Boba Fett’s Slave I - SW [DV/ROTS] - Vehicles

Boba Fett flies his Slave I starfighter to Bespin as he tracks down the Millennium Falcon and a prized bounty: Han Solo. Fett loads the carbonite-frozen Han Solo onto Slave I, a vessel once used by Jango Fett. The ship is modified with advanced weapons, making it a powerful vessel for capturing bounties and making swift escapes.

The dichotomy that exists in the Star Wars collecting community regarding the newly approached Class II vehicle assortment is becoming more balanced, even with a couple of sort years. There will be staunch longtime collectors that will never embrace the smaller scale, and then there are those who are more open and empathize with Hasbro that the reduced scale is necessary to keep the brand afloat. The “war” rages on and as hardcore collectors’ frustration boils over into nearly abandoning the hobby, others are finding that this is being done for a reason. But after multiple Slave I vehicles released throughout the years, especially including the 2013 TVC Slave I (Boba Fett’s Spaceship) Amazon.com exclusive, seeing a tiny version of the vehicle seems ludicrous no matter how you slice it. We personally aren’t here to condemn Hasbro’s decision of the new Class II vehicles line, but we just want to question a few things to see if this is really the wisest way to head. This direction is disconcerting no doubt, but is it really going to work and make things attractive to those who aren’t in the hardcore collector universe?

Hasbro wasted no time repainting 2013’s SW [Y/AOTC] Jango Fett’s Slave I to bring everyone an Original Trilogy interpretation of the vehicle. It’s cutesy, it’s well designed, and it would be a the perfect vehicle for a two-inch Star Wars action figure line. In fact, the Boba Fett vintage figure that came inside of the 2013 Gentle Giant Ltd. Yoda (Holiday Edition) Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figure would be the perfect size figure to go along with Boba Fett’s Slave I. We don’t deny the amount of work that went into designing this vehicle. There is an inordinate amount of detail etched into the hull of Boba Fett’s spaceship. If you look at the underside of the vehicle alone, you’ll definitely be impressed with the amount of features the vehicle has. The size is the issue (for the adult collectors at least). Hasbro needs to produce a vehicle assortment that falls within certain budgets, and they decided that a smaller scale and less play features was the route to take. Arguably, kids may not notice the size difference, and that may be the whole point. What we don’t understand however, if you alienate the devoted longtime followers of the Star Wars brand, doesn’t that translate into less sales because those people are “boycotting” the line? That’s a quandary that we just want to resolve.

Boba Fett’s Slave I is simply decorated. Hasbro has decided that simplicity was the best way to handle the vehicles in the new Class II line. As a result, the vehicle comes without any battle-damage markings. Even thought it’s missing what we deem as required paint operations (the battle-damage), the vehicle is accurately painted and looks like it came right off of the assembly. It is our opinion that a 3.75” Boba Fett action figure posed next the vehicle is comical. He is nearly as tall as the Slave I and when placed in the cockpit he looks very cramped. There is no removable side panel to reveal storage space and there is no Han Solo in Carbonite “figure/accessory” to accompany it because it would be too big to fit anywhere within it? So how does this befit kids? We clearly remember the play power of the original vintage Kenner Slave I vehicle. There is a huge amount of stuff “gone” with this release. Kids today aren’t getting anything close to what we got as kids in the 80s. So, we find it hard to side with those that believe that there is validity in the claim that this scale is a good thing. The whole direction of the Star Wars toy line is getting more and more controversial. Things are changing and many feel they are not for the better. But we’ll leave that up to you to decide.