| Wax Cast for Empire Strikes Back Large-Size Figure Boot | |
| As most serious collectors know, Kenner planned to release five new toys as part of their large-size figure line in conjunction with the 1980 release of The Empire Strikes Back. In the end only one, IG-88, made it to store shelves; figures representing Lando Calrissian, Luke Bespin, Leia Bespin, and Han Hoth were all cancelled before they could be mass-produced.
Two of these new figures, Han Hoth and Luke Bespin, were to have come packaged with boots made using the same mold. This boot derived from a wholly new sculpt; it wasn't ported over from an earlier figure or a pre-existing line. (Weirdly, the boots for the original Han Solo large-size figure derive from Kenner's International Velvet doll.) What you see here is a wax cast of that Han Hoth/Luke Bespin boot sculpt. I got it directly from a former Kenner sculptor. As it is common for wax sculpts to be destroyed during the making of electroform molds, I think it's likely that this is the closest we'll ever come to seeing a sculpt or a hardcopy of this boot form. Funnily, I had a bit of a time convincing the sculptor to sell this to me. Notice that it has a lot of excess wax above the sculpted boot area. He was loathe to give up all that reusable sculpting material! |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Ron Salvatore |
| From the collection of: | Ron Salvatore |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Empire Strikes Back |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1980 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Miscellaneous Toys |