Boba Fett Vs. IG-88 - SOTE - Comic Packs

Boba Fett
Height: 1.8 Meters (With Armor)
Status: Bounty Hunter
Classification: Human
Affiliation: Freelance
Weapon of Choice: Mandalorian Battle Armor and Various Weapons, Slave I

IG-88
Height: 2.0 Meters
Status: Bounty Hunter
Type: Holowan Mechanicals IG-88 Assassin Droid
Affiliation: Freelance
Weapon of Choice: Assorted Weaponry

Boba Fett, infamous bounty hunter and weapons master, vanished from sight after Darth Vader turned over the frozen body of Han Solo. Boba Fett was expected to deliver his bounty to Jabba the Hutt's palace on the planet Tatooine some time ago. Knowing the value of his shipment and the various hunters determined to take it from him, Fett disappeared into the mists of the galaxy's Outer Rim to bide his time. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca and Princess Leia search the galaxy for his ship, Slave I, with the hopes of freeing Solo from his carbonite prison, Fearless, clever, and always full of surprises, even the Empire cannot pinpoint this master hunter's whereabouts.

The battered war droid IG-88 was among the bounty hunters commissioned by Darth Vader to hunt down and capture the Millennium Falcon after the Battle of Hoth. IG-88 is one of five droids created by Holowan scientists, who deliberately programmed the units to maximize their freedom of action in combat. This experiment proved tragic when, upon activation, the new IG prototypes eliminated their programmers and escaped to fulfill whatever mission lie within their distorted metallic intellects. IG-88's programming has caused it to value Imperial credits over organic life, making it a devastatingly efficient hunting machine. It is loaded down with a mass of heavy weaponry such as a heavy blaster and blaster rifle as well as a flamethrower, sonic stunner and grenade launcher.

It has been rumored that IG-88 is one of the many bounty hunters seeking Boba Fett and his prisoner. Though bounty hunters rarely break their vocational code by stealing or eliminating one another, the capture of Han Solo promises enough credits to cause most hunters to forget this formality. This is especially true for IG-88, who has little regard for laws, especially unwritten ones. The droid is literally a killing machine and one of the most dangerous hunters in the galaxy. Many consider it the equal of Boba Fett, who is generally known as the most effective bounty hunter anywhere. Upon entering the Tatooine system, Boba Fett was ambushed by the droid in its ship, IG-2000. Certain of his ability to destroy the droid, Boba Fett soon discovered that IG-88 had a few tricks of his own...

Shadows Of The Empire was an exciting multimedia event because of the new characters introduced, but it created feverish interest because of the reintroduction of established characters too. Kenner/Hasbro developed two Comic Packs set based on battles of pivotal characters in the Shadows Of The Empire comics. Prince Xizor Vs. Darth Vader was a great-looking set, but without a doubt, the Boba Fett Vs. IG-88 set proved much more popular. The selling point is the IG-88 figure, an all-new figure based on the tooling of the 1980 The Empire Strikes Back IG-88 (Bounty Hunter) figure, giving zealous Star Wars collectors a first look at a modern version of the assassin droid. Sure, few differences exist between this version of IG-88 (which sports a swivel waist for the first time) and the original vintage Kenner figure, but you’ll find some tooling differences and major paint job differences when you compare them against each other. IG-88 isn’t a perfect action figure, and it doesn’t break much new ground, but it’s a testament that the 1980 version was an excellent release for its time as it hasn’t aged much after more than a decade and a half.

What’s more, Kenner/Hasbro retooled IG-88’s guns, so they’re unique for this release too. They added slots so that his hands can better grasp the guns. We’ve found the extra tooling doesn’t assist the figure all that much, but we understand why they attempted to do something about it. The new waist joint doesn’t add all that much to the figure’s movement, but it’s an appreciated upgrade nonetheless. When fully assembled with weaponry in hands, IG-88 looks as cool as it did in 1980, if not more now. And the droid is a perfect pairing with Boba Fett. Speaking of Boba Fett, collectors will also be interested in his inclusion here. It’s the first “The Empire Strikes Back” version of Boba Fett in the modern Star Wars toy line. Fans love Boba Fett, and they love Episode V. So this is the perfect pairing, even though these figures are sourced to Shadows Of The Empire. They can be utilized in both storylines. As you know, 1995’s POT2 [R] Boba Fett figure is based on prototype costume images, and not screen-accurate. This figure, while still not perfect, mirrors the costume features seen in Episode V. And this version of Boba Fett is fairly accurate to the costume seen in The Empire Strikes Back.

In all honesty, it’s hard to define Boba Fett’s status. Describing him as an all-new figure isn’t accurate. But he’s much more than a retool or repaint as well. Boba Fett has a great deal of newness to it. Many collectors believe that this version is a simple repaint of 1995’s POTF2 [R] Boba Fett figure, but that’s not the case at all. It has a revised head sculpt, slightly repositioned arms, new legs and a repositioned jet pack slot which changes the angle of the jet pack when the figure is wearing it. The paint operations are beautiful, and you can see how strikingly different it is to the original basic figure release. Boba Fett and IG-88 interact wonderfully with each other. It doesn’t feel like the original base sculpts are from two different eras of toy making. Kenner/Hasbro was smart to approach this set in the way that we did. Still, we don’t think that this version of IG-88 will hold up well throughout the years. Collectors want more and more articulation in their Star Wars action figures. Inevitably this is the way the Star Wars toy line will go. A replicated comic is also included with the Boba Fett Vs. IG-88 Comic Packs set. The artwork is nice, and the story is engaging. For us, this set is a must-have purchase.