Mailaway Boba Fett

This figure was my first experience with a Kenner style action figure. I wouldn’t have collected these had it not been for this mailaway, but the simple, old-school charm of the figure left me wanting more. I think that alone says a lot about the appeal and iconic nature of this figure.

Unlike many fans, I don’t really like Boba Fett all that much. Don’t get me wrong, he’s cool, especially his design. He just didn’t really do all that much in movies, not that Vader or the Empire couldn’t have done themselves really. For that, I just don’t care for the character that much.

When offered as a mail-in though, it suddenly becomes to where I feel a greater need to own the figure. After all, you never know how many chances you’re going to get at these things before they end up getting pricey, so of course I would get one for myself. My original intent was only to get the other bounty hunters and a few Imperials to accompany this figure, but you know how it goes, a lot here and a cheap figure there and before long I had acquired a large and somewhat meandering collection of Kenner Star Wars figures. I always find it funny how that kind of stuff happens, in this case all because of a novelty mail-in.

Fett himself is a supreme sculpt and perhaps the best from the entire Kenner vintage line. Technically, this figure is actually a new sculpt and isn’t the exact same as the original, but when compared its so close he works fine in place of the true vintage figure. It’s almost impossible to tell them apart unless you see them side by side.

This version of Fett also features a functioning missile launcher like the original was intended to, a story very well known by any collector familiar with vintage Star Wars toys, but I’ll sum it up real quick. For the original figure, Kenner had planned and even advertised him as having a functioning rocket launcher, but the missile for the launcher was too small, and didn’t meet safety regulations as such. The figure was shipped out pretty much the same, but his missile launcher was disabled. This version tries to fix that by including a second missile, long enough to meet safety regulations, so it can be fired. The problem is it just looks like crap; it’s nearly as tall as the figure! It was a nice thought, but ultimately, it just doesn’t add anything to the figure, not for me anyways.

Now that this figure’s a few years old, there’s really no point in choosing this version over a real vintage one, other than the fact that you might get him a little cheaper still. For me, this figure has a lot of meaning that makes him the centerpiece of my vintage collection, even if I really don’t like Boba Fett that much.