by General Mills. The packages to play Star Wars can be found for sale in the best toy stores, department stores, and toy departments. You can, however, also win while attending if you know answer!
EDIT: Someone on the Rebelscum forums posted this picture of the display from the SWCA, taken at the auction where it was sold. I’m not sure exactly what it went for, but the bidding started at $5,000. Ouch!
If you’ll compare the two versions, you can see that there are several differences aside from the text about the Rancor Keeper offer at the top. In the ad, there’s no rancor pit in front of Jabba’s throne and the floor is completely different. And while the walls are similar, the pattern doesn’t match up between the two versions. That’s pretty interesting. I would’ve expected them to match up more closely. Maybe the one in the ad was a prototype.
Gangster’s Palace Print by Brian Gubicza
I got this “Gangster’s Palace” print direct from the artist — Brian Gubicza (pronounced Goobeetsa, which is actually his domain name). It has a great simplified/stylized design. I particularly like Jabba. It’s an 8 x 10.
Slave Leia Power Plate (Mini-License Plate) by Topps
I posted about the Jabba the Hutt Power Plate a while back, but the Slave Leia version is one of the “chase” plates that are much more rare. Since these are blind-packaged, you can’t see what you’re getting until you buy it and open it, which makes finding a particular place pretty tough — especially when it’s a chase version. So I just waited until I got a reasonably good deal on ebay. On this plate you can see Slave Leia in front of Jabba’s sail barge and some skiffs. It reads “SLVGRL” (“Slave Girl”). These little plates are kind of cool, but I’m done with them now that I have the two Jabba-related ones.
Jabba the Hutt Piñata
Piñatas are a staple of many kids’ birthday parties here in the US. My son had an Optimus Prime-shaped piñata two or three years ago, and we just recently went to a Star Wars-themed party with a Darth Vader piñata. Traditionally, they would be filled with candy and suspended from the ceiling or a tree branch and each partygoer would take turns smacking it with a stick while blindfolded until it breaks apart and the candy falls out. That can take quite a while and can be a bit dangerous, especially with small kids, so now many piñatas just have strings on the bottom that you can pull, one of which will cause a trap door in the bottom to open. Not quite as much fun, but as a parent I can appreciate the advantages.
I got this from Etsy seller PaperMacheSculptures. They have a lot of different piñata designs available, although some are better than others, in my opinion. I like the Jabba sculpt, especially considering that it’s made of papier-mâché. It’s hollow, but it’s rock hard and not flimsy at all. And at 22″ wide by 15″ tall, it’s one of the larger Jabba’s in my collection — similar in size to the Illusive Concepts statue.
Before Repaint
As you can see, the paint was a bit on the rough side when I got it. It’s fine for a piñata that’s just going to get destroyed after a party, but since I wanted to display this in my collection, I decided to repaint it. The seller usually drills holes somewhere in the top of the piñata so it can be hung and also opens up a little trap door in the back so you can fill it with candy, but since I wasn’t going to be using this as an actual piñata I decided to just keep it intact.
Mighty Jabba's Collection 