Boba Fett - SW [DV/ROTS] - Saga Legends (SL09)

Boba Fett is the bounty hunter who successfully tracks down Han Solo. One of the bounty hunters hired by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon, Fett tracks Han to Bespin and leaves the planet with the carbonite-frozen Solo in his possession.

Remember back if you will when we started seeing the demise of super-articulation. If we’re accurate, we’d wager a bet that the start of this trend dates back to 2010’s TCW Clone Commander Stone (CW44). We might be off by an action figure or two, but it was this particular clone body where Hasbro had removed ankle joints for the very first time, which ultimately gave the figure 12 points of articulation. Sure there were other action figures with less articulation, but when it came to cool army builders like this, it was all about super-articulation for Hasbro (and for collectors). Do you recall outrage from collectors? Kids may have not been affected by the change, but collectors certainly did, and it appeared that Hasbro had set a new course with the way they approached what they deemed a “kids’” action figure line. The new trend worried some and enraged others. But how many of us would die to go back to 12 points of articulation at this point? Who would have thought that this would be a gift years after the fact? In 2013, Hasbro had decided that kids don’t want super-articulation, so they designed a simple line of action figures that were cobbled together with inferior materials, and worse paint jobs to reinvent the “Saga Legends” moniker with a line that makes many hardcore Star Wars fans shutter. But is this how they honestly feel, or is this assertion really a guise that this is the way all action figures will arrive to all one day?

More amenable fans have accepted that this line isn’t for them, but what these people don’t realize is that Hasbro no longer thinks 14 points of articulation = collectors and 5 points of articulation = kids. They see the Star Wars brand for everyone. And this is the dangerous slippery slope that will ultimately lead all Star Wars lines to this horrific simplicity. Some will bury their head in the sand over statements like this, but we are already seeing the signs. The gorgeous The Black Series Merumeru (#15) and Darth Plagueis (#18) action figures have both been designed without much-needed waist joints. And it appears that a further reduction in articulation is imminent. Hopefully things will change for the better and this worry will be all for naught, but we have a bad feeling about this. If you’re for minimal articulation and sloppy paint operations, then the new Star Wars Saga Legends line is for you. You’re going to be happy. But if not, a respite in collecting may be in your near future otherwise. One figure that didn’t turn out terrible is Boba Fett. In a shockingly surprising move, Hasbro tooled another all-new sculpt with five points of articulation. A simple repack of the figure from 2012’s SW [TPM 3D] Bespin Battle Battle Packs set may have been the most cost effective manner to release this character, but Hasbro went a different route instead.

Although an all-new sculpt, Boba Fett still comes with five points of articulation. And Hasbro really tried to make the Saga Legends version look very different from the Battle Packs version. Overall, the sculpt isn’t a nightmare, but it isn’t perfect either. The helmet is too small and the limited articulation essentially makes this a display piece, and not necessarily a play thing. Boba Fett comes with a removable jetpack and blaster rifle. Many aspects of the figure have good paint operations, but then Hasbro just left other parts completely unpainted which gives the overall impression of this figure a very uncompleted look. We are finding that many figures in this line are suffering from this lack of attention as well. It’s a bit tricky, but his blaster rifle can be placed in both his left and right hands. With a little patience you should get both hands to function in this manner. Based on his appearance from The Empire Strikes Back, we suppose we can expect Hasbro to release a similar version of this character in the colors we saw him wear in Return Of The Jedi as well. If Hasbro doesn’t amortize these sculpts more often, isn’t the all-new tooling defeating the purpose then? Boba Fett can be placed inside of the cockpit of the 2013 SW [DV/ROTS] Boba Fett’s Slave I vehicle. He still looks much too big for the vehicle, and you’re limited with how you situate him in the cockpit. We hope this line is a success for Hasbro, otherwise they’re wasting a great deal of time and money if this plan doesn’t pan out.