Droopy McCool - Mini Busts

Droopy McCool was the Kitonak member of the Max Rebo Band. He played a flute made from the hollow chidinkalu plant from his home planet of Kirdo II. Witnessing the downfall of Jabba the Hutt firsthand, Droopy McCool is one of the few survivors of the ill-fated execution attempt on Luke Skywalker at the Pit of Carkoon.

One of the greatest sequences in any Star Wars film was Jabba’s palace, and perhaps the best scene from that sequence was Lapti Nek as performed by the Max Rebo Band. Evidently, George Lucas wasn’t nearly as excited for how this turned out as most of the Star Wars loving population was, so he tweaked it (a lot) by removing classic interpretations of characters (Sy Snootles) and added an augmented band to fill up some of the blank stage space. In short, it didn’t work out and fans began soon pining for the return of the Lapti Neck sequence intact and unadulterated. That never happened, but thankfully a few licensees decided to fight for their rights to produce the Max Rebo Band as the well remembered trio instead of a band where you can’t even count the numbers. Gentle Giant Ltd. decided to cast all three originals in Mini Bust format and these high end collectibles turned out better than we expected. With a great paint job and a decent pose, Droopy McCool in the next release of the Max Rebo Band in Mini Bust format.

When 75% of a character is dependent on his/her accessory, it makes it difficult to find a pose that is generic and where the accessory doesn’t obstruct the view of the character’s face. As you might imagine, Droopy McCool is a bizarrely constructed creature. And as a creature that barely comes with a face, placing an instrument in his mouth only blocks the view of the character to the point where it’s hard to interpret any aspects of the character’s personality. Thankfully you don’t need to know too much about Droopy McCool to appreciate him. He is shirtless, wears too tight pants and plays an oboe styled instrument to accompany the Max Rebo Band’s often enjoyable dance track performances or the latest hits in the galaxy. The Mini Bust is a faithful representation of the character in Return Of The Jedi. But because this is a Mini Bust, getting the upper body only really limits the perspective of the character. We just wish we could see him in his entirety. (Those that collect Gentle Giant Ltd. statues are fortunately able to enjoy full sizes of these characters!)

We’re consistently astounded with how low the edition sizes become year after year. There is evidently a significant scaling down of those who collect products from the Mini Busts line. Droopy McCool is another Mini Bust whose edition side is less than 1000 units. And yet the piece has been available almost a year after its release at very low prices. Perhaps the market and collector base is changing. Things just aren’t the same anymore. We see the reduction in how many Hasbro products there are, so it makes sense there would be even a greater cutback in a line where the pieces fall just under $100 each after tax and shipping. No matter your current position on collecting or no matter what lines you have decided will remain in your collection, the Droopy McCool Mini Bust is just simply another great addition to the line. Between the gorgeous paint operations to the very screen accurate sculpt, the Droopy McCool Mini Bust is definitely for those that love the Original Trilogy. And those who love cool tunes should love this Mini Bust too.