Review - Gentle Giant 1/6 Scale Boba Fett Statue

Finally found the time to open up my most recent purchase - 1/6 Scale Boba Fett Statue from Gentle Giant Ltd! Let's take a peek inside! Opening the box, I pulled out the styrofoam box inside and carefully slit the scotch-taped sides. Once those restraints are off, lifting the styrofoam cover reveals Boba carefully wrapped and resting in his 'styrofoam block'(think Han and carbonite). The first thing I noticed after lifting the hefty statue out was a small silver piece lying at the bottom of the styrofoam container. Think something's broken!

My suspicion was proven true as I quickly zoomed in on the jetpack. Yep, that silver piece belonged tp one of the 2 small protrusions(dunno how else to call it) on the jetpack. I believe the culprit should be the moulding of the styrofoam container - the statue had moved to much within it and undue stress was laid on the jetpack. Well, I'll just have to attach the broken piece back. Moving on...

This package from Gentle Giant comes in 3 parts. They are:

• Boba Fett
• Boba's Right Hand with Rifle
• Statue Base

It also comes with a customer response card together with the certificate of authenticity(COA). On the COA is the limited edition number of your statue. For the 1/6 Boba Fett statue, the number released is 6500.

Fixing the statue is easy. The statue fixed onto the base at Fett's right foot. This actually allow the statue to be rotated on the base from this pivot. However, this will only come in handy if you are displaying in an extremely cramped space as the amount of space the statue can rotate on the base safely is very small.

On to the review...

Bottomline

This is a beautifully sculpted statue of everyone's favourite bounty hunter. The pose is better than Kotobukiya's and bring's out this smooth operator's coolness in handling affairs of the Empire. In addition, it has great details and has realistic weathering. It makes Kotobukiya's Boba Fett like a regular patron to the laundryman. This statue looks terrific from every angle! A must-get for all Boba Fett fans!

What's good:

• The pose and sculpt is great.
• The details and weathering is realistic.
• Statue is very stable. No chance for the wind to blow it over when it has such a hefty base.
  
  

What could be better:

• Styrofoam protection for the statue could have been better.
• Paint on the visor(could be unique to my piece).

Review Details

Sculpt & Resemblance

Gentle Giant's(GG) take on Boba Fett is sculpted with a beautiful pose. If this pose is to be reminscient of Fett's role on the skiff barge in Return of the Jedi, this statue would be saying, "Come meet your doom, Jedi!". But if you think comic, puting my Sideshow Luke's side over the end of Fett's fingers would have the statue tickling Luke.

Anyway, for a masked figure, resemblance is not a problem for such a high-end product. The paint scheme is that of Return of the Jedi(ROTJ). Although I'm a Boba Fett fan, I've never really noticed the details on his uniform(thanks to George for Boba's short screen time). Now that I have this statue, I began to see the differences on the uniform compared to the Empire Strikes Back(ESB) version. However, I will not go into listing those differences. Perhaps, in another blog entry next time.

I particularly liked the details on Boba's pants. The stretch patterns follows the pose of the statue. As such the sculpting on both legs are different This is where I find GG's statue better than Kotobukiya's. The later's statue is in a rather neutral pose which makes the stretch patterns on both his legs rather similar.

Paint

I have no complains generally about the paint job on this statue. However, my piece have a slightly botched paint job on the visor. It looks like a part of the first layer of the paint had been removed but the depression not smoothened out before a second coat of paint was applied. As such, a depression on the visor paint is obvious under the reflection of a light source. For such a high-end statue, this defect is a disappointment

In spite of this defect, the shiny paint used for the visor is a welcome as compared to the matte paint used for both the Kotobukiya and Marmit Boba Fetts.

Effort has been put in to weather Boba Fett's uniform. His gloves look worn, his chest armour indicates that this bounty hunter has seen a lot of action. Even his shoulder armour has either blocked off some shots or took a beating in a fall. Insignias are painted to the very detail and they are sharp when looked at closely.

Accessories

Well, there's not much accessories for this statue except for the rifle and the base. The design of the rifle is different that that for the ESB version on the Kotobukiya and Marmit. The ESB rifles have a simple and slim cylindrical barrel whereas the GG rifle have a thicker barrel with lines running along it. The GG rifle's sniping scope is also located much further back and is directly above the trigger. Bottomline is this is a totally different rifle. Another detail I will have to look at when I re-watch Boba in ROTJ.

The base that comes with this statue is heavy! I believe it accounts for nearly half of the entire package. It has a shiny black surface with a hole to fit Boba's right foot onto it. The base also doubles as a plaque which states everything the COA. With the statue all set up, those words on the base can not be seen unless you are resting it on a glass shelf which allows you to peek under to remind yourself of your Limited Edition Number.

Another 'accessory' that I would like to mention is the braid of wookie hair that Boba slings over his right shoulder. This statue actually has a soft braid of hair made of threads and not a moulded and stiff like the Kotobukiya. This aspect is similar to the Marmit but it is better in proportion. It makes Marmit's braid of hair more like that of Barbie's than a wookie!