This $525,000 Boba Fett Action Figure Is Officially the Most Valuable Vintage Toy

During the climax of 1980’s Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back, bounty hunter Boba Fett whisks away Han Solo, his captive safely tucked away in a carbonite coma. The film set up a three-year cliffhanger as well as the emergence of Fett as a cult antihero—a Man With No Name in outer space. His Kenner action figure subsequently became part of urban mythology thanks to its rocket-firing feature, which was thought to be unsafe for children and modified before being distributed.

The few rocket-capable Fetts that survived are rare and have always been valuable—but never quite this valuable. One just set a record for a vintage toy sale, netting $525,000 at auction.

According to Smithsonian, Heritage Auctions placed the Fett up for sale in late May. It’s one of the few existing prototypes made by Kenner in which the figure had a functional rocket-firing missile feature, with the tiny projectile launching from his back. The toy company intended to make it a mail-away offer for fans who sent in proof of purchase for four other Star Wars figures in 1979.

But when kids got the figure in the mail, the rocket had been welded to the figure. Kenner got cold feet over the feature after rival Mattel courted some controversy with their Battlestar Galactica toy line; a toy with a similar missile-firing function was thought to be a choking hazard. Toy companies quickly reevaluated their own inventory for potential danger. Boba Fett was among the toys that had to be modified.

Several of the prototypes with the feature intact were kept by employees and eventually trickled into the collector’s market. Of the 100 prototypes estimated to have been produced, there are roughly 70 known examples in private hands, most of them unpainted and standing the typical Kenner figure size of 3.75 inches tall.

The new record more than doubles the previous Fett sale price of $236,000, which was realized in 2022.

Boba Fett actually made his onscreen debut in the much-reviled Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978, albeit in animated form. His first public appearance came earlier that year, when a performer in a Boba Fett costume walked alongside Darth Vader during a street parade in San Anselmo, California.

The rocket-firing Fett was part of a Star Wars-themed auction that also saw a highly graded packaged Fett sell for $84,375; a prop helmet from The Mandalorian net $40,000; and an early script for Star Wars fetch $57,500.

If you feel you missed out, the new owner of the Fett figure is already open to selling. But don’t go looking for a bargain: The minimum acceptable offer is $787,500.

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