Vintage Klaatu (Skiff Guard Outfit) by Kenner
As I mentioned in my entry on the “regular” Klaatu figure, the name “Klaatu” refers to this whole race of aliens, so this is probably not the same character in two different outfits. Still, it’s hard not to get that impression. This was the Klaatu who served onboard Jabba’s skiff, as opposed to the other one who would have been in the palace. I’ll have to say, I don’t like this outfit as well as the regular version. The white jumpsuit with the very prominent joints just doesn’t quite do it for me.
Vintage Klaatu by Kenner
When I was a kid, I’m sure we thought that “Klaatu” was a personal name (if we were aware of the figure’s name at all), but it’s actually the name of this race of aliens. Still, I tend to think of him as a single character. And considering that he’s a pretty minor presence in the movie, he’s had a surprising number of collectibles made for him (like this mug or the vintage Halloween costume that I have yet to acquire). He’s also one of the only minor characters to get two figures in the vintage line (this one and the “skiff guard” version).
As a figure, he’s not bad. I kind of like his soft goods skirt.
Jabba-Related Mighty Beanz
From left to right: Max Rebo, The Rancor, Slave Leia, Salacious Crumb, Jabba, Bib Fortuna, Gamorrean Guard, Han Solo in Carbonite
The Jabba the Hutt bean was actually one of the first to appear in stores, and it’s even one of the “visible” beanz (that you can see even without opening the package). But there are a number of other beanz from Jabba’s palace. Some of these have been available from the start (Max Rebo, the Rancor, and Slave Leia), while the others are only just now starting to show up in stores. I now have all of the Jabba-related beanz except for the Rancor Keeper, which I haven’t been able to track down yet. I had to resort to getting most of these on eBay, since the Star Wars ones are pretty hard to find in stores, and the new characters haven’t shown up anywhere that I’ve seen.
Vintage Slave Leia Pop-Up Comb & Mirror by Adam Joseph
I already did an entry on the Adam Joseph Rebo Band comb, which is a similar idea to this. But there are a couple of interesting things about this product.
The first is that it features Leia in her “slave” outfit. While there have been dozens of products in that were based on this look in the intervening years, very few vintage products (ones that came out around the time of Return of the Jedi) did. In fact, there were many products that went out of their way to use the wrong outfit, such as the Presto Magix sets (see here and here), which used her Endor or Ewok Celebration outfits even though they were set in or around Jabba’s palace. Or the Battle at Sarlacc’s Pit board game, which did the same thing. I can’t help but think that this is one reason we never got a Slave Leia figure in the vintage figure line. The vintage Burger King glasses did have her in her slave outfit (although mostly covered by Jabba in the foreground), so it’s not as if it’s totally unheard of, but a lot of licensees did seem to be pretty wary of using it for whatever reason.
One other reason I find this interesting was the inclusion of the mirror. The case is spring loaded so when you remove the comb, the mirror will pop up. Maybe I’m being sexist, but it seems to me that this was more a product aimed at girls, which is kind of unusual for vintage Star Wars.
Upcoming: Gartogg the Gamorrean and Jabba’s Palace Environment Archway from Sideshow Collectibles
Today Sideshow announced another addition to their 1/6 scale Jabba’s palace lineup. They announced their first 1/6 scale Gamorrean figure a few months ago, and now they’re adding a second, even though the first one has yet to be released. The new one doesn’t look all that different from the first. About the only difference I can spot is the facial expression. I think I may like this sculpt a bit better than the last one, but neither one blows me away. The archway has more potential, but if you don’t get anything more than what you see in the teaser picture, it’s not very impressive. I don’t even think it looks much like something from Jabba’s palace. On the other hand, if it is a genuine archway that extends far to the right of the figure in the picture above, I’d definitely be interested.
Micro Machines Podrace Arena Playset by Galoob
I believe this is the only Jabba-related Micro Machines item that I didn’t have, and the Jabba figure it includes may be the only commercially available Jabba figure that wasn’t in my collection. Obviously it’s based on the podrace scene from Star Wars: Episode 1, where Jabba makes a brief appearance. Other Jabba-related items based on this scene include the Spitting Jabba the Hutt & 2-Headed Announcer figure (for which I have some design documents and concept drawings) and the “Jabba Presents Podracing” T-shirt.
As far as I know, the Jabba in this set is the smallest Jabba figure ever commercially produced. At about 2cm long, it’s just a bit smaller than the one included with the Micro Machines Jabba mini-head. However, it’s much plainer than most Micro Machines figures. They generally have some reasonably good paint work on them despite their small size, but this one is just cast in green plastic. He fits onto a little throne with a gong (used to start the race), which pops out of an alcove at the push of a button.
Compared to many of the other Micro Machines sets, this one is a bit on the boring side. There are a number of things that move in various ways, such as audience members that pop up when you push a button, etc. But it’s a podrace playset that only comes with a single podracer, so you can’t even have a race! There’s only so many times you can pretend to have Jabba start the race before it gets a little old. My son had to make extra podracers out of LEGOs.
“Jabba the Hoot” by icruise
My sister really likes owls and has a small collection of cute owl plushes and figurines. We were talking the other day about how we should combine our interests somehow, and then it hit me that the perfect solution would be Jabba as an owl, or “Jabba the Hoot.” I’m not an artist and I’ve never used watercolors, so this was more of an experiment than anything, but I thought it came out okay. 🙂
Vintage Collection Gamorrean Guard Figure by Hasbro
Hasbro’s Vintage Collection has been pretty kind to Jabba fans so far. Not only did we get a brand new Jabba and throne (including a new Oola figure), we’re also getting a number of other characters from Jabba’s palace. One of the most widely requested was a new Gamorrean Guard, and for good reason — the previous versions just don’t fit in with the higher standard set by Hasbro’s more recent releases. This is the third completely new Gamorrean Guard figure that has been made (the first two being the vintage figure and the Power of the Force/Original Trilogy Collection figures (which are the same figure with different paint jobs).
I’d really have to try hard to find anything wrong with this figure. It’s got impressive articulation, it’s well sculpted and painted, and even the soft goods “fur” loincloth looks pretty good. It also comes with three different weapons, which is nice since it allows you to buy multiples of the figure and equip them differently. It’s a shame that Sideshow’s upcoming 1/6 scale Gamorrean doesn’t look this nice (and won’t be as well articulated from the way things look). Hasbro really hit this one out of the park, in my opinion.
News: “Koopa the Hutt” T-Shirt on TeeFury Today Only
TeeFury is a site that sells quirky t-shirts for 24-hours, after which they are no longer available. There are quite a few Star Wars-themed ones, and today (November 29th) they have a Mario/Jabba mashup entitled “Koopa the Hutt.” I like the concept in general (like the “Luigi in Carbonite”) but I think the artwork leaves something to be desired. It’s kind of basic, and the Slave Leia/Peach is a total copy of the Kotobukiya Slave Leia vinyl statue:
Simon Williamson (Max Rebo) Autograph
This an autograph of Simon Williamson, who was in the Max Rebo costume and also played a Gamorrean Guard. There’s a good interview with Williamson about his experiences here.
Mighty Jabba's Collection 