I should have posted this review on Throwback Thursday since it comes a year late.  Hunter PR issued promotional samples of this San Diego Comic Con exclusive to several collecting sites.  For whatever reason, Bantha Skull was left on the outside that particular distribution.  The most likely explanation is that our contact person had moved and it was sent to an old address.  Some jerk in New Jersey is shamelessly wallowing in his ill-gotten gains.  This left us with a painful omission on our coverage of the Black Series line.  Unfortunately I didn’t take the week following SDCC off from work so I could refresh Hasbro Toy Shop ever thirty seconds, and I missed out on that second chance.  Thankfully, site sponsor Big Bad Toy Store came into a small supply of these recently.  They sold out quickly, but we were fortunate enough to secure one.

As far as pure appeal of this set, the most compelling piece is the Boba Fett figure.  Fortunately it’s the exact figure that was released in the mainline, so there is no need to track down this exclusive set just to secure that figure.  That Boba Fett figure was originally released in wave 2 and then subsequently re-released in wave 4.  When the line transitions to the blue accented Phase II packaging, Boba Fett can be ordered in solid cases, so the demand should be well satisfied. If Boba Fett were only available in this set, it would be a collecting nightmare.  We reviewed the mainline release here.  The figure looks great and has all the requisite articulation, but the range of motion is limited in some areas.  My main gripe is that the figure doesn’t interact well with the BlasTech EE-3 blaster rifle.  In order to place the off hand in a forward grip position you have to serpentine the rifle around the figure’s body and tuck it under the arm.  A few more degrees of movement, which could have been supplied with double hinged elbows, would have done wonders for this figure.  But that’s not enough to condemn it.  It’s still a very nice figure. 

What is unfortunate is that the Han Solo in Carbonite block is exclusive to this set.  It seem too important of a piece to be relegated to a short supply convention exclusive.  Hasbro has hinted that they may revoke that exclusivity at some point, and lets hope they do (and not as a gimmicky thawing block).  As if adding insult to injury, the 2013 SDCC Carbonite block is designed to interact with the 2014 SDCC Jabba’s Throne Room exclusive, a set we thankfully secured via Hasbro Toy Shop.  The block itself is nicely sculpted and silver highlights bring out the depth.  The controls embedded in the side of the block are sculpted with nice detail, but they really could use additional paint applications for the various flashing panel lights.  The included stand is what takes the Carbonite block from just a hallow hunk of plastic to a display piece that can interact with the figures.  It can be configured to stand the block upright or simulate hovering.  That alone would compel me to track this set down. 

The hat box style packaging has a subtle Boba Fett t-visor embossed on the front and the familiar Black Series ghost image on the back.  Even though I enjoy collecting packaging for items that receive mass brick and mortar release because it recalls the glory vintage Kenner days for me, I don’t really care too much about the packaging for items that are one-off exclusives.  Regardless, it is nicely done, but not something that would make the set worth tracking down on it’s own.  There is one reason to track this set down and that’s the aforementioned Cabronite block.  If that doesn’t interest you, you are blissfully off the hook.  The base Boba Fett figure stands at an 8 out of 10, but the hovering Carbonite block does make this set “more than the sum of its parts”.  When combined the two pieces make for a very nice display and pushed me to upgrade the score of the set to 9 out of 10.