Boba Fett Vintage Color Star Wars Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary Sixth Scale Hot Toys Review
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Check out our hands on review of the Boba Fett Vintage Color Star Wars Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary sixth scale figure from Hot Toys
Although revealed back in May 2020, this figure is new to the Toy Habits crew! The year 2020 marked the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, an iconic film that has captivated audiences worldwide for decades with its story and characters. In 1979, before the landmark film had even hit theaters, references to the mysterious character Boba Fett based on early costume tests and coloration were revealed. So began the legendary status among the fandom surrounding the legendary bounty hunter who instantly became a favorite of many after witnessing him in the groundbreaking film! The vintage color inspired painting applications on armor, weapons, and accessories come from the first Kenner release of Boba Fett so let’s dive into the details! But, before we do that, I wanted to give a special shoutout to the YouTube Channel, Soundtracks with Birdman, for making this review even possible. We engaged in a trade and that is how we obtained this figure so that you Birdman!
Vintage Boba Fett Coloring
Special thanks to the Toy Sorceress for digging up this history on Boba Fett! Originally part of a mail away promotion in 1979, Boba Fett was supposed to come with “rocket firing action”. But due to safety regulations, when Boba Fett was eventually released for mass production, his rocket was glued into place! Prototype versions of the Rocket Firing Boba Fett do exist and are the rarest of all Star Wars collectibles! They fetch thousands of dollars and are the most sought-after Star Wars collectable item ever!
Here we can see what the 1980 Empire Strikes Back Boba Fett Figure looked like. As you can see the new Retro Collection Version is a perfect Homage to this version. Thank you to the jeditemplearchives.com for this great overview on this figure!
The box features a retro inspired vintage style open window display box modeled after the Kenner Star Wars Empire Strikes Back card back. The vintage inspired image of Boba Fett with his flame thrower on the front of the box is simply amazing! It also features the 40th Anniversary Empire Strikes Back logo! The back of the box features a pose of Boba Fett holding his rifle with the Slave One! It would be amazing if they made a Slave 1 in sixth scale but that is a pipe dream, but we digress!
On the sides of the box, you see the actual figure of the vintage colored Boba Fett with some close up shots of the details!
Figure Details
The vintage inspired paint treatment brings the entire figure to life! The treatment is matte overall and this figure screams nostalgia! As simple as this repaint is, we think this figure is absolutely stunning!
The red pop of color looks amazing on the helmet and ties into the red missile as well as the gauntlet on his right hand. The visor is a shiny black which picks up the light and his targeting system is articulated and can move down to make it appear like he is going to blow someone away!
The armor features battle damage, which was not present on the vintage figure but could have been omitted if you are going for that full on homage to the vintage Kenner figure. The matte finish looks great, but the battle damage is a bit distracting for the figure. He also comes with two black brackets on the back of his armor to attach the jet pack. Some of the armor pieces don’t like up with each other but overall, it looks great! The back does get a bit busy with the straps on the back but it’s neat to see what this suit looks like as the buckles and fabric look very realistic!
The braids on the shoulders add a nice touch of depth of the figure but often get in the way when you are posing him. The clock cape looks awesome as it is worn and tattered!
The shoulder armor features that same weathered design and is all dinged up! The red Mythosaur really stands out against the white background on the left shoulder armor.
The wrist gauntlets look amazing in sixth scale and the right one is a nice fire engine red that looks like it has real switches on it.
The left gauntlet has a missile and flamethrower mechanism that really stand out in this scale!
He is cool to pose to look like he is about to set a foe aflame or send a rocket flying!
The pouches also look very realistic and feature an asymmetrical button pattern! The holster looks like real leather and even has a strap that can secure the pistol into it. The holster has the word ‘nomad’ embroidered on the side and it looks great to have all of these textures represented.
The blue space suit is finely crafted! The coloring and texture is great but the pockets are sewn on and do not open. The accessories that go in his pockets under his knee armor go in a specify order as they are all sized differently.
The knee pads are nicely weathered and include some glossy silver paint apps. These pads also have bullet wounds and is weathered to go along with the rest the armor. The boots feature a nice steel toed design, which look amazing in sixth scale.
Accessories
The vintage color Boba Fett sixth scale figure specially features a pretty bare bones packout as you are paying for the color scheme of the figure! He comes with the following:
Extra Hands: Seven (two are on of the figure already) pieces of grey-colored interchangeable gloved hands including
- One pair of fists
- One pair of relaxed hands
- One pair of hands for holding weapons
- One gesture left hand
Weapons:
- One blaster rifle
- One blaster sidearm with leather-like holster
Accessories:
- Jetpack
- Survival knife
- Sonic beam weapon
- Anti-security blade
- Jetpack adjustment tool
The jet pack looks amazing, especially in the vintage style paint deco! The jet pack is weathered, which is curious as the original Boba Fett figure did not have any weathering but this was mostly due to having it go with the rest of the armor. The missile is a nice fire engine red with a matte paint app to go with the rest of the figure. It has some very shiny thrusters that pivot and the missile is not removable so don’t try! The most frustrating part of this figure is actually getting his jet pack on the hooks on his back as they required some tweezers to manipulate the black rectangles to attach the pack to his back.
Although we never see Boba Fett use his pistol in the movie, it was nice that they made a sidearm and it fits really nicely in the holster. It is red, just like the missile on his jet pack.
The rifle is super detailed and is replicated to look like the blaster from The Empire Strikes Back. It looks like a real 1:1 weapon and is also weathered in places like the scope and the barrel.
The butt of the rifle looks amazing and the strap detail is a nice touch!
The stand is pretty basic as this is the version that comes with nearly all of the Star Wars Hot Toys figure. It would have been nice, given this was a Hot Toys exclusive, to come with some Kenner branding or some extra details. Like Echo, it would have been great if they incldued a vintage style overlay to put on the base.
Posing Boba Fett
Boba Fett is a stud and the great thing about Hot Toys is that you can put him in many badass poses to suit your tastes so here are some examples!
Where to Buy
Although the figure has been sold out on the Sideshow website for a while, you can still purchases Boba Fett on the secondary market on eBay!
Be sure to also check out our Star Wars Shop pages, where you can find links to purchase all your favorite Star Wars Retro, VTC and Black Series figures, vehicles and playsets!
