When it comes to collectible action figures, those from the Star Was franchise are some of the most sought after and most valuable. This is particularly true for the vintage figures made by Kenner between 1977 and 1985 with some of the rarer figures — like the “Vinyl Cape Jawa” fetching $30,000 or more at auction. However, there is one Star Wars toy that makes all the others look like a bargain in comparison — and the reason it’s so valuable has a truly unfortunate backstory.
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Sold by Goldin Auctions, a 1979 Kenner Star Wars Rocket-Firing Boba Fett sold for an astounding, Guinness World Record setting $1.3 million, a sum that makes it the most expensive Star Wars action figure to be sold at auction. The figure is a unique one, one of less than 100 prototype figures to ever be made, but they never actually made it to mass production. That’s a key reason they’re so valuable, but while the rarity of the action figure makes it all the more enticing for fans and collectors, it’s a matter of safety that created the mystique around this toy.
The Coveted Boba Fett Action Figure Was Shelved Because of a Different Toy’s Choking Hazard
When the Boba Fett action figure was first announced, it was exciting. The figure was designed so that it could fire missiles from its backpack with the hand-painted toy intended as a giveaway item for fans who had purchased at least four other Star Wars action figures. However, the kids that redeemed for the prize ended up with a Boba Fett whose missiles never launched because the mechanism was a safety risk — and it goes back to a different toy line: Mattel’s Battlestar Galactica toys.
Also in the late 1970s, Mattel had four separate space vehicle toys — “Colonial Viper,” “Colonial Scarab,” Colonial Stellar Probe,” and “Cylon Raider” — that all fired missiles. They missiles in question were 1-1/4-inch plastic devices that could be launched from the body of the toys. However, those tiny projectiles ended up being problematic. There were soon reports of accidental swallowing or choking on the missiles and, in one case, a four-year-old child died as a result. This tragedy resulted in Mattel having to do a significant recall of all of the missiles associated with the toys (their Missile Mail-In plan allowed for consumers to mail in their missiles and get a free Hot Wheels car in turn.) The remaining toys were redesigned.
This situation — particularly the tragic death of the small child — caused Kenner executives to take note. The missile on their Boba Fett toy was of similar size and shape to the problematic Mattel toy so Kenner went back to the drawing board and destroyed everything they’d done with the Boba Fett toy in the process. Ultimately, kids did get their Boba Fett toys, but they came with a missile that had been fixed in place and updated the packaging to indicate that the launcher had “been removed from the product for safety reasons.”
So, if production on the Boba Fett figures with launchable missiles was halted, some prototypes of the toy had been created and some of them were likely saved by Kenner employees while the rest were destroyed. The combination of the rarity of the figure — of which only 3 still exist today — and the reason why they’re so rare make for a truly sought-after collectible with a record-setting price tag.
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