JANGO FETT Geonosis Arena - no wait, Kamino - no wait, neither
The Vintage Collection Deluxe 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. G0260
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #307
Includes: Unmasked head, 2 blasters, jet pack, flame effect, jet pack effects
Action Feature: Swap head for helmet, blasters go in holsters, removable jet pack, flames can attach to backpack
Retail: $24.99
Availability: March 2024
Appearances: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
Bio: In the last years of the Republic, right-handed shooter Jango Fett was considered the best bounty hunter in the galaxy. He wore an elegant armored suit that hid his scarred face. (Stolen from Hasbro's marketing copy.)
Image: Adam's photo lab.
Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!
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Commentary: Not gonna lie - when I was told we were getting a new
The Vintage Collection
Jango Fett for $25 I was just a little (lot) cranky. We got a really good one just over 10 years ago, with a poncho and rocket and everything. While I cannot deny that the final figure is above and beyond better in terms of sculpting and engineering, it does
not have all the accessories of the previous release, nor is it accurate to the movie. I'd rather Hasbro sell me two flavors of Jango Fett with different accessories than sell me one that's not screen accurate after 22 years. And that says nothing about the overall quality of
this figure - sure you may have launching rockets, jumping figure launchers, a wrist claw, a magnetic, decapitating head, a launching flame projectile, or a poncho... but have you paid extra to
not have those things? Action features are, sadly, dead.
The overall quality is quite good - I heard some of these described as tiny
The Black Series figures, and that's a fair comparison. The likeness is good, with little scars and a skin tone that has a hint of translucency - maybe just the slightest bit too much - but that's OK, because the figure does a good job with the deco otherwise. The rich silver looks awesome, the browns look perfectly nice, and Jango's body glove is normally about as consistently colored as Hoth Han's coat. Sometimes it's bluer, sometimes it's more purple, and this time it's more of a pale, very blue purple. I think they made good choices in terms of deco, and that's really about all you can hope for these days.
What they sculpted was done well. There's no unnecessary battle damage or anything, the fabric wrinkles look good, and the leather belt and holsters all look good. Thanks to the holders being sculpted as separate elements, they
look better but do put some restrictions on how you can pose him - they get in the way, they keep things from swinging forward as well as you might like. But most of you won't even be opening this closed-box figure, let alone putting it in a vehicle, so will you care? You may say you do - and some of you do - but a lot of you won't even know if I didn't write it here.
The rocket pack is similarly well-sculpted and nicely decorated, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily better than the memory of what already came out. I like the range of movement a bit more, and it's been a long time since we had a new Jango, but a rerelease of the old one at the new standard pricing would probably be received just as warmly. The proportions are good and he looks like Jango Fett. What more could you ask for?
...I'm glad you asked. In the movie, Jango had two backpacks, and at one point his helmet got dented. That's where this figure goes wrong and at $25 I don't feel particularly forgiving of such errors - there was probably some budget for the alternate head or backpack. This figure includes the helmet we see until he bonks his head at the end of the fight with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Kamino (no helmet) with the jet pack he uses on Geonosis (JT*45 jet pack). This is the kind of thing you'd expect for a pre-movie figure, or something in the first year before you have a finished style guide, but it's kind of a frustrating error on a premium price figure after a movie's 20th anniversary. The best move Hasbro could have done would be to include both jet packs and both helmets, even if it meant dropping the blast effects or tacking on another buck to the price. Or using the base figure body and make two regular figures - one for Kamino, and another for Geonosis. As it is, it's a very good figure with clean paint applications and wonderful joints, but it's not
right. It's easy to overlook (and I daresay more interesting when we get) errors on a basic $5-$10 figure, because when you're making a kid figure, "fun" is arguably more interesting and accuracy is not the single most important thing. For collector-targeted figures at collector prices, accuracy is the kind of thing that fans are going to notice. And if you didn't notice and are rolling your eyes right now, well, I've probably done the same to you a few times so let's call it even Steven.
If you want a super-articulated Jango Fett figure and aren't going to fret over screen accuracy - or want one that could arguably fit in multiple scenarios without being 100% right or wrong - this is it. It's Jango! He looks like Jango! The armor is gorgeous and the hoses flex nicely while not doing much to disrupt his body language. I've got obnoxiously high standards for deluxed priced figures of characters I've bought for under $10 multiple times, but I can't deny that (save for the error and selection of helmet/backpack) they delivered an excellent figure and each part, on its own merits, is very good. It's not like
The Book of Boba Fett Boba Fett with two weird, mispainted Stormtrooper helmets or Krrsantan with "let's put more junk in here to drive up the price and then do a con variant with a different head" - every element is expertly crafted. If the helmet lack-of-ding doesn't bother you, I recommend this figure - even at full price. And it's not something you might even notice or care about at this scale, especially since any other Jango is going to set you back a lot more money if you want such niceties as elbows and wrist joints.
Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 3,139: June 4, 2024
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