Original "Kit-bashed" Boba Fett Prototype: Many will be familiar with this figure as it is depicted on most 20-back Star Wars blister cards, one version of the insert included with the Star Wars vinyl collector's case and in several different Kenner file photographs, scattered over a range of sources.

This is a rare glimpse at the original kit-bashed prototype for the Boba Fett figure taken from Kenner file photography. Previous glimpses of this figure were only of the front, but thanks to Steve Denny, we are now able to see a large closeup of both sides of this legendary figure.

What has come to light recently and subsequently brought a new avenue of interest to this prototype, is that it is actually a composite of several other body parts culled from the 20 figures existing at that time, namely, the Stormtrooper (arms), Death Squad Commander (legs) and C3PO (torso). A similar practice of modifying materials at hand and combining them to meet a specific end (often referred to as "kit-bashing") was apparently a common practice at Kenner, during this period in particular, as we see it employed in several other prototypes of the time.

Aside from aiding the designers in hashing out the particulars of a figure's appearance, this technique might also have served as a way of filling vacancies in photographic material (such as advertisements) during the time in which the actual production figure as we would come to know it was still in the early design stages. Having gotten a late start, Kenner was working fast at the time in order to catch up and keep up with the Star Wars craze. Getting the Boba Fett promotion on line as a boost for the tail-end of the "Star Wars" run would have been vital and to do this graphical representations were needed. This situation was likely compounded by late finalization by Lucasfilm of the particulars of the Fett costume.

I don't know if you can notice it here but the figure in this photo, from the "Collect All 32" store display, has the "eyes" or "horns" of early Fett costume prototypes painted on its forehead. Its also a good bet that the figure's close resemblance to the Fett character as he was first featured in the Star Wars Holiday Special is, likewise, no coincidence.

The image above is a closeup of that same kit-bashed figure from the "Collect All 32" display. Yet another shot of this kit-bashed prototype appears in an insert for the first Star Wars figure storage case (pictured below):

With all these pictures floating around Kenner file photography, one would think that this original prototype would be easy to locate, but, so far the collecting community has not been able to track down this original piece.