With its introduction of iconic Star Wars figures of 1978, Kenner is basically credited with inventing the 3-3/4" action figure as we know it today (perhaps a disputable proposition given the earlier origins of the
4-inch Fisher-Price Adventure People line). In any event, while Star Wars will forever be inextricably linked to the small figures, Kenner also produced what it called "Large Size Action Figures" or as most would call them, "DOLLS".
Dolls they may be, but they were pretty cool dolls. Arguably the coolest of the cool were Boba Fett and IG-88, the infamous bounty hunters who first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back. (Well, I suppose Boba Fett actually first appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special, but that's a tale for another day).
Boba came in Star Wars or ESB branded packaging. The loose example shown here took me some time and expense to assemble, as it originally came with many (easily lost) accessories.
Fett's gun (unlike IG-88's weapons) is an original design to the 12" line. Strangely, none of the original vintage toys ever seem to get Fett's gun quite accurate to the screen version...
Boba also comes with a grappling-hook/rocket thing on his backpack. This element comprises two pieces (the red plastic part and the white rubbery top bit) that are attached. There is a string tied to the distal end of the red piece that extends through the body of the backpack and is looped around hooks at the bottom of the backpack, with a plastic ring at the end of the string to prevent it slipping out the top end of the backpack.
This picture also clearly shows the small opening in the back of his helmet that contains a tiny lens. You can look through this lens and see a "Boba's eye view" of the bounty hunter's target. Pretty cool!
Fett also carries some Wookiee scalps as a trophy. Bet that made Chewbacca upset...
Here are all of his accessories. The nozzles at each bottom corner of the backpack are separate pieces made of a soft-ish rubber, very prone to breakage. The nozzles are mounted in holes on the edge of the backpack. The two halves of the backpack (front and back) are then sonic-welded together to keep the nozzles in place. This makes it nearly impossible to replace a broken nozzle. To do so, you basically have to very slightly enlarge the hole in the backpack and squeeze the new nozzle into it... ask me how I know ;-)
You can clearly also see the arrangement with the string and how it loops around the backpack hooks.
Just an awesome looking dol- errr... "Large Size Action Figure".
The last (and rarest) of the 12" Kenner line was Fett's fellow bounty hunter, IG-88. Taller than Fett, he measures in at a whopping 15" tall.
Not nearly as well-equipped with gear as Fett, IG-88 comes with a plastic bandolier holding four plastic "grenades". Unfortunately these are also very easily lost, and the ones on my example are reproductions.
IG-88's weapons are accurate to the 3-3/4" toy version's guns - a long blaster and more compact "Stormtrooper" model blaster complete his equipment.
Despite his size, IG-88 is nowhere near as fully articulated as Fett, having only five points - arms at the shoulder, legs at the hips, and neck. Oh, and I think his "hands" rotate. That's it. Even so, a very cool figure, made cooler by its rarity. Also not to be confused with the "modern" IG-88 variant which has a weathered deco and more points of articulation, but is smaller than the vintage version.
Although more 12" figure prototypes were designed by Kenner, the relative unpopularity of the large figures doomed the range, as it made much more sense for the manufacturer to concentrate on the smaller line and its profitable ships and playsets. The large figures were obviously too big to justify making ships etc. to scale, so the range was limited at the end to Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, Threepio, Artoo, Ben, Jawa, Darth Vader, Stormtrooper, Boba Fett and IG-88.
