Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Action Figure Review: Boba Fett from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase IV by Hasbro

 

   It's been over 3 months since I last reviewed a Star Wars: The Black Series figure! There is a new series of standard figures out now but I haven't found any of them yet. I have, however, found the new deluxe release of Boba Fett based on his Return of the Jedi appearance. The original Boba Fett figure in the Black Series was released in 2013 so it's nice to finally get an update even if this is a fairly different outfit. Jar Jar Binks was released at the end of last year as a deluxe figure and he seemed a bit light for a deluxe release even though he was fairly tall and packed with some larger accessories. Why does Boba Fett warrant a deluxe release rather than being packaged in a standard box? Good question. My guess is that it has to do with him having more paint applications and a fairly nice complement of accessories though you may disagree. Let's take a look at this new version of Boba Fett after the break and see if he's worth hunting down...



The Facts:

Height: 6 inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, swivel/hinge knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed hips, ball jointed torso, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, swivel/ hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, ball jointed neck, and a barbell jointed head.
 
Accessories: Blaster rifle, 2 piece "sliced" blaster rifle, jet pack, rocket, two engine effects, flamethrower effect, and dart cord. 

Non-Scalper Price: $30 dollars





Comparison:

* The new deluxe Boba Fett is on the left while the Phase I Boba Fett from The Empire Strikes Back is on the right. These are two completely different figures and they don't share any parts at all. Besides the colors these figures are built quite differently with the new figure being rather complex with lots of additional pieces attached to the sculpt.


The Positives:

* Boba Fett has a very complex outfit with lots of painted details and damage. For a mass market action figure he's pretty impressive looking, especially on the armored pieces. Lots of his parts are separate pieces (the belt, knee pads, and shoulder pads) and his torso even seems to be a slightly flexible piece overlaid on top of a slimmer, blank torso. He looks incredible and seems pretty screen accurate to the films.




 

* The helmet looks like a great sculpt and has some excellent paint work. Seriously, it's superb and looks more like metal than plastic.

 

* Boba Fett also has a functioning range finder. Well, functional in the sense that it can pivot down over his visor and not in the sense that it can actually truly aid the figure in targeting fools during  combat.

 

 

 

 
* Boba Fett's got a lot going on below the belt, too. You know, with his gear and gadgets on his knees. Besides spiked boots and pockets full of tools and gadgets for slicing into security systems, working on his jet pack, and good old CQB he's also got his knee pads with built in dart launchers. The knee pads are separate pieces attached to the knees and they look fantastic. Everything has a paint hit except for the boot spikes, oddly enough.
 
 
* Boba's gauntlets are amazing! The detail and paintwork is really very impressive on these and you can point out all of his gadgets like the dart launcher, flame thrower, and his wrist lasers.






 
* The articulation on this guy is much improved over the vintage figure. I pretty much compare all Boba Fett figures to the Kenner POTF2 figure from 1995 and the Power of the Jedi 300th release Boba Fett so this guy really is a major improvement movement wise. Seriously, the joints have an excellent range of motion. While the shoulders don't have lateral hinges since the armored torso overlay is a bit rubbery you get about the same level of movement.

* Boba Fett comes with his EE-3 blaster rifle. It's absolutely a new sculpt that's based on the Return of the Jedi model. It's very sharp and has a lot of weathering too it rather than the cleaner look of his ESB rifle.


 
* What happens when Boba Fett runs into Luke Skywalker? His blaster gets cut, that's what. Hasbro included a second EE-3 blaster that can break apart and has some paint that makes it look like the barrel has been melted bu Luke's lightsaber. That's pretty cool! This feels like the kind of accessory we would have seen during the early 2000s, maybe in the Power of the Jedi or Saga Collections, when Hasbro was releasing super scene specific figures. 
 
 
 

 
 
* The jetpack is a completely new sculpt too and it's very intricately painted with plenty of weathering. I love how colorful this is! It fits on really well via a main peg in the back and two smaller tabs that fit in to what look like buckles on the back of Fett's armor. I'm sure we'll see this piece again with Cobb Vanth and some Mandalorian season 2 versions of Fett, and that's fine by me. This is excellent work and the pack has quite a few nice features...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
* The jet pack does have a removable missile, which is pretty cool. It doesn't launch but it does pop in and out so you can mess around with it. Also, the thrusters on the pack are articulated and can swivel up and down. That's pretty cool and a feature I didn't expect!
 
 
 
 
* There is even a pair of jet boots effects that plug into the thrusters on the jet pack. They look great! I loved the 2003 Saga collection Boba Fett in his ROTJ outfit and this guy gives me some of the same feelings!
 
 
* Another really cool feature is this snap on flame. It's a translucent piece that fits over the flamethrower on Boba Fett's left gauntlet and makes for a really cool and dynamic accessory to display the figure with. I love it! It's just so fantastic looking!

The Negatives:
 
* Boba Fett's last accessory is the fibercord whip that he uses to ensnare Luke during the battle at the Great Pit of Carkoon. The idea is that you clip the cuff on Boba Fett's wrist and then you can wrap the cord around someone or use it to swing him, I guess. It's not awful but it just feels a bit too toyish. One of the Saga Collection Jango Fett figures had a similar feature and this one really isn't that much better. It just seems like something better suited for a kids line than designed for the Black Series, y'know?
 

* The paint and sculpt of Boba Fett's helmet is really excellent but there's a weird issue with the helmet looking kind of scrunched at the bottom. Rather than just sculpt a "head" Hasbro actually sculpted a Temuera Morrison portrait and then permanently attached the helmet over it. They've been doing this on the Stormtroopers and newer clones, too, and I suspect it's a way to enure that helmets are appropriately sized. Unfortunately, it means the lower part of Fett's helmet is thinner and flexible and ended up a bit smooshed from being in the plastic tray.
 
 
* Lastly, why not give Boba Fett a soft goods cape? The last figure from almost eight years ago had one and it really turned out pretty well. It's a small enough soft goods piece that it looked great and blended in nicely with the sculpt. This one isn't bad looking but I was kind of surprised that it wasn't an actual fabric cape, especially considering this is a deluxe figure.




   Is this the nicest Boba Fett figure made in the Black Series line? Definitely. Is this a pretty impressive figure overall? Absolutely. Is there any reason why this really feels like a deluxe figure? Ehh.. not really. I don't think it's as overpriced as some people do but I definitely think Hasbro is overly inflating the price on the Fett man her. He's a Great figure but I can't help but feel that you're paying extra for some features that really should just be expected. There are also lots of little odd issues, too, that I wouldn't have expected with this guy, especially the smooshed helmet. Still, he's pretty cool and I don't you'll feel like passing him up if you run into him.
 
 
   If you're a fan of Boba Fett then check out a couple other Boba Fett toys on the site, including the Black Series Phase I Boba Fett, the Walgreen's exclusive Boba Fett (Prototype Armor), and Boba Fett (Carbonized), both the standard Hero Mashers Boba Fett and the Han Solo Vs. Boba Fett two-pack version, the Funko POP! #102 Boba Fett, and Boba Fett as a background character in the Bossk Micro Machines Mini Head and in the 4-LOM Micro Machines Mini Head
 
For more Star Wars: The Black Series Phase IV figures check out the following:

 

 


 

 




4 comments:

  1. Wow, this figure looks great, with many nice accessories. I love the flamethrower effect and the light saber sliced gun. I'm kinda shocked they didn't give him a cloth cape, since they seem to have gone all out with everything else (sculpt, paint, accessories, articulation).

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, he does feel more deluxe than most releases. The lack of the cloth cape is strange, though, as the other Fetts in this line have had them.

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  2. I was wondering what the differences were. Thanks for the review. May grab him if I see him.

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    Replies
    1. No problem. I've only seen him at Walmart in person so far.

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