OfficialPix Celebration V Jabba the Hutt Pin #2
I posted about the first Jabba pin put out by OfficialPix back in August. As I said then, OfficialPix made a series of metal pins (41 different designs in all) that were given away when people purchased photos from their booth. (And from what I hear they also gave away some to volunteers after the event.) They only made 150 or so of each design, which makes these on the rare side. When I got the first one, I had no idea that there were actually two Jabba pins, each with a different image of Jabba on it. By the time I found out a few months later, it seemed like people weren’t really thinking about these anymore, and for a long time I didn’t have any luck looking for the second version. Luckily I was finally contacted by someone on the Rebelscum forums who kindly sold me this one. It’s about an inch in diameter and the image is made of embossed metal. I like it a lot.
Jabba’s Palace Bookends by Gentle Giant
These are technically bookends, and at nearly 20 pounds in total weight they are certainly heavy enough to be used as such. But thankfully Gentle Giant had the foresight to make them in scale with their Jabba the Hutt statue. I think most people buying these are probably using them as an accessory to their Jabba statue than as a standalone sculpture or (least of all) as actual bookends. $250 (retail) for bookends is really pushing it, but as an “accessory pack” for the Jabba the Hutt statue, it’s not quite as bad.
As you might expect, they come in two pieces. The first has a mounted taun-taun head (and yes, there really was one of these on the wall of Jabba’s Palace). The other has Han Solo in Carbonite, which is a nice addition to the Gentle Giant Jabba display.
The included characters (Boba Fett, Gamorrean Guard, and Leia as Boushh) are all separate pieces that attach to the base with magnets, meaning that you have a fair amount of freedom in where you want them to be placed. However, Boushh is reaching out with a pointing finger, presumably to defrost Han, so you’re a little more limited in where you can put her. The Gamorrean has big enough feet that you could probably display him off of the base, but Boba Fett and Leia seem like they’d tip over (and break) without the magnets securing them in place. You also get a small table with food and drink on it, and a couple of pillows. These also attach with magnets.
The Gentle Giant Premier Guild-exclusive version includes an additional jawa and an unmasked portrait of Leia, but when you take into account the $60 for the yearly membership and the fact that you have to pay full retail when buying from Gentle Giant, those two little additions could end up costing a fortune. I actually got this for almost half retail during a sale, so I’m more than happy to live without the extra pieces.
Partially due to a lack of shelf space, I decided to try putting the bookends behind Jabba’s throne as you can see above, and I think they look pretty good that way (I left out Leia as Boushh since there wasn’t enough room and I already had Slave Leia on the throne). I did have to put a book underneath the throne since the rear part is resting partially on the bookends. (You may be able to see it a bit because of the flash, but it’s not visible in person.)
When you include these bookends with the Jabba the Hutt statue, Slave Leia Accessory Pack, Max Rebo Band, and Rancor with Keeper statues, you get one of the most comprehensive Jabba’s Palace setups out there. I wonder if Gentle Giant has anything else up their sleeves. They could certainly try branching out into some of the other palace aliens like Amanaman. I look forward to seeing what else they will come up with.
In 1983 Oral-B created a set of Return of the Jedi-themed materials for dentists to use. These included the postcards above, which would have been sent to kids to remind them of an upcoming dental checkup. There were six designs, although of course I’m most interested in the one with Jabba and Bib Fortuna. Click either image below for a larger view of that card.
All of the postcards have the same text on the back, except for the line that describes the photo on the front. As you can see, kids were told that there would be a “special RETURN OF THE JEDI surprise” waiting for them at the dentist’s office, including a Star Wars toothbrush, an official membership in the “Star Wars Plaque Fighter Club” and an “Oral-B Star Wars Dental Health Adventure Booklet.” Why can’t my dentist offer stuff like that? I don’t have any of the toothbrushes yet, but none of them had any Jabba’s palace characters on them anyway.
I’m proud to say that I’m now of a member in good standing of the Star Wars Plaque Fighter Club, although I don’t think they were too strict about who they let in. 😀
The “Dental Health Adventure Book” is a short leaflet with some activities and coloring pages. In it, the heroes of Star Wars fight against “tooth demons” who cause tooth decay and other maladies. I’ve created a PDF of it that you can view by clicking the image below.
Vintage Hi-C Return of the Jedi Mail-Away Poster
This poster is another item that the Coca Cola company created as a tie-in for its Hi-C fruit drink during the release of the Return of the Jedi. Like the t-shirt and the sticker set, you had to save up proofs of purchase to get it (according to the poster itself, it took four cans of Hi-C to earn a poster). I believe the artwork on the poster was created especially for it, which is nice.
The back of the poster has a variety of photos from the movie, including many of Jabba and his cronies. It’s 18 x 22 in size.
Jabba and Rotta Watercolor Sketch Card by Katie Cook
This card by Katie Cook is a bit different from a normal sketch card, in that it’s slightly larger (closer to 3″x4″ rather than the standard 2.5″x3.5″) and has rounded edges. It’s also quite minimalistic, with very simplified characters that only take up about a square inch of the card. Katie does this style of card at conventions for $5 apiece. (Thanks go to my friend Aaron who got this for me at C2E2 in Chicago last weekend.) Someday I hope to commission a larger piece from Katie, but until then this will have to do. I think it’s adorable. 😀
Vintage German Return of the Jedi Stickers by Rolf Schultz
These stickers from Return of the Jedi (or “Die Rückkehr Der Jedi-Ritter” if you prefer) feature a number of characters from Jabba’s Palace, including Jabba himself, Jedi Luke, Slave Leia, Max Rebo, and a Gamorrean Guard. One thing I find kind of funny is how the trademark and copyright information is so prominent that it actually becomes part of the design.
Rolf Schultz also put out a number of round Return of the Jedi buttons (or “pin badges”) at the same time. I don’t have any of these yet, but it seems that they were just recycling the images to make these stickers as well, even down to their round shape.
I’ll have to admit that it took me a little while to even remember what looseleaf reinforcements were. For those of you born in the digital age, these are little stickers with pre-punched holes in them. You would put them on sheets of looseleaf notebook paper so the holes in the stickers matched up with the holes in the paper, making it harder for you to accidentally rip the holes out. I vaguely remember using some plain white circular reinforcements when I was a kid, but never anything like this. They seem a bit too big and irregularly shaped to really be practical, but maybe I shouldn’t analyze them too hard. They’re printed on very shiny silver foil, which makes it a bit difficult to take a picture of them, but they are kind of attractive.
They managed to misspell a couple of the names: “Jabba the Hut” and “Millenium Falcon.” “Darth’s Tie Fighter” and “Galactic Emperor” also sound a little odd to me. And I don’t think Luke ever wore a bright red outfit like that… In any case, these were made by Butterfly Originals, who also made the excellent erasers in the shapes of Jabba’s Palace characters.
I talked about the AMT/ERTL model kit of Jabba’s throne room quite some time ago, but at the time I didn’t realize that it was actually a later re-issue of this kit by MPC that came out in 1983. Aside from the box and instructions, about the only difference between the two kits is that the MPC version is cast in brown plastic, while the AMT/ERTL version is in gray, so click on the link above for more information. I’ll have to say, I’m a little bit more forgiving of this kit’s shortcomings now that I know how old it actually is.
Click the image below to view a PDF file of the instructions. I like the drawings.
British Jabba the Hutt Mouse Mat by Mousepads, Co.
This mousepad was only sold in Britain as part of a series of Star Wars mousepads released in 1997. It has a lenticular design that’s used to create a slight 3D effect. The plastic part with the design is backed with black foam that’s about 1cm thick. So far, this is the only mousepad featuring Jabba that I’ve found, aside from one from the same series that features Han Solo and Jabba from A New Hope (don’t have that one yet).
In recent years it’s become possible to make things like mousepads on-demand, allowing people to use any image they like. While some companies may not let you use copyrighted images, others don’t seem to care, and there are even places like Zazzle.com that have a selection of licensed Star Wars photos that you can choose from to make any number of different products. While they can be a lot of fun to make and own, I don’t consider this kind of product to be part of the scope of my collection.
One reason for this is a practical one. When you consider all of the photos that you can apply to various products, Zazzle alone has a nearly infinite number of combinations you can make. It’s simply impossible to collect them all. But beyond that, part of what I like about collecting various products is the backstory that went into creating them. What audience were they targeting? Why did they choose the design they used? How were the products used, and by whom? Were they successful? These kinds of questions are a big part of what makes something like Jabba the Hutt tube socks or wristwatches interesting to me, and custom-made items have none of that. While I’m sure I could find a company that could print up something similar for me, it wouldn’t be the same.
Jabba’s Palace Sticker by Touche Tees
Touche Tees is an eBay seller from the UK who sells a variety of goods featuring original cartoon versions of pop culture characters, including a number of Star Wars characters. They don’t normally sell a sticker of this particular design (it’s usually sold as an iron-on transfer for T-shirts), but they made one when I asked. It’s called a “vinyl sticker” so I expected something a bit thicker and glossier, but it looks pretty much the same as any paper sticker, aside from the large size — it’s about 8″ wide by 3.5″ tall.
Mighty Jabba's Collection 