[En Sabah Nerd]

Found the black series "deluxe" Boba Fett at Walmart. They only had two on the shelf but the helmet on one was severely warped because it was kind of turned in box so the bubble was squeezing it out of shape instead of holding it in place. That leads right to my big problem with this figure, the helmet is a softer plastic piece glued on top of a faux head. This is the same crap they did with the new Stormtrooper and it's once again an issue here because you can easily get one which is seriously warped and/or the helmet isn't oriented exactly how it's supposed to be on the head which can mess with articulation. On the one I picked up it's slightly disoriented which meant I had to use some heat to loosen it up out of the box to actually get the helmet into its proper bell shape. I really think they should just go with making the helmet the head for these characters where the helmet isn't meant to be removed because so far it's aggravating me more often than not. My next gripe is with the paint applications. I know from behind the scenes photos that his blaster should be a little worn looking or dirty but it seems like they really overdid it here to the point of looking rusty. His jetpack then is the opposite where the blue in particular seems too clean and bright and the small bits sticking out of the top near the missile base should be painted silver, but I'm a little more forgiving on the jetpack since it's his backside and not the prominent side of display. Lastly then on paint I think the silver weathering, wear-and-tear effects on the helmet are weakly done when compared to the Empire figure. My final complaint is that this really doesn't feel all that much like a deluxe release since not only does it have all the issues I already mentioned but then most of the bonus accessories that pad out the packaging are kind of lame. The grapple cord is gimmicky and way too short to even actually use unless Boba is standing right in the other person's face, and the cut in half blaster just feels forced in to give him more stuff. Singling out the destroyed blaster for a moment, I kind of would get just including the back half to recreate that specific moment but then including the front half and making them be able to plug together is just silly when he already has a non-damaged complete version. The fire effect pieces are the only bonus accessories I actually like or will ever use and even then he doesn't include any kind of flight stand so the jetpack bursts seem limited just going off of the contents of the box.

I know so far all I've done is bitch about this figure but I do actually like it quite a bit. The sculpt and articulation are better (not surprising given the Empire version is almost 8 years old) and in an all around sense it handles better but the $30 price just doesn't feel justified, sadly though since it is Boba Fett I am very skeptical that it will stick around for most people to be able to scoop it up on clearance like those peg-warming Jar Jars did.

Comparison with the Empire version for those interested.