| Original Wax Sculpting for Boba Fett Action Figure | |
| Perhaps no other figure in the entire Star Wars toy line has received more attention than Boba Fett. Certainly from his mysterious introduction as a villain from the highly anticipated sequel film and the lure of a free action figure were enough to get children in a fever pitch.
On top of all, the fact that the Boba Fett promotion printed on cardbacks heralded not only a new figure, but one with an enticing action feature - a spring-loaded rocket launcher in his backpack. Boba Fett was originally designed by Lucasfilm's Joe Johnston based on some early helmet concept work from Ralph McQuarrie with the idea that the outfit was a "Supertrooper" of sorts. However, it is Johnston that takes credit for the final look which first began as a white prototype concept drawing then was translated into a white costume. Shortly thereafter Johnston fleshed out the color scheme and developed the first prototype costume It was around that time that Kenner began development of the accompanying action figure, creating and then refining their kit-bashed concept figure. That figure was made from existing toy parts in order to get the concept going, but it would fall on Kenner to design a form that would be suitable (and cost-effective) for production. The original push-button firing mechanism would give way to a less complicated and cheaper mechanism which moved vertically and didn't lock the missile in place. That backpack design would have been engineered before the organic sculpting could be formed around the backpack. If you look closely you can see how the plastic backpack stands out from the off-white wax around it. The arms, legs, and head designs would follow and the paint and sculpted form would attempt to blend then complexities of the original kit-bashed concept wherein the range finder would be sculpted into the head, the painted boot features would be captured as sculpted forms, and the number of different colors would be reduced. The sculpting would next go on to have silicone molds made of each part then the mechanism would begin to be engineered at the plastic molded stage, in this case with prototype tooling and then onto more production-quality prototypes such as the L-Slot version and then the J-Slot version. Although ultimately the firing mechanism would be completely removed due to safety reasons explained here. |
 | |
| Description by: | Chris Georgoulias |
| Photo: | Anonymous |
| From the collection of: | Anonymous |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | A New Hope |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1978 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Action Figure Related |
