Greedo - Life-Size Busts

A sniveling lowlife in the seedy underworld of Tatooine, Greedo is looking for his ticket to the big league. When he stumbles across wanted smuggler Han Solo in Chalmun's roughneck cantina in Mos Eisley, the wannabe bounty hunter sees his chance to prove his value to his boss, Jabba the Hutt, and confronts the suave pilot. Apprehending a notorious rogue like Solo would certainly make Jabba take note, and could be the break Greedo needs to become what he aspires to be- a feared and respected hunter, the pinnacle of achievement in Rodian society.

Sadly, this is not to be Greedo's day. Biting off more than his twitching snout can chew, Greedo collects a blaster bolt in the stomach from Solo instead of a fat reward from Jabba. No fearsome galactic reputation, the scrawny thug's legacy is just another steaming mess for the long-suffering bartender Wuher to clean up after closing time.

Epitomizing the phrase, "scum and villainy," small-time bounty-hunter and thug Greedo is arguably one of Star Wars most recognizable characters outside the principal cast. With his bulbous, shining eyes, bobbing antennae and twitching snout, the toad-skinned, green alien positively oozes a bad-guy fume. Greedo and Han Solo both come from the same seedy underworld of smuggling and crime, but Solo is everything Greedo isn't. The green alien lacks his adversary's style and wits, and ultimately it's his undoing. Since his brief appearance in Episode IV, Rodians have become synonymous with Star Wars and the jump-suited lackey, for all his ineptitude, is an undisputed fan favorite.

Sometimes bigger is definitely better. And when it comes to collectible forms of Greedo, 1:1 scale is the absolute best! Greedo may be the most popular Chalmun’s Cantina alien in the Star Wars universe. Long before the Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Special Edition and long before George Lucas decided to tweak character behaviors, Greedo was an “innocent” victim of Han Solo’s impatient laser blast. That, of course, has now changed, and Greedo shoots first (pardon us while we wipe the tears away from our faces). Maybe it’s a twist of fate, or maybe it’s tragic destiny, but maybe the Special Editions and their tweaks were necessary to create the interest in high-end collectibles that are so successful today. We say this because Star Wars collecting hasn’t been the same since. Hasbro had the biggest piece of the pie for a while, but they have their fair share of competition now. Almost a decade later from the Special Edition of Episode IV, collectors were treated to their very first Life-Size Bust of Greedo courtesy of Sideshow Collectibles. Relatively new to the Star Wars license, Sideshow created their second bust in this eager new line and Greed is a magnificent work of art. It’s amazing how expertly Greedo’s likeness was so flawlessly captured. Developed in conjunction with Spectral Motion, the Greedo Life-Size Bust is a high-quality product that is worth its weight in expertly crafted polystone (and fiberglass).

Because of the large-scale, Sideshow is held especially accountable by collectors to ensure every detail makes it to the bust accurately and unscathed. When you have this big of a surface to work on collectors, essentially want perfection. And Sideshow knows (nor do they want to) that taking liberties and cutting corners are not options for their products. Their goal is to make the best Star Wars collectibles they can. And a product like the Life-Size Bust of Greedo proves this over and over. Greedo is a marvel in every way, and they got it right in every way. The bumpy skin not only has the exact texture of what can be seen in various reference photos, but it also has various washes which pick up additional textures and details that would normally go unseen otherwise. The spikes in Greedo’s mohawk must have been painstakingly applied because it seems as if each one was inserted one by one. And if this was the case, a great deal of effort went into ensuring that they are all equidistant from each other as well as all perfectly aligned. Greedo’s eyes look fantastic. There not quite opaque because you can sort of see “behind them” but they’re also definitely not translucent because you cannot see into the back of the eye. They are however colored in sterling purple, and this is a feature that almost every other licensee has been unable to master. (We’re only talking about the Hasbro products because Gentle Giant Ltd.. also got this detail correct.) Greedo’s facial features are brilliantly sculpted including his ears and additional “antenna ears.” His mouth is in that memorable quivering open position, and his head is ever so slightly cocked to the [his] right.

The Life-Size Bust cuts Greedo halfway through his shoulders, so you are left with only a sample of both his vest and jumpsuit. The sky blue color of his jumpsuit looks a tad bright, but you have to remember we were looking at him through dim lighting in the film. The yellow stripe that runs along the sides of his outfit is also present, and it pulls his infamous look together beautifully. The orange vest looks good too, but it’s hard to appreciate the full effect of an outfit when it gets cut off so high up on the figure. But this is no complaint because after all this is a Life-Size Bust line and not a Life-Size Figure line. You get just enough of Greedo below the neck to make a point, and it is a very satisfying result. Greedo is fastened to a stunning base that feels like it is part of the Star Wars universe. Greedo's personalized nameplate is decorated with the Star Wars logo and his name is embossed in the same color to match his jumpsuit. We hope that Sideshow continues making alien characters in the Life-Size Busts line and avoid human characters as long as possible. It’s hard to make humans look “real” and if they keep producing the amazing works of art like Greedo is this line will remain a success. In general, the Life-Size Busts line is truly stunning, and Sideshow Collectibles knows how to create them to look museum quality. They are easily some of our most favorite high-end collectibles that money can buy. You should make it your mission to at least grab one for your collection at some point. As a side note, characters from the A New Hope film have been few and far between lately. We hope Sideshow focuses on this source a little bit more when it comes to this line.