Before The Empire Strikes Back made its theatrical debut in 1980, the Star Wars Generation was told that the sequel to the 1977 super blockbuster feature film (Star Wars, you heard of it. It's called Star Wars: episode IV A New hope these days) would introduce us to a new character that would play a major role in the Star Wars universe. to get the crowds buzzing, Lucasfilm even went as far as to produce an introductory cartoon for the dismal televised Holiday Special -which aired on November 17, 1978- that pitted our heroes against the nefarious bounty hunter... all of us that watched that broadcast agreed on two things:

-The Holiday Special totally sucked.

-The Boba Fett cartoon rocked beyond words.

Needless to say, we all sent away for the 3 3/4" figure and (secretly) were let down when the figure arrived. it looked nothing like the images on the package and nothing like the cartoon character. But we had hope. The Empire Strikes Back was about to hit theatres and we knew we'd be blown away by Boba Fett's awesomeness.

In truth the character certainly was very cool in TESB, but Boba Fett didn't quite live up to the promise we were being sold. He only had a few (iconic) lines, and didn't do too much, all things considered. Still we had hope. We knew that he'd own Return Of The Jedi, so we all continued to take turns being Boba Fett while playing Star Wars with our friends.

Finally, after three more long years of speculation, the Star Wars Generation gets to see the saga's third film -in 1983- only to discover that Boba Fett had less to do with the plot than the last film! What's more, he went out like a punk. Sure, many fans will argue he got away, but lets face it, the Sarlaac burped after eating him. He's dead.

So what was the big deal with the character? Who knew, right? Nonetheless, we all still agreed that Boba Fett was untouchably cool.

All that changed in 2002 when Star Wars fans were divided by the official origin of Boba Fett. Some thought it was a cop out that he is nothing more than a clone of Jango Fett, a true bad ass bounty hunter (who had his bad ass handed to him in record time by Mace Windu). Heck, he really, in a lot of ways, was nothing more than another Stormtrooper! Yup. A lot of Star Wars fans were peed off.

Personally, I thought Attack Of The Clones did nothing but deliver on the promise made to us in 1978. Sure, it wasn't the story we were expecting, but who honestly wanted to see their version of the story told to them on the silver screen? It isn't our story at all, and I for one love it when George Lucas does something I never imagined when he wrote the Prequels. I like all three of the new films and I won't apologize for it.

So, with the films in mind, we now know that Boba Fett is a perfect clone of a bounty hunter commissioned to create the army that would ultimately lead to the fall of the Old Republic and the rise of the First Galactic Empire. We know that witnessing the death of his 'father' at the hand of the Jedi that young Boba would be forever scarred, and would spend the rest of his days obsessed with being his father in every aspect imaginable. Kind of like the way you would expect a clone to act...

Adding to what we know from the films,The Clone Wars has begun showing us more of his origin, and all can (or at least should be able to) agree that after all these years Lucasfilm plans to deliver on the promise they made to us over thirty years ago. ...and that brings us to the featured collectibles in this edition of eBay Today.

The vintage Kenner line took a stab at a 1/6 scale Star Wars action figure collection, but it was very short lived. It included figures based on Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Chewbacca, See-Threepio, Artoo-Detoo, Jawa, Stormtrooper, and Boba Fett. All of these figures shipped in Star Wars packaging in 1979. In 1980, they repackaged Darth Vader and Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back boxes along side of the line's latest and last addition: IG-88. The Empire Strikes Back figures were extremely rare to begin with, and now three decades later, are nearly impossible to find in any condition.

The Large Size Boba Fett came through where the 3 3/4" figure never could with nine points of articulation (that's a lot by 1979 standards), a material cape, a removable backpack with a grappling hook missile, and a functional bounty hunting scope built in the helmet. Available at retail outlets for around $10-15, the figure was the crowning jewel to any Star Wars action figure collection.

One has to wonder though, with what we know about the character now, if what Kenner called "Wookiee Scalpts" on the packaging are in fact Padawan braids. Hmmmm.....

Large Size boba Fett -Star Wars Box

Large Size boba Fett -The Empire Strikes Back Box


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