When this was first announced, I thought this was going to be one of the best releases of the year.  It was revealed on the heels of Boba Fett’s Throne Room, no doubt in response to the frustration many collectors had with the set being marketed from a different source other than Return of the Jedi.  As time went by (and it’s almost a year since the throne room set), most of us have repeatedly bashed the 8D8 lacking elbows.  But what about the rest of the set?  It sure looked great, and for those who didn’t have a proper Jabba, it was a big opportunity to complete the set properly for ROTJ.  And now that it’s in hand…I’m not a huge fan.

Let’s start with Jabba.  This is the same sculpt that was first issued with the 2015 TBS Jabba’s Rancor Pit set (which I passed on), and was then re-used and repainted for inclusion with VC Jabba’s Sail Barge (The Khetanna).  It’s a great sculpt, but this time the paint quality has taken a step back, while also having some really odd changes.  Overall, the blending of colors on the skin has regressed.  You can see from the comparison shot how much better Jabba’s skin tones are blended.  In this new version, there is a rather sharp line between the two major colors on the body.  But aside from that, there are two odd changes.  The first is that Jabba has a strange circle/bullseye on his belly.  If it wasn’t obvious just by looking, you can clearly see it in the comparison shots.  The other is the inclusion of reddish streaks under the chin folds.  If this is supposed to be drool, or tomato sauce, it’s terrible.  Or maybe Hasbro was going for the chain marks left by Leia after she choked him to death.  Which brings up the point, how come we don’t have a dead Jabba figure with listless eyes and open mouth with dead tongue?  So while the figure sculpt is excellent, the paint apps really take it down a notch.  I wish Hasbro had just re-packed the Khetanna Jabba and called it a day.  And by the way, Jabba’s Throne (SOTDS) from 2010 (Walmart) is a nice sculpt and has a flexible tail, but holy crap - the plastic is practically melting before our eyes.  It’s wet and sticky and gross, and I hadn’t noticed until I pulled it out of a bin to compare it to this figure.  Yuck.

Next up is the throne itself.  It’s excellent, and just a repaint of the one that already came with the Throne Room set.  For some reason, it’s a completely different color.  Maybe it yellowed with age during Fat Bib’s rule.  It seems a little superfluous, since if you have Boba’s Throne set, you already have this dais.  But this playset was obviously meant to appeal to collectors whether or not they owned the throne room.  The rest of the accessories are pretty neat.  Hasbro has certainly become the global leader in 3.75” drinking cups.  Aside from the plastic accessories, you also get an assortment of soft goods pillows, which was a neat attempt at some more realism.  I’m not sure if it completely succeeded in surpassing the molded plastic pillows from previous releases, but I’m not complaining.  I do like them.

We’ve got an all new Salacious B. Crumb.  I wasn’t sure we needed a new sculpt of this guy.  I think it definitely looks better, but we lose a little bit of the already meager articulation.  The thighs are just swivel instead of ball jointed, and the head has less range of motion.  The arms are still swivel, and tail can also be repositioned.  The figure is thinner and made of a lot softer plastic.  I guess I like it a bit more than the previous one, I just wish it had a little better articulation.  I’m not a carded collector, but I’m not sure if the VC66A mini-card is going to make that group happy or angry.  I thought it was adorable, but ripped it open with no hesitation.  I don’t own VC66, and never felt I was missing anything, so this did nothing for me.  I did note that VC66 lacks the “B” initial.

And that brings us the elephant in the room, 8D8.  Fans were excited to see the character feature in TBOBF, as it brought hope that Hasbro would update the figure for TVC.  Well, it’s certainly been updated.  Looking at the figures side by side, the TVC version is markedly better sculpted than the 1998 release.  But as was noted almost immediately upon the reveal, 8D8 lacks articulation, most notably the elbows, which would be necessary not just to climb walls, but to pull the lever of the branding iron - which, by the way, was not included in the set.  So it’s not quite time to dump that POTF2 figure, and definitely keep the branding iron.  8D8 is 8POA, but that’s just not okay for a humanoid character in TVC.  8D8 should have ball jointed shoulders, hips, and feet (all of which are swivel), and should have hinged elbows and wrists.  I think the figure can skip articulated knees.  It’s just a disappointment for collectors.  And the figure was really an odd inclusion in this set.  Jabba never interacts with 8D8, so it seems it was included to appease the 096 crowd that wanted an ROTJ branded card, but also the new collector who liked the TBOBF theme of the throne room set.  Either way, it’s a flop of a figure.  Not sure what Hasbro would do to correct this.  Update the sculpt and include it in a multi-pack, I suppose would be the best option.

It’s definitely not a bad set, but it is full of frustrations.  First and foremost is the substandard 8D8, followed by the poorly painted Jabba.  The extra dais may appear to be a waste, you may or may not like the soft pillows, and the Crumb figure is a debatable upgrade.  Meanwhile, I’m not sure if carded collectors will love or hate the VC66A mini-card, or that there are two numbered figures in this set at all.  For me, it’s an average 7.  I spent $90 and didn’t really get any upgrades for my collection to show for it.