figure was made and several were shipped to early
buyers.
The Boba Fett figure wasn't available in stores initially. It Kenner quickly modified all advertising and promotional "Originally, our Star Wars Boba Fett action While some people "remember" getting a missile-firing So, if you hear tales of "a friend of a friend who got a
This one's been the bane of many
an action figure collector. When
the first Boba Fett action figure
was planned in 1978, following
that year's "Star Wars Holiday
Special" on television which
introduced the bounty hunter in an
animated segment and in
anticipation of the character's role
in the upcoming film, The Empire
Strikes Back, toymaker Kenner Products had plans to
incorporate a special rocket-firing backpack.
was first unveiled as a 1979 mail-in promotion in which
collectors could send in cut-out proofs-of-purchase and
then receive the rocket-firing figure a while later. While the
toy was still in the final stages of planning, however, a
similar missile-firing feature in Battlestar Galactica toys
from Mattel raised some child safety issues and caused a
product recall. Kenner quickly realized it had to modify the
coolest and most promoted feature of its new action
figure. It experimented with a few variations to see if it
could figure out a child-proof "locking" mechanism for the
small firing missile, but quickly gave up and retooled the
figure. It removed the firing mechanism and permanently
glued the missile into the backpack.
material so that the offer no longer made mention of the
rocket-firing feature. Also, the Fetts that were mailed came
with a small note explaining the following:
figure was designed to have a spring-launched
rocket. The launcher has been removed from
the product for safety reasons. If you are
dissatisfied with the product, please return it to
us and we will replace it with any Star Wars
mini-action figure of your choice."
Fett in the mail, none of the rocket-firing Boba Fett figures
were released. Their memories are playing tricks on them.
A small amount of production-test figures, called
"first-shots", were made for Kenner's inspection, but these
were usually rough, unfinished, unpainted action figures,
although these and some painted variations have made
there way to collectors' hands.
rocket-firing Fett in the mail," be gentle.
