Old Boba has been immortalized in just about every way possible. It’s not bad for a guy with only a handful of lines and an embarrassing death.

The latest incarnation is on the shelves at your local Target. It’s called a “Mighty Mugg”, and is a series of Star Wars figures done in a designer vinyl style. You know what I’m talking about – hollow rotocast smooth vinyl figures that use paint as their main source of definition.

There are several in the first wave, including Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader…and of course, Boba Fett. As a big collector of all things Fett, I couldn’t pass him up, particularly at the ten buck price tag.

If you have any questions, just drop me an email at mwc@mwctoys.com. Now on with the review…

Boba Fett Mighty Mugg

The designer vinyl figure craze has been in full swing for a couple years, and yet I’m still surprised to see major retailers take a chance on it. If anything seems clearly a collector focused line, it’s something like this, but it’s nice to see the mass market folks trying to tap into the market a bit more.

Packaging – ***
The boxes are a tad flimsy, but at least the graphics are clean and vibrant. They do look like most every other vinyl specialty line, but most folks seeing these at Target aren’t going to realize that. There’s also a window in the box to allow you to see the figure, and the packaging can be opened and resealed without damage (aka ‘collector friendly’).

Sculpting – **1/2
‘Sculpting’ is a bit of a misnomer here, since there really isn’t any. With this type of figure (much like the mini block figures), the body, limbs and head all have one general shape, size and style, and it’s the paint that makes the characters truly unique.

Unfortunately, the style here ain’t really flippin’ my patties. The head approximates a helmet I suppose, but it actually looks much better with the human characters (like Han) than it does with the helmeted characters (like Vader and Fett). For someone like Boba, the style is simply too rounded for my tastes.

He does stand up great on his own though, and the hands COULD hold something if something was available. The jetpack isn’t removable, but it’s a decent looking addition. Whether you really consider this a ‘vinyl’ figure or not is debatable, as the material they’ve used seems a lot more like a very hard plastic, but they’re still trying to piggy back on the vinyl popularity with the style.

Paint – ***1/2
The paint is critical, and it’s nice to see that it’s very clean and neat. The cut lines are razor sharp, and there’s no bleed and almost no slop. In fact, the quality reminds me of some much more expensive vinyl specialty market stuff, which surprised me considering the cost.

Articulation – **
Vinyl figures aren’t known for their articulation, but even then this one is a tad lacking. He has a neck joint and cut shoulders. The legs appear to have cut joints at the top, but mine don’t want to turn. Even if they did, there wouldn’t be much point, since turning them wouldn’t have any appreciable effect on the pose.

If you’re a regular buyer of designer vinyl stuff, this lack of articulation won’t be much of a surprise.

Accessories – Bupkis
Yep, nothing here. A blaster would have gone a long way to improving this guy for me.

Fun Factor – **
This isn’t for kids, and not because they’d break it. In fact, they’d be able to show it some pretty serious abuse, and it would be fine. No, this isn’t for them because there’s not much point to playing with him.

Value – ***1/2
Designer vinyl figures tend to be expensive, and in some cases, very expensive. Even the specialty market stuff that’s produced in moderate quantity can run $40 or $50 a pop easy, and the more limited stuff runs in the hundreds. When I picked this guy up off the shelf at Target, I was therefore expecting twenty bucks to be on the tag, and was quite happily surprised to see just $10.

Now, on the flip side, let’s keep in mind that there’s not much to any vinyl figure like this. The high end pricing gets driven by artist demand, not actual cost. But with a mass market item like this, actual cost is much more a factor…and that cost is relatively low.

Things to Watch Out For –
Zippo!

Overall – ***
I liked this guy better in the package than out – that’s never a good sign. He actually would have lost another half star on my overall if not for the excellent value, particularly for folks that are accostumed to paying 4, 5 or more times the price. I think that most folks that are really into these will pick up the whole series, because that’s how they really look best – as a set together on the shelf. Individual figures don’t really don’t do as much for you.

Where to Buy –
Target and Toys R Us are getting these in at around $10 a pop.

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