Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Review II: Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 1/6 Boba Fett 12-inch Figure

continued from earlier post...

Through a military-style dedication to his art, native predatory instincts and an innovative battery of hidden surprises, Boba Fett has carved a reputation as the man who gets the job done. By the time he is recruited by Lord Vader to hunt down the Millennium Falcon during the Galactic Civil War, Fett has already become a feared and respected warrior, standing as an equal among the elite of his profession and the preferred contractor of Outer Rim crime lord, Jabba the Hutt. His successful tailing and capture of Han Solo allows him to collect double on the deal with both the Sith Lord and the Hutt, and also closes the books on a job that has occupied him for far too long.


This is Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars Scum and Villainy 1/6th scale Boba Fett 12-inch Bounty Hunter Figure fully assembled with rocket jet pack and standing on the Deluxe Illuminated Display Base. Having already reviewed the box contents in detail in the earlier post, this second toy blog post on Sideshow's "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" Boba Fett sixth scale figure is meant to show the action figure in its full glory, posed with rocket jet pack, weapons and base.

IMHO this is the BEST Boba Fett figure out there right now. Scroll down to see why I say this is so. More pictures await you :)




Let's be clear. This is the Boba Fett Bounty Hunter from "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back". That means that we'll most likely see another Boba Fett 12-inch figure being released, which will be the "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi" Boba Fett. There are some differences in the outfit and weapon between the two episodes and I'll be going over them in this toy blog post as we go along.


The only gripe I have with this Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars Scum and Villainy Series 1/6th scale Boba Fett 12-inch Bounty Hunter Figure is the weak ankles on this Articulated Prometheus 1.1 body. The figure cannot stand very well on its own and tends to fall over rather easily. This issue has plagued all the previous Sideshow Collectibles clone troopers and stormtroopers as well and it can get very frustrating when the figure falls over just when you think you have got it in the right pose for a good shot.


Although the Deluxe Illuminated Display Base comes with the additional support for the legs (see my earlier post if you don't know what I mean), I never liked to display my figures with it as far as I can help it as it makes the figure look unnatural with the additional pole sticking up between their legs. This way, the figure looks more natural and realistic.


Boba Fett's cape has a flexible and bendable wire inserted into the edges for additional poseability. There were three types of capes in the films, all of different colors. "The Empire Strikes Back" had two capes with a large brown stripe, yet one of the capes was an olive green, while the other was a greenish blue. In "Return of the Jedi", Boba Fett had a Dark green only cape.


When Boba Fett made his first appearance (in the movies), he had a GREEN jetpack, which is the one seen here. It wasn't very colorful or very scratched up and it matched the GREEN gauntlets in "The Empire Strikes Back". But when "Return of the Jedi" came along, they decided to use the colorful jetpack which was the original design, but this time they faded the colors and made it really scratched, making it the jetpack we all see when we think of Boba Fett. It also matched the dull RED gauntlets seen in "Return of the Jedi".


Boba Fett wore a power armor liner. This liner shirt had a micro energy field projector and two layers of thin ceramic plates, in order to disperse physical and blast impacts, reducing injuries and likelihood of knockdowns. The power liner also gave him increased protection from fire, acid, intense heat, and cold. There were slight color differences between the two films "ESB" and "ROTJ".


His main clothing was a reinforced armor mesh battle / flight suit. The inner lining of the suit blocked poisons and corrosives for a period of time. This suit had pockets on his hips and thighs (one on each side). The suit was gray in "ESB" and light blue in "ROTJ".


The next picture (below) shows Sideshow Collectibles 12-inch Boba Fett figure standing on the light-up Display Base which is meant to represent a part of the Cloud City carbon-freezing chamber where Darth Vader used the carbon-freezing chamber to encase Han Solo in carbonite.


Ane here's Boba Fett striking one of his signature poses, with the EE-3 carbine rifle in hand and at the ready for any sign of trouble. As an adult, Boba Fett stood 1.83 meters tall. He was garbed in traditional Mandalorian armor with a string of Wookiee scalps at his shoulder.


In the comic Book "Twin Engines of Destruction," there is a scene where Dengar is talking to Boba Fett inside the Slave 1. He wonders why Fett doesn't show his face. Boba Fett then turns to face Dengar, the T-shaped visor giving an eerie stare. He states as emotionless as possible "This IS my face."


Boba Fett's helmet is Boba Fett. We all recognize him by the helmet. The infamous T-Shaped visor (found on most Mandalorian helmets) has a reputation known more than Boba Fett's Bounty number. The helmet has everything you'd ever need; internal comlink, Broad-Band antenna for sending and receiving messages, a very sophisticated targeting range finder, infrared scanner, a computer, and more.


"The Empire Strikes Back" helmet had mostly silver scratches and the Red on the "T" is brighter, while the "Return of the Jedi" helmet had silver, black and shades of gray scratches. The Red on the "T" in "ROTJ" is much darker and the Antenna has a Brown base.


The helmet's broad band antenna was capable of intercepting and unscrambling comlink and starship comm transmissions. At the top of the antenna was a rangefinder capable of tracking up to 30 targets from a distance of 100 meters. The rangefinder fed data to a display overlay inside the helmet showing range and movement for targets in a 360 degree radius. The overlay also linked to Fett's weapons systems to display fire vector and range data. The rangefinder could be deployed horizontally or vertically.


Boba Fett's Mandalorian armor was originally constructed from duraplast, allowing it to sustain a great deal of damage without degrading. His armor also had two shoulder pads which were orange, like his kneepads. The left shoulder pad exhibited the Mandalorian skull logo, while his right chest plate displayed an emblem of unknown origin (rumored to be a Mandalorian Warrior symbol). The two horizontal slits on the left chest plate has some kind of Red lights in them. It is rumored that they are Boba Fett's account status (i.e. How many credits he currently has in his account).


From rocket launchers to flame throwers, Boba Fett's gauntlets have the power of a small military. Able to capture, entangle, and disintegrate a creature in mere seconds, Fett's gauntlets have helped him capture bounties and save his life in many occasions.


Boba Fett's right gauntlet had a fibercord whip with a grappling device: a 20-meter-long fibercord whip used to entangle and immobilize a target. It also held retractable vibro-blades and a dart launcher.


His left gauntlet had a Czerka ZX miniature flame projector, which creates a cone of fire five meters long and one meter in diameter. It had a corded fuel line connecting to a backpack canister holding fuel for three minutes of operation. Directly below this was the Dur-24 wrist laser. Comparable to a blaster rifle in power, these wrist lasers had a range of 50 meters. In "The Empire Strikes Back", Boba Fett's flamethrower (left gauntlet) is not covered and is attached to the side. In "Return of the Jedi" the flamethrower is sealed in as part of the gauntlet.


Boba Fett's left gauntlet also had a Kelvarex Consolidated Arms MM9 mini concussion rocket, which utilized computer target tracking. Fett used Type-12A anti-personnel rockets, Type-12B stun rockets, and 1126 rockets.


Boba Fett's main weapon was a BlasTech EE-3 carbine rifle, more powerful than a stormtrooper's blaster. It was outfitted with a scope for sniping and a fast draw shoulder sling. It fired in short bursts for more accuracy and power. In "Return of the Jedi", the EE-3 had hand grips going lengthwise down the barrel.


Boba Fett wore a Mitrinomon Z-6 jetpack. Directional thrusters featured gyro-stabilizers to apply counter-thrust for maneuvering and landing. The top of the jet pack had a turbo-projected magnetic grappling hook with 20-meter lanyard (replaceable with 100 meters). A winch inside the launcher could lift up to 100 kilograms. The grappling hook unit was replaceable with an anti-vehicle homing missile.


Boba Fett wore a leather utility belt that usually had leather pouches (there were more in "ROTJ"). Below this he wore a Journeyman Protector honor sash over his crotch armor. Attached to his right shoulder were three braided Wookiee scalps.


Boba Fett also had knee pads with rocket dart launchers. These small launchers used Malkite themfar or Fex-M3, molecular acid, stun agents, or explosive tips. The battle / flight suit (gray in "ESB" and light blue in "ROTJ") had pockets on his shins which contained an anti-security blade, a survival knife, a jet-pack adjustment tool and a sonic-beam weapon (seen in great detail in my earlier post). Boba Fett had strips / ties to tighten and secure his pants but wore spats around his ankles instead in "ROTJ" to prevent debris from going into his boots. Boba Fett wore a pair of versatile boots that had two spikes (spring loaded) attached to the front of each boot.


As you can see, the details and accuracy of this Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars Scum and Villainy Series 1/6th scale Boba Fett 12-inch Bounty Hunter Figure is simply amazing and this is truly, the BEST Boba Fett sixth scale figure to date!

NEXT: What was Boba Fett doing in Cloud City? To collect a bounty, of course. See 12-inch Boba Fett with the 1/6th scale Han Solo in Carbonite plus Stormtrooper escorts :)

4 comments:

TheRightEarOfNash said...

Is it me or has no one managed to get the colour pallet right for ESB Boba Fett? If you compare Hasbro, Marmit, Medicom, Kotobukiya and Sideshow Boba Fett's they are all different. Also everyone seems to struggle with the shape of the helmet too with Sideshow as no exception (the best I've seen is on Hasbro's OTC 12" oddly enough). The Sideshow version has some really nice touches and is without doubt the most detailed version to date but it's not perfect. If it wasn't so expensive I'd buy one for sure.

SJ said...

Very interesting blog. Thanks for star wars pic.

Anonymous said...

Here is a link to the comic where he say "This is my face". http://comicaption.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/screen-shot-2011-11-13-at-5-09-00-pm.jpg

alex teo said...

Thanks for the link and picture :) that's AWESOME