It’s been a long trip to get to this moment.  Of course, as with so many awesome developments in the world of Star Wars, you have Bantha Skull to thank for it!  We were part of the community-wide campaign back in 2012 that urged collectors to sign a petition to support the creation of a Khetanna vehicle from Hasbro. We were on the scene at New York Toy Fair in 2018 when the HasLab initiative was first announced.  Chris spent 30 minutes just staring blankly at the stage with a 4 foot long string of drool hanging out of his mouth, and then we got to see the Sail Barge prototype up close.  We then jumped on the opportunity to present the Barge-related figures and toys currently available to us, as well as what we were missing to make the display complete.  You already know about how we (half-jokingly) claimed to be responsible for the inclusion of the replica POTF Yak Face, which helped push the campaign to a fever pitch, until the conclusion in which backers shattered the goal of 5000, by finishing with an impressive 8810 orders.  Despite this happening in conjunction with a very lackluster re-launch wave of TVC in 2018, the Barge generated enough excitement to keep collectors engaged through a generally tough year.  Now, in March of 2019, the barges have finally arrived, and they are spectacular.  This is ushering in a year in which Hasbro promises a nice Jabba focus for TVC, previewing items at Toy Fair such as Jabba’s trophy wall adventure set, an all new skiff at a surprisingly on-target pricepoint, an updated Lando in disguise, and a 3-pack of Skiff Guards, including an all new prison skiff pilot, Vedain!  It promises to be an exciting year for collectors as we head into episode IX territory, while giving us hope for an awesome 2020 as well.

Remember when everyone was so caught up in the excitement over the NYTF18 announcement that we almost completely missed the CGI rendering of Klaatu hidden in plain sight on the deck of the HasLab Barge?

So it’s here.  I thought I was prepared to do the necessary gallery by temporarily reconfiguring my basement into a war zone, and setting up a large enough space to do the photography.  I was wrong.  Taking images of the box was overwhelming, and I nearly quit the site over it.  Instead, I’m going to quit the site because the Giants traded OBJ.  But that’s for another time, as I haven’t yet properly processed this information.  The outer shipper carton had numerous scratches, dents, and dings.  I was concerned after hearing some reports of nightmare deliveries, but while there are some devastated backers out there, the number of issues has to be minuscule in the grand scheme of things.  Nevertheless, all was well, as once I opened the outer shipping box, I pulled out the inner shipper and saw that the condition was nearly perfect, so I knew the insides would be fine (unless something happened at the factory).  Opening that layer revealed the beautiful Vintage Collection box, which in and of itself is a wonderful achievement for Hasbro in the history of their handling of the Star Wars license.  My TVC box was nearly flawless, and I enjoyed spending some time checking it out before proceeding with opening it up.  The Barge itself was protected by large foam blocks.  Within two carved out places in those blocks were the carded Yakface figure, as well as the Jabba figure.  There was also a large box of small parts.  Following the instructions was fairly easy.  The only thing that might be a bit troublesome are certain parts of the sails, but basically it wasn’t very difficult.  Once assembled and you take a step back to enjoy the view, it’s pretty satisfying.

The barge is loaded with features, some of which might not be readily obvious.  The cockpit panel opens revealing a detailed interior, with an open doorway to the cabin of the barge.  I have no idea who is supposed to be piloting this behemoth, so I chose my two BG-J38 droids, just to be a jerk and show off.  The first side panel can be removed to reveal the prison area.  There is a trap door on the deck (activated by simple pressure, rather than an unsightly button or switch).

Editor’s note:  I’m not leaving that erroneous pressure activation comment in place to embarrass Mr. Nomadscout, but rather as a testament to how stealthily Hasbro hid the activation button on the side of the barge opposite the trap door.  

Other Editor’s note:  I’m not embarrassed!  (I’m embarrassed)

The door leads directly into the cell.  Inside the cell is a decomposing body of an unlucky Ithorian.  Sadly, it seems this “figure” is not removable.  The prison door slides open for access to the cell.  Unfortunately in my case, the door only slid easily about halfway open.  I was afraid to apply too much force for fear of breakage, so I’ll live with it for now.  Inside the prison there are slots to attach a couple of the included restraining chains, but I couldn’t reach through the small opening to try it out.  I decided this is a nice place to hold the crappy “Not Shasa Tiel” Ishi Tib POTF2 figure, as a reminder of one of our top MIAF figure priorities.  The room is lit from above by some deck grating, which is also present throughout other parts of the deck.  Removing the second side panel reveals the galley.  This is a highly detailed labor of love, with tremendous sculpting and paint applications to the appliances.  There is a sink, a grill, and a prep area.  Along with a range hood, there are various animals hanging from a rack waiting to be cooked.  There is even a drain in the floor.  Based on an idea from one of our readers (sorry, I can’t remember who!) I decided to put Gragra in the kitchen, as I figured she had jumped on with Jabba’s entourage at some point during her time on Tatooine. 

Next to the galley is the arms room.  Not only are there weapons stacked on the walls, but there is a place for you to stack the various staffs and vibroblades when they’re not in use by the guards.  There is a hidden “smuggler” compartment on the floor, which can hold various items, or even the super crappy POTF2 Yakface figure.  The panel opens easily with no annoying buttons or levers.  This area has a double stair case and two ladders that lead to 3 hatches on the deck.  Two hatches open upward, one of which was used by Nysad, when he tried to attack Luke Skywalker, giggling like an idiot as he did so.  Opening the third panel (along with the side fin) reveals the only interior area that is actually seen in Return of the Jedi, as the previously described rooms were all off screen and brought to life by the Hasbro team.  Jabba’s throne room and guest entertainment area is the largest part of the interior.  Jabba’s dais slides left to right a bit, to give you more room on either side to display other figures.  There’s the fresco on one wall, along with various trophy heads.  Jabba’s dais includes his microphone, which is removable and attached by a thick string that convincingly serves as a heavy gauge cable.  Four columns with round tables are present for both support and for entertaining guests.  The end of the barge features some ornately designed half-walls straight out of the film.  The rear panel, also known as the “Butt Panel”, is also removable for greater access to the guest area.

The entire interior is meticulously detailed, with wood-grained flooring and paneling, that is painted and washed incredibly well.  The removable panels themselves are also detailed on the inside, and include several shutters of various sizes that can be opened, as well as the hatch used by the as-yet-unproduced Unnamed Weequay Guard that Luke defenestrates (I CAN USE THAT WORD, TOO!) into the Sarlaac.  There is even an Ishi Tib trophy on the inside of the largest panel.  Man, everyone hates that POTF2 figure.  The exterior is painted well, with subtle textures and weathering all over.  The sails are beautifully done, and the bright red material really pops and completes the barge.  Attached to each sail mast are film-accurate speakers, so that the doomed prisoners can hear Jabba issue the execution command.  The sails are easily removable, allowing for full access to the deck.  In addition to the aforementioned hatches, there is a peg for the included deck artillery canon.  This canon is very similar to previous ones issued by Hasbro, but is much more realistically painted, while the firing projectiles have been nixed in favor of more film-accurate barrels.  It should be noted that the previous canons can go in the same spot (or any other open space on the deck for more firepower for your custom barge (if you’re some kind of animal), it just won’t secure to the peg.  Also among the accessories are two rail guns that can plug into 6 different locations around the deck railing.  As promised, there are two special slots in the rails that will accommodate the clips from rail guns that were previously offered as accessories to Vizam and Nysad.  While perhaps a bit superfluous, I really dig the fact that Hasbro took this step, apparently at the behest of collector feedback.  Its always fun when products from different lines and different eras manage to be pulled together cohesively.  There is even a pice of the railing that can be removed, allowing R2-D2 to push C-3PO off the deck before jumping, himself.  Oh, and there’s one more “super secret” accessory.  Check out the last diorama image in our gallery, where Luke and Leia are about to swing off the deck. That rope is actually a large twist-tie that was used to secure the dais in place when originally packaged.  I had tossed it aside, and then later realized it would make a perfect prop for that shot.  Now you try selling your loose Barge on eBay without that rope.  Good luck to you on that endeavor!

In addition to the Khetanna itself, the package includes a carded Yak Face figure, decorated in a recreation of the Power of the Force cardback, which was one of the grails of vintage collecting.  The figure is identical to VC132 Saelt Marae, that was issued in the mainline.  The only differences, besides the packaging, are the inclusion of a coin and a drinking glass accessory.  Also included is a Jabba the Hutt figure.  It is a repaint of the one that came with the large Black Series Rancor Pit Battle Pack, except that the paint has been updated, and reportedly uses FACE! Photo Real technology.  The results are quite good.  He’s got superarticulated arms, including ball jointed wrists.  He can hold his special glass that came with both TLC’s BD 17 Princess Leia and TVC’s VC64 Princess Leia (Slave Outfit).  He can also hold the microphone that is attached to his dais.  His arm tattoo is also visible on his right bicep.  Jabba fits nicely in the sculpted cushion of his sliding dais, so that he can lord over his guests as he travels the Dune Sea. 

There’s really almost nothing to complain about.  The price was steep, and the sudden rollout of HasLab caught many collectors off guard and unable to support the campaign.  It’s big, and some space-challenged collectors out there might have no place to display it (although as Chris has argued, the Khetanna is eminently “installable.”).  And perhaps most frustratingly, collectors outside the U.S. and Canada have had a tough go of it, while Hasbro has worked feverishly to make the Barge more widely available.  At NYTF 2019, Hasbro stated that a number of Barges were produced with the intent to sell to international collectors, and that a program would soon be in place to make that happen.  They mentioned that the total number of Barges produced was under 10,000, inclusive of the 8,810 that were backed in the original campaign.  That’s a very tight supply, but we hope that the wider community gets a fair shake at a chance to acquire this spectacular piece.

After almost 25 years of managing the Star Wars license, the Khetanna is Hasbro’s crowning achievement, and best product to date.  We remain optimistic that this wasn’t the swan song for Hasbro’s 3.75” line.  To the contrary, it seems that after a sluggish start to TVC’s relaunch, some great collector-focused product looms on the horizon.  In the meantime, if you #backedthebarge, we hope you enjoy displaying yours!

Yep.