Many of my readers here may know the history behind the now legendary Kenner action figure known as the Rocket Firing Boba Fett. For those who don’t know, I’ll run down a brief history of this now fabled figure.
When Kenner released the Star Wars line of action figures, kids everywhere went nuts over them. The line sold so well that Kenner was eager to produce figures based on the upcoming sequel, The Empire Strikes Back. On the cardbacks of their figures, advertisements started appearing for “a new villain from The Empire Strikes Back”, and this figure was to be a sneak preview, of sorts, for the highly anticipated sequel. Kids had to cut proofs of purchase from their figures’ cardbacks, and mail them along with money to cover shipping and handling, and they would receive Boba Fett. Boba was advertised as having a backpack that shot a rocket from it. This was incredible, because up until that time you basically got a figure who had 5 points of articulation and some kind of accessory. This figure was going to launch a rocket, much like only more expensive vehicles would do at that time. A man named Chris Georgoulias at the Star Wars Collector’s Archive (swca.com) runs down an entire complete history of the figure, and I highly recommend reading it if this sort of thing interests you. To make a long story short, during the production of the figure, the rocket firing feature was removed due to safety concerns, and all that exist of the legendary Rocket Firing Boba Fett figure are prototypes. Kids everywhere who had waited, practically chained to their mailboxes, received the familiar action figure we know now, without the spring loaded rocket launcher.
About a year ago, I was browsing some vintage Star Wars figures on eBay, and came across a seller who goes by the names markpoon and swindyfan. The seller from Singapore had a nice collection of custom replicas for sale. Many people know him for his amazing, dead on, custom vintage stormtroopers and black hole stormtroopers. Others know him for his custom Vlix figures that are damn close to the original that is highly sought after. Still more people know him for the custom Rocket Firing Boba Fett replica figures he sells. Upon viewing them on eBay, I googled around for info about the seller before making my purchase. I found out that the vintage Star Wars collecting community has quite the distaste for his customs, as they feel that reproductions hurt their collecting hobby. I felt that he was not the villain they made him out to be, as his customs were all altered so as to be distinguishable from the originals. Impressed with how polite the man is on eBay communications, I ordered the painted version of his Rocket Firing Boba Fett. At the time of writing this, the painted version is unavailable, but he still has blue prototype “L slot” and grey prototype “J slot” figures available, as well as hologram translucent blue versions of both types.
When I ordered the replica, it took about two weeks to arrive from Singapore, and I was kind of disappointed to see that there was no rocket in the box. I contacted the seller via eBay, and the polite man came through by sending a replacement rocket immediately. Another week and a half later, and I held the complete figure in my hands. It was such an amazing thing, and probably the closest I’ll ever get to the feeling of holding the real deal.
So holding the figure in hand, is just as close as you can come, without holding an actual vintage Boba Fett. I’ve held both and the only discernable difference is that this custom replica is made of a slightly rubberier plastic, and has no copyright, date, or country of origin stamped on it, and this makes it easy for a collector to tell that they’re holding a replica, and not a 15,000 dollar prototype. I am completely fine with these differences, and think it is great that the seller made these figures slightly different so that no one would be scammed into buying one in the future, thinking it was genuine. Like I said before, this seller is a very stand up guy.
Boba Fett here has the standard vintage 5 points of articulation, which include swivels at the neck, shoulders, and crotch. When playing with this figure, you really feel like it’s a vintage toy. The arms move up and down, the legs move forward 90 degrees and back, and the head looks to the left and right. Very simplistic by today’s super articulated standards, but this was more than enough for the figures when they were originally released in the late 70s and early 80s.
On the back of the figure is the glorious feature that made this figure a legend. The J slot rocket firing mechanism! On the seller’s info page for the figure, it clearly states “the launcher is pressure cast from ABS, so yes, you can fire it all you want!”, and I swear not a week has gone by since I bought it, that I haven’t fired the thing off at least a couple times. It is just so much fun to fire! The rocket launches about 2-3 feet vertically, but I prefer to bend him over 90 degrees, and fire it horizontally at another figure, which it will totally knock down. I’ve even set up 10 vintage styled figures like bowling pins, and got the rocket to knock them all down (STRIKE!!). To further prove that this figure is a better toy than collectible, I even let my son play with this thing! He enjoys playing with it more than I do.
As I mentioned before, at the time of writing this, the painted ones aren’t available, but I have to run down the paint on this figure anyways. Boba Fett, as a vintage figure, had a whacky paint scheme that I love very much. All of that whackiness is perfectly replicated here! The figure is molded in a nice bluish grey plastic, and has 6 colors of paint on it (which was actually an incredible amount of paint for a vintage Kenner Star Wars Figure). The helmet has red and a very dark brown (almost black). The Chest has a very nice glossy moss green. The shoulders, knees, and left gauntlet have a mustard yellow color. The right gauntlet has red like the helmet. The belt is brown. And finally, the jetpack has some navy blue detailing. This paint works well, and really the only complaint I have is that everywhere other than torso, the paint should be more glossy. A small gripe for an otherwise perfect action figure.
My awesome Rocket Firing Boba Fett figure came with two accessories. The first is a replica of the stormtrooper blaster that Kenner originally packed with Boba Fett. The blaster looks pretty damn close to an original, but again easy enough to distinguish from the real deal. The other accessory included is the “8 sided” red rocket, an exact copy of the one that would have come with the production Rocket Firing Fett, had it ever come to fruition. The reason it is known as the “8 sided rocket” is because the “L slot” version of Rocket Firing Boba Fett would have included a slightly different “4 sided” rocket, which would have had 4 horizontal ribs on the shaft of the rocket, rather than the 8 horizontal ribs present here.
Overall, I really want to thank markpoon / swindyfan for bringing us an affordable rendition of the fabled and legendary Rocket Firing Boba Fett. The attention to detail in this markpoon / swindyfan custom figure is just amazing, and the man has clearly done his homework to bring us this figure. It is just such a joy to know that I can play with and enjoy a piece of action figure history! The figure was also pretty affordable, just 38 bucks shipped, where the unpainted and hologram blue figures currently available are just 28 bucks shipped. If you want to find a Rocket Fett replica of your own, head over to eBay, and type seller:markpoon or seller:swindyfan to view his great items (he uses both accounts, but only one at a time). Thanks for reading, and remember to FREE YOUR TOYS FROM PACKAGING, SO YOU CAN APPRECIATE AND ENJOY THEM FOR THE PLAYTHINGS THEY ARE!
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