Upcoming: New LEGO Jabba’s Palace and Skiff on the Way for 2012?
This is very interesting news! Karnorjax over on the Rebelscum forums pointed me toward this YouTube video that appears to show images of upcoming, as-yet-unannounced LEGO sets on their way for Summer 2012, including a brand new Jabba’s Palace set! The video is just a series of still images, so I’ve reproduced the two Jabba-related ones here in as high a resolution as I could manage. As you can see, the Jabba’s Palace set appears to consist of a new throne room area and a tower of some kind, along with a number of brand new minifigures. Most exciting are the new Jabba and Salacious Crumb. They’re shown in white on this mockup packaging, but it’s clear that the Jabba is totally different from before, and we’ve never had a Salacious Crumb minifig. Also very welcome are the new Oola, Boushh and “Prisoner” Chewbacca figures. Of course these are just preliminary image, so I expect some things to change by the time these hit store shelves.
The figures shown on the right side of the box are a little hard to make out, and use some mockup images (for some reason Oola here appears to be represented by an Aayla Secura figure, the Chewbacca appears to be all red, and there is one figure that is just a black silhouette but appears to be using a Pirates of the Caribbean Maccus figure as a stand-in). But my guess is that they are (from top to bottom, left to right): Han Solo, Bib Fortuna, Gamorrean Guard, Prisoner Chewbacca, Oola, Boushh, ??? (mystery silhouette), B’omarr Monk, Jabba and Salacious Crumb. There also appears to be a Han in Carbonite.
My first reaction is that this looks more promising than the original LEGO Jabba’s Palace — especially the throne room part. I really like the looks of it. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that they’ll finally make a rancor pit as well!
The skiff is slightly less exciting, if only because we’ve already had two different skiffs (one that was released individually and one that came with the Sail Barge set). Still, it looks to be different from either of these and best of all, it appears to come with a Barada minifigure. The other figures (Jedi Luke, Boba Fett and Skiff Lando) have all been released before, but hopefully these are new versions. It also comes with a sarlacc that is different from the one that came with the Sail Barge, so it’s definitely a must-have for me. I’m looking forward to finally getting some new Jabba LEGOs!
Jabba the Flake (Star Wars Paper Snowflake Craft)
I was impressed by some of the Star Wars-themed paper snowflakes I saw here, but naturally I was a little disappointed to see that there was no Jabba the Hutt design. So after trying to cut out a couple of them to get the feel for it, I made my own Jabba design. And I’ll have to say, cutting out the parts that aren’t on a fold (like the eyes) is super hard. You can use scissors on the folds, but for the other parts you need an Xacto knife, and just cutting through all the layers of paper proved really difficult. The cuts aren’t as clean as I would have liked (and I even cleaned them up a bit after unfolding it). I think maybe using a different kind of paper and maybe a sharper knife would lead to better results, but I can’t imagine trying to cut out some of the more elaborate designs. I had hoped to work in Jabba’s tattoo design into the snowflake, but it ended up being way too intricate to actually pull off.
Here’s the template that I used (although I tweaked it a bit as a I was cutting):
Life-Size Gamorrean Guard Bust by Sideshow Collectibles
Sideshow Collectibles’ line of life-size Star Wars busts is interesting for a few reasons. Although they recently added characters like Darth Vader and Boba Fett, most of the busts have been of rather minor alien characters. While they may not have had a lot of screen time (or even any lines) their designs are iconically Star Wars. With human characters, if the likeness is even slightly off it will ruin the whole piece for many people, and it can be hard to get a human to look realistic with the kind of factory paint jobs that Sideshow uses. So I think the alien characters have actually been pretty good choices. They’re typically limited to around 300 pieces (like this one), although they make more of the major characters.
I used to own a few of these (Bossk, Greedo and Yoda to be specific) and while they were cool, I thought the paint jobs were a little on the simplistic side, and the sculpts for Yoda and Bossk seemed a little off (with Yoda at least I think something happened in production, since the original sculpt looked better). This, combined with the expense and the room they require prompted me to sell them off and stop collecting life-size busts. So I had some mixed feelings when they announced their Gamorrean Guard one a couple of years ago. It looked great and the character was a great match for my collection, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to buy any more life-size busts.
Recently I decided that I really did need to have one of these guys in my collection, so I made it a sort of early Christmas present to myself. And I’ll have to say that I’m glad I did. The sculpt is excellent — probably the best I’ve ever seen. But then again Sideshow’s strength is usually the sculpts, while the production paint jobs are often disappointing compared to the prototypes. But I’m extremely impressed by the paint job on this one. They managed to pull off the subtle variations in color that you’d expect for this character. It really does look realistic in person, like an actual Gamorrean is standing there in my office. The slobber on the nose and mouth is quite nice, and even the metal and leather parts on the helmet look very realistic. I wish all of Sideshow’s pieces were this good.
It’s a big piece, and fairly deep, so it can be difficult to find a good place to display it. But I found a pretty good spot on the shelves in my office, next to the Slave Leia PF and life-size Salacious Crumb that I’m fairly happy with. Until now, my favorite Gamorrean Guard piece was the Attakus Gamorrean Guard statue, but I think this probably edges it out by a bit. I’m hoping that they’ll make more life-size Jabba’s palace pieces.
Ript Apparel just had a Jabba-themed shirt on their site on October 10th, and now here is another (although it’s perhaps more Slave Leia-themed than Jabba-themed, if you want to get technical). I kind of wish it actually had the words “Jabba’s Gentleman’s Club” on it, but still it’s a pretty cool shirt. It’s only available today (the 14th) so get it if you want it.
Rawcliffe Pewter Jabba’s Sail Barge
I’ve posted a lot about Rawclife’s line of pewter Star Wars figures in the past, including their Jabba the Hutt on Throne, Jabba the Hutt alone, and various other figures such as the Max Rebo Band. The sail barge is (I think) the final Jabba-related piece that I was missing. I wouldn’t say that it’s all that rare, but I had a little trouble finding it at a price I felt was reasonable, so I put off picking one up. Come to think of it, I’m probably getting close to having all of the sail barge-related models and toys ever made.
It’s a little under 3″ long, which makes it smaller than the DeAgostini sail barge and the Hasbro Titanium sail barge, but only by a bit (see below). Overall, it’s not bad but it’s probably my least favorite of the Rawcliffe pewter pieces I have. It’s rather small and not really all that detailed.
Vintage Palitoy “Keep A Rancor Keeper Free” Flyer
The vintage Rancor Keeper was not one of the more popular figures in the line. Who knew that little boys wouldn’t want a figure of a half-naked fat guy? Towards the end of the vintage toy line’s lifespan, Kenner was left with large numbers of this guy unsold. Palitoy, the UK distributor for Kenner Star Wars toys, ended up literally giving them away. As you can see on this flyer, you would get one free if you bought six action figures. No, let me correct that. What it says is that you get a “free Rancor Keeper with every six action figures,” which implies that they expected people to be sending away for multiple Rancor Keepers. Wow. Heck, even I think one is probably plenty.
Jabba’s Palace T-Shirt by Dark Bunny Tees
Dark Bunny Tees is a UK-based site that sells pop culture-inspired T-shirts. I first saw this shirt last year and considered buying it until I saw that it would’ve cost £24.95 including shipping to the US. That’s nearly $40, or about four times what a shirt from many of the “shirt of the day” sites in the US charge. So I passed on it. But I won a used one on eBay UK a little while ago for just £2.20 (around $3.40). It wasn’t my size, but I wasn’t really planning on wearing it anyway.
The shirt has a fair amount of text on it, including the motto, “Everyone here hopes… To kill everyone else.” And that really does seem to be the case when you read some of the background stories that they’ve created for the characters in the palace. Practically everyone seemed to be plotting Jabba’s death in particular.
I’m not sure where the Leia image comes from, but the Rancor and Salacious Crumb images appear to be traced directly from commonly available photos you might find on a Google image search, which is a bit of pet peeve of mine. Still, it’s kind of a cool shirt.
First-Shot Prototype Head for Vintage Jabba the Hutt Figure
Among hardcore Star Wars collectors, things related to the pre-proproduction phase of the original vintage figures are often the most sought-after. These can be proofs for the figures’ cards or packaging, the original wax sculpts for the figures, or things from a bit later in the process, like the first few parts that came out of the molds. This piece falls into the last category.
This head came from Kenner and would have been one of the first plastic versions of the vintage Jabba’s head created. It would have been used to check that the mold was working correctly. Here you can see the head next to a head taken from a production figure:
Obviously, the prototype doesn’t have the plastic eyes, which would have been inserted into the holes, and the difference in color is also pretty obvious. Of course, the prototype is unpainted, while the production figure has some paint on its front (the amount of paint varies quite a bit from figure to figure, I’ve found). But the color difference can be seen even on the undersides of the pieces, where there is no paint (see below). The prototype seems a bit lighter and greener, while the production part has more brown in it.
Since these “first shots” were just used for testing purposes, they are often done using plastics of different colors than that of the final production figure — basically whatever they had at hand. Sometimes the difference is very obvious — bright pink or green, for example. Maybe in this case they were trying to match the production color and got it slightly wrong, or I suppose it’s possible that they decided to adjust the color later on in production. I kind of prefer the prototype’s coloring.
You can see one other difference on the sides of each part. The production figure on the right has a hole into which a peg was inserted, and this is what Jabba’s arm would then attach to. There is no hole on the prototype — just a little indentation. It’s possible that this was used as a guide for drilling out the hole later on in production, but that’s just a guess on my part.
I’m happy to get a preproduction item related to the vintage Jabba figure. There’s a limited number of vintage prototypes around, and once somebody adds one to their collection it tends to stay there for a long time. I’d like to get some things like this for the newer Jabba figures as well.
I should probably mention something about provenance here. With prototypes in general it’s important to have some sort of proof showing where the piece originally came from (for a vintage item, this is generally something connecting to a known source from within Kenner). There was recently a problem where someone in the hobby was discovered to have been manufacturing pretty convincing fake prototypes, and with newer figures it’s not unheard of for factory workers in China to spend a few extra hours after work pumping out a bunch of “prototypes” in wacky colors for the express purpose of selling on ebay. You really need to buy from a trusted source. In this case, I have a note from a prominent collector stating that he originally got this part from someone at Kenner.
News: Lucasfilm Holiday Card Features “Jabba the Snowman”
Lucasfilm puts out a different Star Wars-themed holiday card each year, and this year it features Jabba the Hutt as a snowman. (Reminds me a bit of the Snow Jabba I made last year…) I hope I’ll be able to find one of these somehow. It would make a good joint display with the LucasArts “Jabba Claus” card I have.
(Via Starwars.com)
Gamorrean Guard Statue by Legends in Three Dimensions
Legends in 3D was a company that produced a number of statues based on Star Wars and other properties in the late 90s. This Gamorrean Guard statue is about 12″ tall including the base, so it’s smaller than the Hasbro or Sideshow Gamorrean figures, but still in the same general neighborhood. The paint job leaves something to be desired, however. I’m not sure if this comes through in the photos, but it just seems kind of simplistic and lacking in nuance and generally seems more like what you might see on an action figure than on a high-end statue. It’s not even in the same universe as the Attakus Gamorrean Guard statue. And the sculpt also seems off to me. His face is more dog-like than piggish, and his body seems too muscular and not fat enough around the stomach.
I do sort of like the base, which includes a grating similar to that above the rancor pit, and a rat inside a skull. I got a pretty good deal on this statue, which is why I finally broke down and bought it, but there is little reason for anyone who isn’t an obsessive Jabba (or Gamorrean Guard) fan to buy this statue at this point. If you want a nice Gamorrean statue, get the Attakus version. And if you want something a bit smaller and affordable, get the Sideshow figure.
Mighty Jabba's Collection 