For many Star Wars fans the most popular bad guy of the series is not the iconic heavy breather in a black helmet, Darth Vader, but the bounty hunter Boba Fett. As such Boba and his ubiquitous spaceship Slave 1, have appeared in no less than 4 Lego sets.
The first set 7144 was made from generic Lego bricks and released in 2000. It was followed by set 7153 Jango Fett's Slave 1 featuring Boba and his father Jango in 2002 and this was a major redesign featuring a number of new specialised pieces.
In 2006, Lego returned to the Classic Star Wars Trilogy and re-released Slave 1 with a Cloud City theme, featuring the minifigures of IG-88, Dengar, Boba Fett, a Bespin Guard and Han Solo in Carbonite minifigures. This design stuck to most of the changes made in the 2002 Slave 1, just changing the colors to reflect Boba's redesign of his father's ship as reflected in the Original Trilogy.
In 2010 Lego again revisits Boba Fett and Slave 1, this time featuring probably the best version figure of Boba himself, if not perhaps the ship itself. Set 8097, released as part of Lego's Star Wars 2010 2nd wave, comes with three minifigures; Boba Fett, Bossk and a Han Solo figure that can be fitted to a carbonite block for authentic carbon freeze re-enactment.
The ship looks fairly similar to the previous incarnation, save for the colors which stand out as being very bright versions of their cinematic counterparts. The main colors are dark greens and reds which contrast to the sandy, dull colors of the earlier release but may not be necessarily be more screen-accurate. The set contains stickers which is a bummer for hardened fans and flick fire missiles which Lego seems to be adding to every new Star Wars set these days.
But the main appeal for fans will be the figures, the new Boba Fett figure and the exclusive Bossk. Bossk is a wonderful representation of the Trandoshan bounty hunter and fans can now finally re-enact the famous scene from Empire Strike Back which introduced the bounty hunter scum Boba Fett, Dengar, Bossk and IG-88.
The Boba Fett figure has been featured in seven sets since 2000 and has also had a highly sought after white version made for promotional purposes. The Boba Fett figure featured in this set is the most detailed and screen accurate version Lego has released and the colors are simply glorious. The detail is also fantastic, featuring battle damage to his armour, a helmet separate from his jet pack and a fully detailed face.
At .99 and with 573 pieces, the price is a little steep but seems to reflect Lego's price point at this time and like most Slave 1 sets this won't last too long on shelves. Overall it's a wonderful set for fans who don't already have one of the other versions and for those seeking the new figures.