Review – Star Wars Boba Fett Concept Bust
Gentle Giant (website, Twitter) creates some really amazing Star Wars statues and this Boba Fett Concept Bust* from 2009 is as incredible as any other bust they’re produced. I picked up mine on eBay for a relatively reasonable amount, but searching online shows me that this is starting to climb in price so I’m glad I grabbed it when I did; this is only going to get more expensive as it ages.
Stormtrooper-Like Design
Boba Fett has always had a great look, but the white concept armor really makes the design feel more Stormtrooper-like than it was when it finally appeared in Empire. But it’s still clearly Boba Fett, and I don’t think anyone would ever confuse this for any other character. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to run a quick search and uncover that Gentle Giant used this exact same sculpt with a different paint app to create a standard Boba Fett . . . hmmmmm, I appear to be wrong. And now I’ve got myself thinking I should go after those bounty hunter mini-busts like I mentioned last week. Damn you, Gentle Giant, and your cool Star Wars statues!
Sculpt
As you can tell by the photos, Gentle Giant did a fabulous job in sculpting this Boba Fett Concept Bust* and holding it makes me question why it took me so long to break down and order one for myself. The helmets (see below) are great, and every wrinkle in the the suit beneath the armor looks like it got as much work done to it as the wrist rockets, blaster, and every other detail in the bust. It’s very nice . . . which is no less than I expect from Gentle Giant.
Paint
As the review at Jedi Temple Archives says, the paint’s got a lot more going on that you expect from a white statue. By using subtle variations of off-white paint — combined with the natural effect of shadows cast by the sculpted details — the Boba Fett Concept Bust* has a lot more depth and detail to the sculpt than if it had just been a flat white. Excellent work with the paint.
Helmets
Below you can see the two helmets that are included with the Boba Fett Concept Bust*. The one on the left is the more traditional design, while the one on the right is the helmet that I’ll be using when displaying the statue. The basic concept behind the right-side helmet is the same as the one on the left, but since it’s so dramatically different from the final design I think it’s the more interesting choice for a “concept” bust.
Closing Thoughs
The only problem with this Boba Fett Concept Bust* is that it’s so cool that I’m now thinking I should snag the concept Vader bust at Gentle Giant before they’re all gone. I don’t own many of Gentle Giant’s works of art, but each one that I get leads to buying another one.
Would I recommend this to anyone? Absolutely. Any Fett or Stormtrooper fan out there could do a lot worse than skipping a dozen or so Hasbro action figures and instead buying this work of art. It’s definitely worth the money.
Philip Reed should also review the Concept Snowtrooper bust that he owns. He just wishes it would snow so that he could take photos of it in a wintery environment.
Too many differences in the concept armor to just repaint as your standard Fett. Still, it would be a cool, non-canon repaint.
@Black Zarak – I think that once painted in the traditional colors this would be close enough, but maybe if it was the animated (1978) colors it would work even better. Great, now that I’ve thought of that I want one of these in the animated colors.
Hey, I’m all for repainting as many different versions of Fett’s armor into as many different and wild schemes as possible! You should apply the G2 color schemes to Mandalorians or, god help us, Shattered Glass Thundercracker. Also unrelated, and not really anything worth noting there yet, but I started a blog of my own and mentioned Battle Grip as one of my inspirations for it.
@Black Zarak – Congrats on the new blog! I’ll have to check that out.
And now you’ve got me thinking about some illos to create . . .
the “shades” head is like the best design of Boba and keeps me always thinking on Space Pimp. Has a lot of Metal Hurlant and Moebius influence this one – that’s maybe why i like it so much. Star Wars i like..not so much.