Yak Face (Happy Holidays 2009) - Mini Busts

Yak Face is the whiskered, broad-snouted creature who was one of the various denizens of Jabba's Palace. He accompanied Jabba the Hutt and his entourage aboard a sail barge to the Great Pit of Carkoon for the ill-fated attempt to execute Luke Skywalker.

The name "Yak Face" is nearly synonymous with the words "Star Wars collecting" because it represents a very elusive figure in the original vintage line that many collectors to this day are very eager or desperately trying to add into their collections. Being the rarest figure of that time, Yak Face quickly established himself as one of the most sought after Star Wars action figures of all time. And fans ever since have wanted him in collectible form almost any way possible. Unfortunately, not too many collectibles have been designed based on him and this is quite a shame in our opinion. He is a cool alien and we think that he is not getting enough limelight for having such a nostalgic aura about him. He is the manifestation of what a collectible is. But it seems that no matter which way we get him or how common the newer collectibles are, he still emanates the same spirit. And because of this we just want more and more of him. Yes, we have the vintage figure, a modern era figure (in the 1997 The Power Of The Force line) and a Kubrick, but other than that, not too much else exists. Yak Face's biggest fans are of course hoping Hasbro will update the basic figure, but high-end collectors have been treated this time around and are thrilled to get this character in mini bust format. (A 12" figure by Sideshow Collectibles would also be divine. We will only hope for this to see the light of day.) Gentle Giant Ltd.. pays homage in a beautiful way and we believe that all Star Wars collectors will be impressed with this offering (whether you collect the Mini Busts or not). It is an unprecedented work of art and the craftsmanship of the piece is incredible. We even believe it may be the catalyst to incite collectors that don't currently buy the line to perhaps start it up.

Yak Face is clearly true-to-scale. He towers over all the other Mini Busts (that we own at the moment) and as a result, this massive beast will instantly become the centerpiece of your mini bust collection. He stands out from among the rest simply because of his large stature, amazing attention to detail and accurate likeness. The mini bust has been designed so that his head hangs down in the slightest way which makes him look exactly like he was pulled out of the film and into your hands. Our memories could be cloudy, but this looks like the first mini bust to get "soft-goods" applied to it. Yak Face has real hair glued all over his face and ears and it looks absolutely amazing! The hair is yellowed and matted where is needs to be and bushy is other areas as well. It brings the piece to life and it seems as if Gentle Giant Ltd.. has been revitalized and are excited to bring forth to collectors this regenerated approach to the mini bust line. Yak Face also has skin imperfections like gray lines, warts and dirt and it is truly one of the most impressive paint jobs we have seen on a mini bust to date. Not even their clone trooper mini busts look this good (as far as finishing touches are concerned). As the second Jabba's Palace alien we have received, Yak Face looks perfect next to the Gamorrean Guard and it makes us hope more aliens are on the way! Gentle Giant Ltd.. has done a phenomenal job on Yak Face's sculpt and it would be just exceptional if an equally good likeness could be applied to a 12" figure (if that should come down the pike somewhere).

You will be thrilled to know that the final product actually looks better than what is shown on the box. Again we state that it isn't too common for a final product to look as good (or better) than the prototypes. Gentle Giant Ltd.. has clearly raised their own bar to create the most incredible collectibles that will last a lifetime in your collections. Some of their recent statues have lacked the spark and prowess of their earliest pieces. They have definitely pulled it back in the right direction with Yak Face. We do believe that many of you passed on this piece possibly due to the holiday modular pieces included, but please know that this is the only chance to get Yak Face. There will NOT be a regular release to this masterpiece and we have to admit it is a shame. There are 800 units which contained both the staff piece and holiday parts and then 200 on top of that number which were given to Gentle Giant Ltd.. elite customers. So, a grand total of 1000 units, but only 80% of them will contain the staff accessory. We know that many collectors do not like the Christmas-inspired busts. It is certainly a novelty to pose Yak Face with the candy cane and antlers, but it serves its purpose for a short period of time in the year. We think it's great that the parts are removable and it makes this piece even more special than it already is. Don't let these extra attachments upset you because this mini bust has been designed so well that the aesthetic is not disrupted with or without these included accessories. The bottom of the base is colored in silver (which signifies that the piece is a PGM exclusive or mass release variant). These are individually numbered so everyone who purchased this bust will have a unique piece. Jabba's Palace aliens are just the coolest thing and it is our opinion that this is the best Yak Face collectible one could own (it may just be the rarest too). While it may be sacrilege to say that something is better than a rare vintage figure, we have to give credit where credit is due. This Yak Face Mini Bust is simply stunning and we cannot get over how well it was designed.