#BOBA THE FET MOVIE#

Further complicating the issue, the Fett toy kept failing to pass Kenner's internal safety guidelines.Īll these factors came together to result in a not-firing Fett being released, along with a note reading 'The launcher has been removed from the product for safety reasons.' Those factors also came together to create an urban legend with multiple variations, many stating that some child had lost an eye to one of the rocket-firing Fetts, leading to their recall. After another near death, Mattel issued a recall of the firing 'Galactica' toys - right around the same time Kenner had hoped to unveil their rocket-firing Boba Fett. The problem, it seems, is that young children were shooting the rockets into their mouths. A few days later, a fourth child died, with the death certificate reportedly mistakenly listing the cause of death as a Star Wars toy. In late 1978, Mattel had to add safety labels to the packaging of their 'Battlestar Galactica' toys after reports that 3 children had aspirated on small missiles involved with the items.

#BOBA THE FET MOVIE#

Despite the fact that the movie Boba Fett never fired that rocket, fans were understandably quite upset at not receiving the firing Fett they were promised.īehind the scenes, the newly-emerging movie/TV-toy-tie-in industry was going through some tragic growing pains. Just one small problem: In all of that advertising, the Fett figure was portrayed with a rocket-firing backpack. While some Star Wars fans may have had the misfortune of seeing Fett on 'The Star Wars Holiday Special' in 1978, most found out about Fett when he was a heavily-advertised mail-away action figure released in 1980, obtainable only by mailing in proofs of purchase of four other Star Wars figures. In a bit of irony, Jango's father had taken over after Mereel was exiled, mimicking the fact that Boba Fett's new origin replaced Mereel's original role. He was charged as a murderer and kicked off the planet, eventually being taken in by the Mandalorians and becoming the character audiences know and love.Īfter 'Attack of the Clones' came out, the character of Jaster received a retcon and became an honor-driven Mandalorian (retaining most of his original origin of exile from Concord Dawn) who took a young Jango Fett under his wing after Jango's parents were murdered by the Death Watch, a group of fanatical Mandalorians. It was on this planet that he served as a kind of policeman (specifically, a Journeyman Protector) who killed his corrupt superior officers.

Originally, his real name was Jaster Mereel, a man from the planet Concord Dawn. However, Star Wars had already developed a rich, extended universe of novels, comics, and games well before the prequels came around, and Boba Fett had a previous origin already laid out. I remember telling Gary Kurtz: 'Gary, I gotta get out of this suit or I'm going to pass out!' We were drenched.' The two of us were about to die at that point. Nobody knew about Boba Fett at that point. I think we were at the head of the parade. 'I'm not just talking about the suit, I'm saying that day in San Anselmo was really hot. 'What I remember about that day is it was incredibly hot,' he told in 2014. Duwayne Dunham was the man in the armor, his day job was assistant film editor on both 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi,' and he nearly fell down as Boba Fett descended his first public steps. San Anselmo was the home of Lucasfilm at the time, and George Lucas felt like having the characters in the local parade was a great idea. Boba Fett's first public appearance was, bizarrely enough, on September 24, 1978, at the San Anselmo County Fair parade.

Boba the fet