By Joshua H. Stulman 

After 35 years of waiting, Star Wars fans finally have the Action Figure Playset of their dreams! 

Hasbro, the makers of Star Wars toys, has finally released their most ambitious project, Jabba’s Sail Barge, known as the Khetana. Measuring over 4 feet long, this gigantic battle ship is the largest and most expensive mass produced Star Wars toy ever. 

Jabba’s Sail Barge was featured in Star Wars Return of the Jedi. The ship dominates a major part of the opening film and is where both Jabba the Hutt and Bobba Fett meet their demise. The scene is also known for its reveal of Luke Skywalker in action with his new lightsaber (green) as well as showcasing many of the unique aliens of the Star Wars films. 

Return of The Jedi was initially criticized for their over abundance of aliens due to merchandising potential. With the film’s explosive financial success, Kenner toys produced over 79 action figures for the 1983 film. In addition they released new vehicles like the B Wing and even the very large Imperial Shuttle.  They also re-released previously made favorites like the X wing and the Millennium Falcon. 

By 1985 the Star Wars franchise was attempting to spin-off with an Ewok film series and cartoon shows for Ewoks and Droids. Kenner released new action figures for both cartoon series, as well as a re-release toyline called Star Wars: Power of the Force. However with no new mainstream Star Wars films in the works, the cartoons proved too juvenile to sustain interest. The Powers of the Force toy line would be the final Star Wars figures released. Only 17 new figures were made for the toy line. The rarest of all was Yak Face, a character who also died on the Sail Barge. Yak Face was barely released in the United States and became the most sought after Star Wars figure of all time….until now! 

In 2006, during the height of the Star Wars Prequel trilogy, Hasbro released a series of highly articulated 3 3/4 scale Star Wars figures from all  six films. Dubbed The Legacy Collection, these figures were accompanied by a series of large scale classic Star Wars vehicles. These new highly detailed and larger versions of X Wing and Tie Fighters had a higher price point but were well worth it. In  2008, Hasbro began to release “in scale” versions of the Millennium Falcon and AT-AT Walkers that dwarfed the originals. 

At this time fans were abuzz about speculating the next “big” vehicle. Jabba’s Sail Barge was always at the top of the list. However, Hasbro had long denied the possibility of producing a faithful Sail Barge due to the high cost of tooling, and thereby high price point that the vehicle would demand. 

However as time moved on, the advent of crowdfunding became more popular. In 2017, Hasbro revealed plans to manufacture Jabba’s Sail Barge based on a crowdfunding model that they called HasLab. The production of the enormous vehicle would only be open to pre-orders placed within a 3 month time frame. 

Star Wars collectors were asked to pony up a large sum based on a handful of 3D rendered illustrations. The wait time would be almost an entire year before receiving the final product. While many fans were excited by the project, just as many balked at the high price point. In the end, enough fans supported the project to move into production. 

This past weekend, Jabba’s Sail Barge began showing up on the doorsteps of long awaiting Star Wars fans. 

The Sail Barge comes with an articulated Jabba the Hutt figure as well as a new articulated version of Yak Face  with Retro Power of the Force packaging that mimics the original Kenner release from 1985. The Sail Barge also comes with a 64 page Booklet that details the production process for the playset. 

In the end only 8,810 units were produced. This is well below the 100,000 mark for most mass release action figures. Jabba’s Sail Barge is undoubtedly both one of the most sought after and RAREST of Star Wars toys ever.

We are lucky enough to have a complete Jabba Sail Barge available for order!

To view our selection of Original Star Wars figures and comics CLICK HERE

And as always….may the Force be with you!

Joshua H. Stulman

Owner, BrooklynComicShop