Nien Nunb - Mini Busts

The Sullustan flyer and smuggler Nien Nunb co-piloted the legendary Millennium Falcon with General Lando Calrissian during the Battle of Endor. Together, they flew directly into the center of the second Death Star, blowing up its reactor core and destroying the entire station with the resulting explosion. The bravery of Nien Nunb made him a legend of the Rebellion.

Don’t you wish you could alter time or speed up the harvests? When you’re a Star Wars collector, sometimes it’s especially hard to keep up with your collection, especially if you manage multiple formats across multiple licensees. To make things even more arduous for us, Gentle Giant Ltd. is making the smallest edition size runs on their most recent Mini Busts. Where 1000 units was “super rare” between 2002 and 2007, it’s now nearly considered “average” by today’s standards. The collecting community has tapered off, prices have skyrocketed and interest for Star Wars collectibles has waned even if the passion for the films has not. Space limitations in the home have killed the collecting spirit for many fans sadly. We all have reached a point where making hard decisions about what lines to forgo and what lines to maintain is more difficult than ever. If you are able to keep up with the hobby, you should know that Gentle Giant Ltd. is making some of their best products to date. While not all are completely perfect, there has been less and less room for criticism lately and for that we’re thankful.

Gentle Giant Ltd. finally stuck their hands in the Nien Nunb character. What is surely to remain a controversial Mini Bust, the Nien Nunb Mini Bust is based on the “Sullustan B-wing pilot” seen during the Rebel briefing on Home One. Following in Hasbro’s footsteps, Gentle Giant Ltd. is also referring to this character as Nien Nunb instead of Ten Numb which many fans to this day believe is. Hasbro created 2009’s LC Nien Nunb (B-wing Pilot) (BD19) figure and that caused a great deal of controversy. Arguments and visual proof exist to show that this is indeed Nien Nunb. But still so many refuse to accept it. Whatever you take, it seems to be officially mandated by Lucasfilm Ltd. that this is indeed Nien Nunb and not Ten Numb. How could collectible formats get approved or sneak past Lucasfilm Ltd. twice now? The great news is that no matter how you view this piece, Gentle Giant Ltd. did a fantastic job with it. Looking exactly like the onscreen character, Nien Nunb has his arms folded and he’s listening intently to the Rebels’ game plan to attack the second Death Star.

The artists at Gentle Giant Ltd did a fantastic job painting this piece. Keeping in mind that these are indeed hand-painted collectibles, you will be thoroughly impressed with the attention to detail given to his features. Nien Nunb has especially specific details in his mouth area. All of this has been taken into consideration. The paint closest to the mouth is shiny to give the appearance of wetness, while his skin is porcelain smooth and lightly accented with washes to give it depth and texture. His eyes are gorgeous black pearls, also done with a glossy finish. You almost will wait for him to blink his eyes. That’s how realistic this piece looks. Nien Nunb’s flight suit has also been nicely replicated. The bright red fabric is highlighted with the chest box all pilots wear. You’ll also see a breathing tub hanging on his left side and a vest that holds everything in place. It’s all here and done beautifully. Limited to a very minimal 900 pieces, Nien Nunb has already disappeared for the most part from online and retail and the aftermarket is your only hope at this point. We still want to see a Nien Nunb Mini Bust in the outfit he wore while co-piloting the Millennium Falcon. They have to give us that one eventually, right?