The following is a thread discussing an ad placed in Toy Shop, advertising a Rocketfett auction: Toys Plus of Cincinatti Rocketfett auction
DANIEL BRETTA
Jun 28 1998, 3:00 am
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
In the newest issue of Toy Shop there is an auction for a rocketfett
along with a story about how the man obtained it along with 4 others.
My question is - How many Rocketfetts are confirmed to exist? And do
you think that $6,000 is too much for one of these.
Dan...
Gus Lopez
Jun 28 1998, 3:00 am
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
DANIEL BRETTA
>In the newest issue of Toy Shop there is an auction for a rocketfett
>along with a story about how the man obtained it along with 4 others.
much rarer of the two.
My question is - How many Rocketfetts are confirmed to exist? And do
>you think that $6,000 is too much for one of these.
It's hard to say exactly. I would guess about 30 L-slots and 7 J-slots are
known to exist.
I don't think $6000 is too much for these. My hunch is that the piece
will top $10,000 in auction, but it's really hard to say. It's going to
depend on how much the buyers believe its authenticity (which in this case
is solid). I already examined two J-slots from this find and they look
damn real to me! (I've seen first hand all three others known to exist
prior to this find). I think Don will do quite well in this
auction...it's quite a find. I don't think an authentic RocketFett has
ever been offered in public auction before until now.
Gus
Salfamily
Jun 29 1998, 3:00 am
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
>In the newest issue of Toy Shop there is an auction for a rocketfett
>along with a story about how the man obtained it along with 4 others.
Just for the record, all indications are that these are geniune.
>My question is - How many Rocketfetts are confirmed to exist?
Its probably in the area of 30 these days. There are less than 10 J-slot
versions known to be out there, and a fair amount of the L-slot variety. I
think Tomart printed awhile back that around 40 J-slots, and something like
2000 L-slots were produced.
You can be almost %100 sure that more will eventually turn up, although they
very well might change hands quietly.
>And do >you think that $6,000 is too much for one of these.
Not really. Keep in mind that this is *the* Holy Grail of Star Wars toy
collectibles. Not only was the whole rocketfett fiasco the most infamous (and,
to many, the most memorable) event in Kenner Star Wars history, Fett is the
most popular character, its a pre-80 prototype (not too common a commodity),
and a primo example of an unproduced toy. There are rarer things...there might
even be cooler things...but there's nothing that commands the attention of a
Rocketfett. The situation is similiar to the Honus Wagner (is it T-206?)
tobacco card, which also had a number of things going for it in addition to
extreme rarity, all of which helped elevate it to the #1 position within the
ball card hobby.
Is this a J-slot that's being auctioned? If so, this is the first time one has
been offered publicly. Actually, I can't remember the last time a *real*
rocketfett was sold on the open market. This should set the current standard.
ron
Ron Salvatore (salfam...@aol.com)
Cstoj
Jun 29 1998, 3:00 am
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
And with this new hype can we expect numerous boobs with 0 feedback to start
posting these on ebay. Are they still doing the red cape bibs? 6000 is a lot
of beans but as Salfamily pointed out this is the Holy Grail of Star Wars
collectibles. However, that proto rebel blockade runner on the tomart's ad
would get my 6 grand before the Fett. That thing is awesome. BTW if anyone
has one of these I have some potf2 variations to trade :) kidding, I swear I
am kidding
Chris- who hasnt bought a starwars toy in awhile but still enjoys this group
Rob Anthony
Jun 29 1998, 3:00 am
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
Brian Rachfal had an unpainted L-slot Rocketfett for sale for $2000
about three years ago. He was selling it on consignment for someone
else. I don't know if he advertised it, but he brought it to a show.
That's the last one I remember being up for sale.
A friend of mine recently told me that Rachfal stuck an arthroscopic
camera inside the back of it to help in authentication at the time. I
don't know what it's supposed to look like in there, but it was a good
idea.
Adam
daimos
Jun 29 1998, 3:00 am
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
> Not really. Keep in mind that this is *the* Holy Grail of Star Wars toy
> collectibles. Not only was the whole rocketfett fiasco the most infamous (and,
> to many, the most memorable) event in Kenner Star Wars history, Fett is the
> most popular character, its a pre-80 prototype (not too common a commodity),
> and a primo example of an unproduced toy. There are rarer things...there might
> even be cooler things...but there's nothing that commands the attention of a
> Rocketfett. The situation is similiar to the Honus Wagner (is it T-206?)
> tobacco card, which also had a number of things going for it in addition to
> extreme rarity, all of which helped elevate it to the #1 position within the
> ball card hobby.
I agree with what you are saying about the rocket fett being the most
publicised and well known protoype in Star Wars collecting. I am not sure
though whether the recognizablilty of the piece though will be the sole
factor in the price it eventually attains. To be honest with you, I think the
seller's min bid price will have a lot to do with the eventual closing price
of the piece. If he bid was $1000 I could see it maybe reaching $6 0r $7000
on its own, but I think that placing the bid at $6000, it's already got some
people going and thinking it will take a massive piece of change to win the
bid. I'm not sure whether or not this is the best way to gauge the "true"
value of the piece in light of this, and the fact that some people like Gus
are already stating that this piece will get $10,000. I just think that you
will see some frenzied bidding , that may or may not be indicative of market
conditions as a whole or for the single J-slot. later tosho
edward auyang
Jun 29 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
I don't know if this was mentioned yet, but be aware that The Earth in
Cincinnati makes a rocketfett conversion (note, not the prototype, but
a conversion based off the original prototype). They take an original fig
and the results are quite amazing! (they sell them for somewhere around
$150-200 if I remember correctly.)
Ed
Salfamily
Jun 29 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
>I agree with what you are saying about the rocket fett being the most
>publicised and well known protoype in Star Wars collecting. I am not sure
>though whether the recognizablilty of the piece though will be the sole
>factor in the price it eventually attains
yeah, there are alot of factors that contribute to how an auction does.
>To be honest with you, I think the
>seller's min bid price will have a lot to do with the eventual closing price
>of the piece. If he bid was $1000 I could see it maybe reaching $6 0r $7000
>on its own, but I think that placing the bid at $6000, it's already got some
>people going and thinking it will take a massive piece of change to win the
>bid. I'm not sure whether or not this is the best way to gauge the "true"
>value of the piece in light of this, and the fact that some people like Gus
>are already stating that this piece will get $10,000. I just think that you
>will see some frenzied bidding , that may or may not be indicative of market
>conditions as a whole or for the single J-slot. later tosho
I hear what you're saying, but there are several people who I *know* would be ready to sign the check at $6k for just an L-Slot Fett. I'm pretty certain that, given indisputable authenticity, a J-Slot Fett could get up to at least $8k, regardless of the starting bid. And I'm talking about people paying these prices based on their own offers.
As far as gauging "true value" goes, I think that more of these have to get sold on the open market before we can begin making accurate estimates.
ron
Justin Kerns
Jun 29 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
salfam...@aol.com (Salfamily) writes:
>I hear what you're saying, but there are several people who I *know* would be
>ready to sign the check at $6k for just an L-Slot Fett. I'm pretty certain
>that, given indisputable authenticity, a J-Slot Fett could get up to at least
>$8k, regardless of the starting bid. And I'm talking about people paying these
>prices based on their own offers.
On a related note, how much do you think it hurts the value of this piece
that it doesn't have a rocket? I know some people have made repros from
originals for other rockfetts, but I wonder how the price would be
affected if this one was complete? I guess it's so rare a piece that it
probably doesn't matter. You can't really be picky about your
opportunities if you are going to purchase one of these. Any other
thoughts?
Justin
Chris Georgoulias
Jun 29 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
Justin Kerns wrote:
> On a related note, how much do you think it hurts the value of this
> piece that it doesn't have a rocket?
In the case of the J-slot Fett, I don't think it's a huge part of it.
As far as everyone believes, those "came" with the standard 8-rib
missile. With a little work and a bunch of crappy Fett figures,
you could almost pull a good one yourself.
The 4-rib missiles aren't as easy to repro as you have to have an
original to go by. The missile is important and some people have
purchased the missiles alone for quite a few bucks. The figure is
the most important part and since only a fraction of the known
RocketFetts out there have missiles, it doesn't seem to be quite
the same issue as say trying to sell a 12" IG-88 with no guns.
>I know some people have made
> repros from originals for other rockfetts, but I wonder how the price
> would be affected if this one was complete? I guess it's so rare a
> piece that it probably doesn't matter. You can't really be picky
> about your opportunities if you are going to purchase one of these.
> Any other thoughts?
You're right. I think in an instance like this, if you are willing to
pay the price, then you could always pick up the missile or a figure with
missile if the opportunity presents itself in the future. It's kind
of a big "if", but then again, quite a few RocketFetts have been traded
privately in the past few years, so I'm sure we will see more.
-chris
daimos
Jun 30 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
> On a related note, how much do you think it hurts the value of this piece
> that it doesn't have a rocket? I know some people have made repros from
> originals for other rockfetts, but I wonder how the price would be
> affected if this one was complete? I guess it's so rare a piece that it
> probably doesn't matter. You can't really be picky about your
> opportunities if you are going to purchase one of these. Any other
> thoughts?
i guess to some people it wouldn't really matter, being that it is so rare. I
believe that all of ones being offered are complete, but it is conceivable
that out of the 200 (???) or so produced that there are some incomplete
figures out there. I personally am a bit mixed on this. In a way, I think it
really hurts the value in the sense that it is the most important piece to
the figure, but again there are so many repros available that it kind of
makes it not that important. As for a dip in value, I would say that it would
almost drop it anywhere beween $500 bucks to maybe, and a big maybe, $2000.
Its almost like taking a telescoping Darth and removing the inner piece of
the saber. In prototype collecting incompleteness sometimes comes with the
turf. I mean look at the Gargan proto, the one (???) in existence is missing
a leg, but I doubt any of us would pass up the oprruntunity to own the only
existing POTF extension proto, incomplete or not. later eric
Eileen
Jun 30 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
What is the difference between the J slot and the L slot?? It may sound like a
dumb question to most of you, but I for one, don't know the difference and I'm
sure there are others out there who would like to know........Thanks
Jasper
Jun 30 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
Look at this webpage on the history of the Boba Fett toy. Almost
everything you need to know!!
http://www.mccrea.demon.co.uk/toys/boba.htm
Jasper
Gus Lopez
Jun 30 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
Eileen
>What is the difference between the J slot and the L slot?? It may sound like a
>dumb question to most of you, but I for one, don't know the difference and I'm
>sure there are others out there who would like to know........Thanks
There is quite a lot of info on rocket-firing Boba Fetts on the Star Wars
Collector's Archive at http://www.toysrgus.com/ Look in the unproduced
toys section where you'll photos of various pieces along with detailed
info about them.
Gus
salfamily
Jun 30 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
>Eileen
> What is the difference between the J slot and the L slot?? It may sound like
a
> dumb question to most of you, but I for one, don't know the difference and I'm
> sure there are others out there who would like to know........Thanks
Actually, its a very pertinent question. The L-slot was the version, having a
slot in its back shaped like a backwards "L". It was shot in a bluish plastic,
and lacked date stampings on the back of the leg. The J-slot, was created in
much smaller numbers (probably only around 40), and included a slightly
upturned curve at the end of the slot, which could be used to "lock" the
missile firing tab into place, and prevent misfires. As the story goes, the
small tab between the longer vertical slot and the upturned "lock" part failed
to pass stress tests,breaking off a large percentage of the time. The J-slots
are fully-painted, and shot in a plastic similar to that of the production
Fett. They also feature production dates. Basically, the J-slot was a
limited-run production figure...the last try before the rocketfett concept was
abandoned all together.
Other rocketfetts exist as well, including the original "kit-bashed"
prototype, an L-slot variant that features dates (see the SWCA), some with
faulty body parts, and some in odd colors (see the new Tomart guide
supplement to see a super-cool yellow rocketfett). I think the SW collectors
Archive features the most rocketfett pics around at
http://www.toysrgus.com/images-unproduced.html There is also a new J-slot
available at http://www.toysrgus.com/new.html
ron
Albert Interian
Jun 30 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
Which issue of toy shop and which page is this on?
Matthew Lee
Jun 30 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
There was talk on this newsgroup before that there was no such a
thing as a rocket firing Boba Fett, along with proof that is could
not exist. Now people are saying these exist. Was the original
assumption that the Fett's were sold to the public, and that none
were really sold at all?
I have read that these new finds are just protos. Is this correct?
Thanks,
ML
Salfamily
Jul 3 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
>There was talk on this newsgroup before that there was no such a
>thing as a rocket firing Boba Fett, along with proof that is could
>not exist. Now people are saying these exist. Was the original
>assumption that the Fett's were sold to the public, and that none
>were really sold at all?
Rocket Firing Fett's WERE NEVER AVAILABLE TO CONSUMERS. This is %100 accurate,
and no one has ever come forward with any information to prove otherwise. It
has been well-documented that rocketfetts were pulled by Kenner and their legal
dept. well before any were shipped. They most definitely exist, but only
because some examples were saved by Kenner employees who had access to
pre-production figures.
>I have read that these new finds are just protos. Is this correct?
All Rocketfetts are protos.
ron
DANIEL BRETTA
July 3 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
I can't tell you how many people have told me that they had the rocket
firing Fett when they were a kid. Most of them I think really believe
that they did have this. So far none of them have been able to produce
one because they either threw their toys out, sold them at garage sales
or gave them away. I have not been able to convince them that they in
fact did NOT have this because it wasn't released to the public.
Dan...
Chris Georgoulias
July 3 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
>DANIEL BRETTA wrote:
> I can't tell you how many people have told me that they had the rocket
> firing Fett when they were a kid. Most of them I think really believe
> that they did have this. So far none of them have been able to produce
> one because they either threw their toys out, sold them at garage sales
> or gave them away. I have not been able to convince them that they in
> fact did NOT have this because it wasn't released to the public.
And you hear the most convincing stories too. Many of us have heard them
all time and again. They all have the same components too - loss, yard
sales, fires - you name it. People "recall" intricate details about
how they got the figures, how they worked, how they played with them.
Quite an amusing thing to hear. :^)
It's funny when it relates to this RocketFett issue, but it's scary if
you put it in the context of something like child abuse. Makes you hope
you *never* have to be on the defensive end of a child abuse case where
people "remember" all sorts of details that actually never happened.
I don't think you sould hire an expert Star Wars collector to come in
and give the RocketFett Syndrome explanation in your defense. :^)
-chris
Matthew Lee
July 6 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage
There is a syndrome with SW (and other toy) collecting where people believe they
had the rare toy when they were young. Whether this was wishful thinking or some
other strange psychological phenomena, it is true. I actually had a Han small
head, I am sure of it, but that big headed Han just took the cake.
Back to 1998