The first thing to say about the Black Series Jabba the Hutt is that the SDCC version should have been the one that was a mains stream release. Sending out a basic Jabba knowing that a hookah and rail and Salacious Crumb have been sculpted as a limited exclusive in the US is pretty poor of Hasbro and in my head will actually lose them sales in the long run. But putting all that aside, this was still a must have piece for me and depending what you are willing to pay, getting hold of SDCC Jabba via Ebay, RobotKingdom and Kapow Toys hasn't been that hard. My Jabba came from a seller on ebay and was listed and sold as loose with damaged packaging - which was perfect for me as I always wanted to display Jabba loose on my custom throne. Upon arrival however Jabba was still sat in his SDCC display box, albeit a little rough around the edges, which was a bonus.
The box is pretty cool in the main with some nice artwork on the rear, it opens up nicely using two velcro tabs and is pretty decent looking as a mock up of Jabba's palace. My concerns would be that to get the "best" look you would have to remove all the plastic trays and packing - which seem pretty well glued or tied into the cardboard throne. In addition the slot for the Han in Carbonite is pretty naff as is the substitute cardboard Carbonite block that comes with it. Jabba is obviously the star and is so much better in person than any picture. The tongue, for example, is sculpted in the mouth, but I have never seen this detail up to now on any stock photo's. The tatoo is there on his right arm, but I cant see the tail scar. Articulation is limited, but then again he is just a big slug, but the arms have shoulder, elbow and wrist articulation and moving the arms makes the mouth open - which you cannot do with going "hoh hoh hoh hoh"
Crumb is pretty good, nicely sculpted and painted and with articulated shoulders, legs and head. He is obviously designed to sit over Jabba's tail. The Hookah and rail is probably a bit too plastic looking and I think this is it the paint jobs fault - it's too clean and bright - someone brave might weather these a bit with a dark wash and then some dry brushing.
As many of you know I custom built a throne for Jabba in advance of his arrival, and the final diorama can be seen below - thank fully all the measurements paid off and am very happy with the final piece. I have a couple of ideas for some further dressing and am also pricing up a custom case to sit the thing in. All I need now is for Hasbro to give us some Jabba's Palace Denizens like Fortuna and the Gamorrean Guard's.
4 out of 5 rating for the SDCC Jabba Palace set
2 out of 5 rating for the standard release
