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Marmit Boba Fett

Marmit has produced several exceptional 12" Star Wars figures (along with other figures).  These have included the Tie Pilot, Stormtrooper and Sandtrooper.  The latest in the line is the most anticipated - Boba Fett.  Always a favorite with fans, folks have been waiting for this figure with baited breathe.

Marmit figures are are half action figure, half model.  The costume has to be assembled on the figure, and takes some effort.  For Fett, the toughest piece was the cod piece - he probably felt the same way.  Make sure you have a hair dryer handy, and be extremely careful.  Take your time putting these together to avoid any breakage.  The armor fits tightly, so that it looks terrific, but that makes it difficult to put on.

These aren't cheap - at $115 not including shipping, I got off fairly cheap.  Previous figures were under a hundred, and Fett's original suggested retail was as well, but demand is driving the price up.  Shop around for the best deals.

Packaging - ***
Not a bad package, giving you a good view of all the pieces.  It's a fairly sturdy box as well, and you can remove everything without too much damage.  I would have liked some better pictures of Fett though, particularly on the back of the package.  Additional text would have been nice as well.

Articulation - ***
Marmit uses their own style of body. The body is fairly thick, particularly the legs, and all of the parts are held together with screws so it can be disassembled if you so desire (although it's not necessary).  While the articulation is good, it is missing two major joints - the elbows are not the double jointed style we've come to expect, although the knees are, and the neck/head post has very limited articulation.  Some people swap these uniforms on to other bodies, or supply heads for under the masks, but you shouldn't have to do something like that at this price.

Sculpting - ****
The sculpt is predominately in the accessories and body armor, since there isn't any head or face.  The sculpting on these items is excellent though, and if you compare this figure to photos of the Fett costume, you simply can't help but be impressed.

In particular, the sculpt of the helmet and breast plate is perfect.  Funny thing is, getting the sculpt right on this stuff shouldn't cost this kind of money.

Accessories - ***1/2
The accessories, such as the guns and tools, lack detail.  Part of this is the fault of the original, as the tools and guns in Star Wars weren't particularly detailed either.  But that hurts the figure slightly.  Since there isn't a lot of detail, and none of the accessories are die cast, it's hard to justify the high price point.

Uniform - ****
Yea, it's a little tough to get it all on him, but it's awfully nice once you do.  The hard plastic pieces - the helmet, breast plate, forearm pieces, hands, boots, missile/backpack and cod piece - are of excellent quality.  The cloth uniform is a little disappointing, since the only two pockets (in front on each leg) have velcro closures rather than snaps, but the color is correct.

There are some minor quibbles - the hands don't stay on particularly well, and since he comes with two sets (gripping set and relaxed set) you'd assume you shouldn't glue them on.  Without a head, the helmet doesn't fit as well as I'd like, and is probably my major complaint.  But overall the uniform is excellent, including the wonderful half cape in back, the perfectly sculpted boots, the boot covers, and knee pads.

Value - **1/2
There's no doubt that this is a high quality figure, but I was disappointed on several pieces.  The lack of a head or decent neck joint, and the lack of good elbow joints surprised me.  Likewise, there really aren't that many accessories - two guns, the wookie braids, and four tools - so I can't justify more than a hundred dollars.

Overall - ***1/2
I know that many folks will be disappointed that I didn't give this figure four stars.  But the price point hurts him - at $80 or so he would have been perfect.  Still, there's not a better Star Wars action figure on the market, and you can see a fine comparison on the shelf of the Hasbro talking Fett to the Marmit version.  There really is no comparison, and if you're a big Star Wars fan, you need to do some shopping around for this guy.

I've heard that there is a QC problem with the first set of figures, something to do with the color of the shoulder pads and knee pads not being quite right.  They look fine to me, so Marmit is obviously quite particular, but these problems are causing a bit of a shortage of the figures right now.  Don't get too excited if you can't get one too fast, and don't get impatient and pay a ridiculous price.


Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford

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