Jabba The Hutt Statuette

I know, I don’t normally review statues. But, this one of the few that I have. Well, two that I have.

This is an Applause statue of Jabba and Leia done in faux bronze. I know these days most of these types of statues come painted. Honestly though, I kind of like the bronze tone. To me, it says statue and separates it from the action figure collection. I’ts really got a rich tone to it that is better than some of the others like I’ve seen.

The thing that I really like is the mix of textures here. The stone looks like stone and the pillows are sculpted to look fluffy. Even the contrast between Jabba’s and Leia’s skins help sell this.

To me this is one of the first representations of Jabba’s dias that wasn’t from Kenner. It even has the detail on his frog bowl/water pipe correct. True to statues of this vintage the tube for the pipe is sculpted close to the body.

This is full on non-cgi Jabba as a I remember him. The skin on the arm looks a bit stretched out like it should. I also have to say they really nailed his face. Not everybody has always got that right.

There are a couple things here that seem a bit off to me. The suckers on the bottom of his tail seem a bit pronounced to me. Also the overall width from the front seems a little narrow. Maybe he’s more curled up on himself here than in the film, but I always thought him and the throne were a tad bit longer.

Since it was never shown on screen, we don’t know what the back of his arm rest looked like, but I think I like the modern Hasbro version a bit more. This one seems to end a bit abruptly. The detail on the back of Jabba seems a bit soft compared to the front. I don’t display this where folks can see both sides, so it doesn’t really bother me.

Leia looks okay. To me the likeness isn’t quite there. Also, her pose seems more like sunning on the beach rather than being pulled close to a crime lord slug by a neck chain. Slave Leia has always been a fanboy favorite, and I’m sure a number of folks got this piece just to have her near by.

The finishing detail here is Salacious Crumb. Again, due to limitations at the time, he’s sculpted close to Jabba’s body. Unfortunately, this makes him fade into the piece a little too much.

Overall:

This is one of those piece that would look good in an area where you want to have something Star Wars, but subtle. It’s a statue, but the bronze helps it blend in. For the time it was made, Star Wars merchandise wasn’t as easy to come by. Taking that into consideration, this piece is a neat item.

Engineernerd Score: 82/100

 

Tags: Applause, Episode 6, Jabba the Hutt, Princess Leia, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars, Statuette

Category: Featured, Star Wars, Toy Reviews