Boba Fett is a mysterious bounty hunter who became one of the most popular characters from the original Star Wars trilogy despite a small amount of screen time. Viewers were intrigued by his enigmatic presence, cool suit, intimidating ship, and ability to fly via jetpack. He was also a popular action figure for the Star Wars toy line, and now Boba Fett’s fans who’d like to collect a figure of the Mandalorian Merc have plenty of options in Hake’s auction.
Preparing for The Empire Strikes Back, Kenner created a special rocket-firing Boba Fett action figure, but it never went into mass production. The rocket-firing toy was pulled from the line, as it was deemed a safety hazard for children. The prototype was on display at the 1979 Toy Fair in New York City, but since the figure never went into production, the prototypes in circulation now are almost all unpainted, blue figures. The original rocket-firing versions are known as L-slot or J-slot, referencing the shape of the firing mechanism on the figure’s back. The figure at Hake’s has the L-slot variety and is graded AFA 85.
Hake’s is auctioning multiple carded Boba Fett action figures from the Star Wars to Return of the Jedi toy lines. Leading the charge is the Boba Fett 21-back-B AFA 90. The 3-1/2” figure of the bounty hunter was made for the 1979 toy line and is the first released version of the toy. Hake’s is also offering another Star Wars 21-back, graded AFA 60.
They also have two other variations of Boba Fett on the 21-back card. One is on The Empire Strikes Back card, graded AFA 75, it was made for the 1980 toy line. The other, also on the Empire card, was issued in Canada and features French and English text on the card.
Two other figures of the Mandalorian Merc on Empire cards are the 31-back-A AFA 80 and a 41-back-B AFA 75. Finally, they have a Return of the Jedi Boba Fett on 79-back-A AFA 80.
Outside of the toys, Boba Fett is looking cool and intimidating on framed original art by Greg Hildebrandt. The large mixed media art on black illustration board is in a 23-1/2” x 33-1/2” frame. It was created in August 2017.
Hake’s auction is open now through July 10-11, 2019. Interested collectors can bid at hakes.com.
