Jango Fett

Frustration, thy name is Jango Fett. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter follows Jango Fett, the most fearsome bounty hunter in the galaxy, as he pursues an unhinged Dark Jedi named Komari Vosa. As that bio makes clear, this figure is not based on Attack of the Clones, but on a videogame - that's why it was available as part of the "Gaming Greats" subline available exclusively at GameStop. Fine, whatever, GameStop is fairly plentiful, it shouldn't be too hard to find. Oh, but then it comes out in Summer 2020, when you can't actually go to a GameStop, because first they're all closed, then they're opening just enough to put their employees at risk, then they're just passing things out the door... point is, it was released at exactly the wrong time for anyone who was hoping to pick one up easily. There was already one Black Series Jango Fett released, and logically this one uses the same molds. SW: Bounty Hunter was a PS2/GameCube release that revealed how Jango was selected to be the template for the Clone army; since the game serves as a prequel to Episode 2, it makes sense that this would be the same armor, just with less wear and tear - there is no "weathering" painted on the surface, leaving it a pristine silver. Plus his undersuit is a little more vibrant, though that may not have been an intentional choice. Pretend it eventually faded in the wash. The most important change in the paint is one you can't even see until you open the figure. He's got his helmet on in the package, but if you take it off, you'll find that Hasbro's used the "Photo Real" printing tech to really make this one look like Temuera Morrison. No more chola eyebrows for the galaxy's most feared bounty hunter! The helmet is the same mold from six years ago, so it doesn't have a moveable viewfinder. That was annoying enough back then, but now that we've got one on that new Boba Fett? It's even worse. So Dad has a helmet you can take off, but you can't use the antenna, and Junior has a joint for the antenna, but it's on a helmet you can't take off (despite being a separate mold). Why do the Fetts have such trouble finding fully useable headgear? You can hunt down a Dark Jedi based on nothing more than some stray deathsticks, but you can't hunt down a competant haberdasher? The articulation is unchanged from the older release. Jango has swivel/hinge ankles, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, balljointed hips, balljointed torso, swivel/hinge wrists and elbows, swivel forearms and biceps, swivel/hinge shoulders, a hinged neck and a balljointed head. The joints in the forearms are so you can aim the weapons sculpted on his gauntlets (flamethrower, rocket launcher, whatever else), while the ones in the biceps are there because hoses run from the gauntlets to the upper arm, and if they didn't move somehow, they'd keep the arms from going as far as they should and that would be annoying. We get the same twin blaster pistols as before, and they still fit in the holsters on his legs. One thing that is different, though? The jetpack. Jango's classic device was just about flight - this one (reused from the first Black Series Boba Fett) is a different shape overall and features a rocket in the center. And a lot more paint, since that one was basically just solid green. The old mold means no movement in the boosters, and no taking the rocket out. Jango did use a pack like this at one point in the game, so the change makes sense, even if it's not what we expect. There's no question that the Photo Real paint makes a huge difference in the quality of this toy's Jango likeness - a big enough difference that it's basically selling the toy by itself. You can pick your fave when it comes to the scuffed-up body paint or the kind of backpack he wears, but the better head makes a better figure. -- 10/03/21

Tweet