Fett costumes- pre-pro vs ESB vs ROTJ

[Riv]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I haven't been able to find anything that satisfied my curiousity yet.

After seeing some pics of a pre-production Boba Fett costume at the Kenner offices for the packaging photo and figure reference process (back in the day), I got to wondering:

What happened between the pre-pro Bobas and the version we see in Empire? Pre-pro Boba seems to have a color scheme closer to ROTJ Boba. But then for ESB it was drastically changed. Then changed back again for ROTJ. And It got me wondering why.

Has anyone ever put together a good history of the development of the costume and its various stages? I did a brief search through here and the Dented Helmet but only found comparison photos without much of the history behind it.

 

[DL 44 Blaster]

The million dollar Fett question.....I guess you'd have to sit down Kurtz, Johnston, Kershner, Lucas, and any others who must have had the final say for all the changes prior to and after ESB.

Besides does it even matter as we all know that ESB was the true vision of the costume:cool

 

[Riv]

The million dollar Fett question.....I guess you'd have to sit down Kurtz, Johnston, Kershner, Lucas, and any others who must have had the final say for all the changes prior to and after ESB.

Besides does it even matter as we all know that ESB was the true vision of the costume:cool

Hehe. True.

Put me down as a fan of the ESB version as well, but I had always assumed it was the "original" version and that ROTJ was just a change for change's sake. But having seen what it looked like before the changes for ESB really got me wondering.

Oh well. :lol

 

[JBReplicas]

The million dollar Fett question.....I guess you'd have to sit down Kurtz, Johnston, Kershner, Lucas, and any others who must have had the final say for all the changes prior to and after ESB.

Besides does it even matter as we all know that ESB was the true vision of the costume:cool

Here here :thumbsup

 

[Rogue Studios]

From what I have been told in my research. The Pre-pro 2 was supposed to be the hero suit for ESB. After it made the Kenner rounds etc. it was released or given away by a lady in Public Relations at LFL at the time. (this is hard to swallow) however that suit and or pieces of that suit have been identified by Gary Kurtz as being stolen (unreturned property is my bet).

There is also rumor of an ESB suit being stolen during production in the UK. An apparent police report was taken and nothing has been heard publicly since. Pretty much all of the helmets are accounted for and not sure what was stolen from the suit exactly.

I feel the reason the suit changed is they had to come up with something quick and the UK guys didn't like some of the colors used on the parts so they painted them green. All of the suits and helmets were painted and built up in 1978. So whether the ROTJ was a continuity error or did the US guys not like the green of the ESB or were those the stolen gaunts? I've talked to a few of the folks listed above and it's just a mystery that may not be solved. I've wasted many hours researching the suit and chatting with people who worked on it so as information arises and you want to know let me know. I'm pretty nerdy on the subject.

Lee

 

[Satxer]

ESB=the awesome!

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

You know, I have been thinking about doing a Fett recently, but the ROTJ version.

Not because I think it looks better, just because it's less popular. When I go to SDCC, EVERYONE has an ESB Fett, I like to be different.

 

[Riv]

Thanks for the little bit of history, Lee! That's the kind of info I was wondering about. Shame this hasn't been officially documented anywhere by any of the LFL archivists/historians.

 

[stormtrooperguy]

You know, I have been thinking about doing a Fett recently, but the ROTJ version.

Not because I think it looks better, just because it's less popular. When I go to SDCC, EVERYONE has an ESB Fett, I like to be different.

YAY! finally some love for the rotj suit!

I keep wanting to paint up an ESB helmet, but I'd never wear it, so I never bother... I'm coming up on RotJ #5, and I'm finally starting to get happy with the way they come out.

In my own happy little world, I've always imagined that the RotJ suit was how he was originally meant to look (because it's so similar to the pre-pro). Someone came along last minute and made the ESB change, only to have them see the error in their ways and roll it back to the pre-pro look for RotJ. Note that this is in NO WAY based on actual fact

 

[Rogue Studios]

Thanks Riv. I was hit up at the LFL,Weta party at Comic Con to write a book on Fett through insight editions (publishers of Lorne Petersons book) but they wanted me to buy like 3000 copies up front out of my pocket so for now it'll have to sit in my little brown note book.

Lee

 

[shortimer52]

YAY! finally some love for the rotj suit!

Thats what im talking about!

I have a ROTJ suit. I do have a ESB bucket in the works with the remote servo and lights. Just need to paint the RF and glue a helmet thing inside.
So I might do the MOW or AWOS or whats ever its called. Still the first love is ROTJ Fett.

 

[DL 44 Blaster]

You know, I have been thinking about doing a Fett recently, but the ROTJ version.

Not because I think it looks better, just because it's less popular. When I go to SDCC, EVERYONE has an ESB Fett, I like to be different.

In a paradox of Fettdom, around 5-6 years ago it seemed that ROTJ was king of the hill ....and still gets more votes as "favorite" on polls. That being said and in the years since ESB has grown in popularity for some reason or another and is personally my favorite.

Accurately painting an ESB minus the helmet down to the last detail is still and will probably always be somewhat of an artists interpretation for lack of reference. Some of us have gotten it as close as realisticly possible, but without the actual pieces to photograph as has been done with the ROTJ suit it's still a bit .....illusive.

Those are some new things I hadn't heard about the lineage of the Pre-pro2 -- ESB Lee! I kind of like the shroud of mystery that the ESB and Fett lineage still has surrounding it. Considering Lucas put a face on Fett it's the last bit of mystery surrounding him.:unsure

 

[Stormy320]

Love to see some picture DL44 Blaster of your suit!

 

[DL 44 Blaster]

Sure...here's a few quickies....