Boba Fett Star Wars 1979 action figure with a rocket-firing backpack is going to cross the auction block and pre-sale estimates have already predicted a $200,000+ sale price.
An extremely rare 3.75ins rocket firing Boba Fett action figure that never made it to toy store shelves was meant to have been released in conjunction with The Empire Strikes Back being released in 1980.
It was displayed at the 1979 New York Toy Fair but never made it into mass production due to safety concerns with the rocket firing mechanism. Others have speculated the toy was scrapped as its design was potentially ‘dangerous for children’.
Star Wars Boba Fett
Kenner had struggled to design something that fired rockets safely and failed. Most prototypes were destroyed in the factory at the time, and only a handful of them have ever come to market.
The world auction record for a Star Wars action figure was broken three times between November 2017 and July 2019, and two of those were prototypes of the rocket-firing Boba Fett. By some estimates, Kenner created as many as 100 prototypes as it attempted to live up to its promise. (Former employees and their descendants seem to be the main original source for these figures.) The most recent record-breaker, which commanded $112,926, was doubly significant: It became the first Star Wars figure to cross the $100,000 threshold at auction.
All three records were set at Hake’s, an auction house in York, Penn., that has handled Star Wars toys since the 1980s. President Alex Winter says Hake’s will sell another rocket-launching prototype in its November 6 to 7 auction that is almost guaranteed to break the record again. Unlike the toy that triumphed in July, this one is fully painted with a less common firing mechanism. Winter estimates it at $200,000-plus. “This one is more desirable and infinitely more rare,” he says. We will see whether it will be able to reach $200,000!
Star Wars Boba Fett
