Oola was the green-skinned Twi'lek dancer in Jabba the Hutt's court. Jabba delighted in watching Oola dance to the music of the Max Rebo Band. When Jabba wanted more than dance, however, Oola refused. Frustrated with Oola's defiance, Jabba opened the trap-door beneath the dance floor and fed the dancer to his deadly rancor.
There is a phenomenon in Star Wars collecting that is unexplainable but happens all the time. And that is some Star Wars characters get a focus in the calendar year across various licenses. 2007 was unofficially the year of Bossk, 2008 had a focus on Captain Rex (for obvious reasons), 2009 went to Princess Leia (Jabba’s Slave), and 2010 seems so far to be dedicated to Jabba the Hutt and his hive, including the Gamorrean Guard and Oola. Gentle Giant Ltd.. steps up to the plate and releases the Oola Mini Bust and they did a fine job on not only matching her likeness, but sculpting her in a pose that looks like it is a screen shot right from Return Of The Jedi. Oola is truly a no-brainer character and fans and collectors adore her. She is sexy, she is the first victim we see of Jabba’s Rancor and she confirms to viewers of the film that the Twi’lek species is not too loyal to each others species. We will always wonder why Bib Fortuna didn’t try to save or rescue her. Her death was extremely pointless.
Just like the Hasbro action figure included in the Walmart exclusive Jabba’s Throne (you have this by now, right?), the Oola mini bust comes with real soft-goods clothing which moves and can reveal her breasts underneath. She has a very athletic build and pretty much every detail in her portrait matches actress Femi Taylor’s beautiful face. We noticed that her green screen is quite light on the mini bust. But Jabba’s Palace is so dark and dreary and the lighting was terrible, so it may be more accurate than we realize. But we can confirm that her make-up is a little too colorful on the mini bust. It is evident that Gentle Giant Ltd.. tried very hard to get it right, but it falls a little bit short here. But the great news is that other parts of her scantily clad outfit are perfect. For example, the “metal” details on her headwear and the cord that ties her to Jabba himself just look so fantastic. It is actually quite amazing how well they replicated these details.
Oola is a quintessential character for your Star Wars collection. She truly symbolizes the scum and villainy in Jabba’s Palace not because she falls under that category, but because how she was a possession and her death was entertainment for Jabba’s retinue. Between the products made by Hasbro and Gentle Giant Ltd.., Oola is getting good representation in 2010. It is our hope that Sideshow is working on a 12” figure to go with their fabulous 12” Jabba The Hutt figure. Oola certainly doesn’t rival Princess Leia in her now famous "Jabba’s slave" outfit, but Oola certainly doesn’t get as much attention when it comes to collectibles. We think we have all we need now and there really isn’t a reason to redo what has done. (But we still want a 12” figure, Sideshow!) Limited to 2700 pieces, Oola won’t be the hardest min bust to acquire for your collection, but she is done very well and she may just sell through more quickly than any of us may realize. We suggest making her a priority.
