Force to Be Reckoned With: Valuable Long- Lost ‘Star Wars’ Toy Packaging Artwork Leads Heritage’s December Action Figures Auction

Highest-graded hand-painted, rocket-firing Boba Fett is a major bounty in an event also full of prototypes, sealed and highly graded figures DOWNLOAD DIGITAL PRESS KIT DALLAS, Texas (Oct. 31, 2024) — Star Wars collectors, this is the auction you’ve been looking for. In May, Heritage Auctions sold one of the world’s few surviving rocket-firing Boba Fett action figures for $525,000, marking the first time the miniature Mandalorian realized more than half a million dollars at auction. As it turns out, that historic event served as a prequel to Heritage’s December 4 Action Figures & Toys Platinum Star Wars Signature® Auction, which counts among its legendary offerings an even scarcer and more coveted hand-painted version of the rocket-firing Boba Fett that was famously among rocker Rick Springfield’s collection of Star Wars action figures. But the hand-painted bounty hunter is far from the sole treasure in this auction. Indeed, collectors will discover in this event some long-lost, seldom-seen keepsakes from a galaxy far, far away: the original packaging art for Kenner’s adored action figures. For the first time at auction, Heritage presents some of the original Star Wars action figure package art, most of which features photos from the films airbrushed by hand. One notable exception is the watercolor Star Wars Droids Boba Fett Original Packaging Artwork from 1985, which was tied to the Saturday-morning animated series and later used for two Topps trading-card series and various action-figure reissues. Justin Caravoulias, Consignment Director for Action Figures & Toys at Heritage, says that no one ever thought the packaging artwork had any value — artistic or otherwise. It was just a thing meant to sell another thing. That’s how more than most of the Star Wars action figure packaging artwork wound up thrown away or lost. In the early 1990s, some of the works were discovered, and collectors rushed to rescue them from the dustbin of history. This Boba Fett piece has changed hands only twice since 1991 — and is available publicly for the first time in this auction. “There’s never been an auction like this, and the fact we have these original works — for Leia, Han Solo, R2-D2 and the lesser-known Ree-Yees and Nikto — is unheard-of,” Caravoulias says. “It’s never been done. And it’s exciting as a collector and student of Star Wars and toys. These are one-of-a-kind pieces that serve as a sort of genesis for these toys; it’s how kids first saw them and why they wanted them. And it’s a privilege to present them — to hold them in my hands! — and to share them with others who’ve never seen them until now.” Also among the auction’s 34 offerings are some of the highest-graded examples of those figures, along with the invaluable prototypes for playthings. But none is more coveted than the Boba Fett that was promised but never delivered. Like its record-setting predecessor, this auction’s little bounty hunter with the hefty price on his head was among the scant handful Kenner manufactured before realizing it was too dangerous to send a projectile-firing, choking-hazard miniature to kids. It was once intended as a giveaway: “FREE BOBA FETT,” exhorted the in-store displays, the action-figure packaging and TV ads in 1979, shortly after the mysteriously armored figure debuted as “Darth Vader’s right-hand man” in the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. Except, quite famously, that rocket-loaded Boba Fett never arrived in the mail — or anywhere else — after reports surfaced in early 1979 that competitor Mattel’s Battlestar Galactica plastic-missile-firing toys had become choking hazards. When Boba Fett finally arrived in a plain white box, kids discovered the rocket had been glued into place. A “Note to Consumers” also explained why the change had been made: “The launcher has been removed from the product for safety reasons.” And so the rocket-firing Boba Fett action figure achieved what ABC News once called “mythic, unicorn-like status.” This one even more so: This Boba Fett has the L-shaped latch in the back, of which there are some 70 known examples of the surviving 100 (or so) prototypes. As Caravoulias notes, this Boba Fett bears an alternate paint scheme featuring two extra colors, which predates the final production paint scheme. And, bearing Collectible Grading Authority’s grade of Near Mint 80, it’s the highest-graded Boba Fett among all the hand-painted prototypes. “This is truly a unique figure,” Caravoulias says. And its authenticity is blaster-proof: Not only was it once in Springfield’s renowned collection, but it was authenticated in 2008 by Tom Derby, the revered strategic analyst at Collectible Investment Brokerage best known for verifying such rarities. Boba Fett is joined in this event by other early versions of well-known and much-loved action figures, including four of the Cantina creature prototypes, and you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy (without their copyright stamps, anyway). Among this fearsome foursome is the coveted Blue Snaggletooth, joined by Walrus Man, Hammerhead and Greedo (long before he shot first). These figures hail from the collection of Stephen Gemperline, who worked in Kenner’s reliability and safety test lab during those early years. This is the sole complete set of Cantina creatures he kept from his time at Kenner. Then there are the early versions of Darth Vader’s kids: a hand-assembled Princess Leia First Shot adorned in a hand-cut prototype cape, an unpainted Empire Strikes Back Luke Skywalker Hoth First Shot sealed in its Kenner bag and a Luke Skywalker Engineering Pilot with Prototype Double Telescoping Light Saber, which might be the most famous (and fragile) among the first trilogy’s action figures. The latter Luke ranks among Caravoulias’ favorite pieces in this auction and with good reason: It’s among the most coveted production rarities; that translucent double-telescoping light saber was fragile and is seldom seen intact if at all, and it hails from Kenner’s Test Lab. And this Luke only reached the collectors’ market eight years ago, when it appeared at former Kenner employee Dewy Shumate’s estate auction in Ohio. “This is an event that offers a profoundly rare chance to bring home pieces of cinematic and toy history, artifacts that resonate deeply with collectors and fans alike,” Caravoulias says. “These are among the rarest and most legendary Star Wars action figures, including more than one Boba Fett with its own mythic lore.” Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world's largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet's most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 1,750,000 registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of 6,000,000 past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit. For breaking stories, follow us: HA.com/Facebook and HA.com/Twitter . Link to this release or view prior press releases . Hi-Res images available: Robert Wilonsky, VP Public Relations and Communications 214-409-1887 or RobertW@HA.com