Featured set of the day: Jango Fett's Slave I
Posted by Huw,
Lego_Lord_Mayorca has, appropriately for May the Fourth, picked a Star Wars set, and regales us with a touching story of how it bonds him with a childhood friend to this day:
What defines a friendship? Is it merely an array of commonalities, a fortuitous overlay of interests and experiences occurring at the same time to the persons involved? Can it be forged over objects, even toys? And if so, how relevant would that toy manage to be in the friendship many years forthwith?
This tale, then, relates the history between two great friends and a toy, specifically, 7153 Jango Fett's Slave I from 2002. The friend and I met at the start of Fall 2001. Let’s call him Victor.
Victor and I were both twelve years old when we first met and we soon found out we had a lot of interests and hobbies in common. We loved Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, BIONICLE, TV shows like Samurai Jack, and video games like Mechwarrior 4. Most of all, we both loved to draw characters and objects from these fictions in addition to whatever popped out of our adolescent imaginations.
We were (and are) very visually-oriented people, and nothing got us more excited than glimpsing a very well-designed space ship or fantastic creature. And after turning thirteen, our visual interests focused more on the former as the release of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones grew imminent. And no other space ship (in toy form) sold prior to the release of that film garnered as much fascination, excitement, and desire in our hearts as Jango Fett’s Slave I.
I think I revealed the existence of this set to Victor in March 2002 shortly after getting 7143 Jedi Starfighter. That set was a revelation to me after two years of stagnation in the Star Wars line, but the instruction booklet heralded at more glories to come.
The new Slave I, now belonging to who I presumed was Boba Fett’s father, Jango Fett, caused my jaw to drop. For a moment, I totally forgot the first Lego Slave I came out two years earlier because this new model outstripped and outshone it in every possible way! I had to tell Victor about it, since it also indicated one of our favourite characters (or at least a relative) was going to be in Episode II!
Victor, of course, became equally excited about it. But we both had to wait until late April before the set was available. I should mention that none of us knew what the price of this marvel was, and neither of us were very savvy Internet users back in 2002. I was the first to report the news in late April when, on a well-timed trip to Wal-Mart, I found all the new Attack of the Clones toys on sale, including the Lego sets.
My savings allowed me to snag the Tusken Raider Encounter and Jedi Duel sets, as well as a Jango Fett (Kamino Escape) action figure. I couldn’t afford the Slave I, however, as I discovered it was a whopping $50! Fifty dollars was two-thirds of the prize money I won at the state geography competition at the start of April, and my parents were watching me very carefully to make sure this influx of cash didn’t turn me into some crazed consumer. I had to bide my time. Thankfully, I had another opportunity coming up soon.
In May, it was obvious that I was going to make all A’s (average grades at 90% and above) on my final report card for the year, earning me a “bonus” $50 from Dad as part of a long-standing agreement he and I had dating back to elementary school.
At this point in my school career, I was reliably trusted to always pull through on this bargain, so by mid-May 2002, with Attack of the Clones just around the corner, I managed to convince my parents that I might as well receive my good grades’ bonus in advance, since I knew what I wanted and that if I waited until school let out, I wouldn’t get much time to enjoy it on account of being shipped off to a summer camp out of state for the first time. They consented, and on another trip to Wal-Mart, I had my prize!
At school the day after I built it, I shared all the juicy details with Victor. I regaled him with descriptions of the incredible (for their time) minifigures of Jango and Boba (the first time we Star Wars fans saw his “actual” face), the cool pop-out laser cannons, the stylish curved and slope pieces that made up the body of the ship, as well as the overall size of the ship. He was hooked, and assured me he would press his mother to get it for him at the earliest possible convenience.
That didn’t take long, and as summer started, we both had Jango Fett Slave I’s to enjoy and commiserate over. Victor had a bit of trouble with the construction of the set, though in retrospect, I think he might have had one of the faulty sets with a weaker design that was revised later in the production run. I helped him out the best I could at the time, but being an ingenious fellow himself, he found a way to shore up the construction with some spare parts he had in his collection.
It was a brief moment of time in our Lego fandoms that united us. By the end of the year, Victor started to enter his (temporary) “Dark Age” of Lego collecting, and I was quickly enthralled by the next cool Lego set I managed to get my greedy little hands on, 8557 Exo-Toa.
But neither of us ever forgot Jango Fett’s Slave I! As high school came to an end, and we entered college, Victor’s Lego collection collapsed into a single giant tub of assorted parts that went to his nephews. At the time, I was starting to explore the wider world of Lego collecting and buying, and I learned how much the Jango Fett minifigure was going for on Bricklink and eBay.
I advised Victor to at least retain the minifigure and as much of the set as possible, as its value was only going up. He hastily managed to salvage what he could of Jango Fett, but the set was lost to the parts bin. He promised himself, however, that he would one day get it rebuilt.
That day came long after graduation and his marriage shortly thereafter. After moving to Houston and getting closer to his sister (and consequently, his nephews), Victor was finally able to reacquire his entire Lego collection since the nephews were themselves growing out of their interest in Lego. After sorting through the sea of bricks, he recovered the building instructions for Jango Fett’s Slave I, found the rest of the minifigure, and began the reassembly process. Sadly, some of the nice slope pieces were gone for good. Again, he had some substitute bricks, and this sufficed for display purposes.
One day, I visited Victor and his wife at their new condo. Suddenly, there on a nice shelf in front of me was the Slave I. It was amazing to see in person again, for as much as I loved the set, when my family moved in 2003, I completely disassembled it, put it back in the box, and left the box in my closet. It was heart-warming to see my best and oldest friend still cared enough about this fantastic set to display it in a place of prominence in his home.
I promised him that if I could, I would find the missing slope pieces to complete the refurbishment. And sure enough, I was fortunate to come across parts to another Jango Fett Slave I in a lot of used bricks. I picked out all the slope pieces and a few others and gifted them to Victor, who was excited to have the set complete at last. “Now we’re even,” he said, perhaps a little cheekily. Our Lego collections were always a playful point of pride between us, and I suspect he had a tiny bit of jealousy back in 2002 that I got the set before he did.
I still managed to one-up him, though! In April 2019, at Star Wars Celebration Chicago, I hung out at the Lego Star Wars booth in order to meet Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, who had a hand in designing Jango Fett’s Slave I “so long ago” (as he put it). I even brought my instruction manual for the set for him to sign, which he did gladly after thumbing through the pages one more time. When I got home, I made sure to give Victor a ring to talk about my trip to Chicago. In the conversation that followed, I let it slip that my 7153 was now worth more than his.
“How’s that?” he wondered with incredulity. “That Jango Fett minifigure isn’t so desired any more since the remake.”
“Ah, but Victor, I met the man who designed the set, and he was kind enough to autograph the instruction manual,” I cheekily rejoined.
Victor was stunned momentarily, and then we had a laugh over it before talking about other things. After the conversation was over, I was so happy to reflect that something as trivial as a Lego Star Wars set from 2002 was still relevant to us after seventeen years. In fact, I suspect it always will be, and I, for my part, plan to never part with it. It is a cherished reminder of the origins of my oldest friendship, and for that, it’s “worth a lot to me”.
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18 comments on this article
This is pretty similar in build to Boba Fett Slave I a few years back, which I own both.
My favourite version of Jango Fett. I would love if they made a special re-release like the 20th anniversary minifigs someday!
Has a similar build to 6209, but shorter. Still waiting for a remake of this set, it is already past the time!
It currently holds one of the longest waits of the theme:
Jango's Slave I: 18 years
Zam Wesell's pursuit: 18 years
Tusken Raider encounter: 18 years
TIE Bomber: 17 years
TIE/d Fighter: 16 years
Wookie Catamaran: 15 years
TIE Crawler: 13 years
V-19 Torrent: 12 years
I must say this was a fascinating story about an amazing set and, as far as I can tell, an equally amazing friendship!
Great story! How cool would it be if they released Jango's Slave I as an updated UCS set? I just love that colour scheme and I bet it would look great next to Boba's 2015 UCS Slave I!
Bought this one barely out of my dark age on a whim, new/sealed. Had no idea about the value of the Jango fig at the time (and it was already out of production). Hindsight was so happy I decided to grab it!
Having not built a new set in many, many years I remember putting it together and thinking, "man, lego has gotten a little weird."
Petition for an updated version of this set!
Beautiful story. We should get another as well as the Zam Wesell Chase. It’s been so long.
May the fourth be with you.
I have this set MISB somewhere. Need to dig it out, it is a great set that stood the test of time really well...
The 2006 version of Boba's Slave I was the one I wanted in my childhood. I remember my friend and I trying to think up money-making schemes to save up for it as my mum would never buy it for me, but our plans never materialised. Fast-forward to 2019 and I have in my hands the beautiful 20th anniversary Slave I.
Luckily I did get hold of one of the classic Boba minifigs. Boba and Jango are two of the only Star Wars figs that still look good to me in their classic form.
Just want to say I love this story. Quite besides the set I’m so happy that you’ve had an enduring friend over years who’s been as into Lego as you. I’ve never had that privilege as my friends ‘grew out of it’ long ago but there’s still time to meet someone new!
This is a great set, I picked it up in a BOGOF offer with the Republic Gunship, and it remains my favourite version of Slave I. That is such a great story too, it's really cheered me up today so thank you for sharing that.
I know someone who can beat that story. A former member of my LUG picked up a copy of this set a couple years after it came out and built it at Motor City Comic-Con. At that same show, the kid who played Baby Fett was signing autographs. He ended up trading the minifig for the actor's signature in the instruction booklet.
Anyways, as I recall, it looked fantastic compared to the only Boba Fett's Slave I that had been released at that point (though that set still holds a special place in my heart), but the structural design was _terrible_. I never heard of any running changes to this set, but it was definitely needed. It was fine for displaying on a shelf, but the cowlings over the wings would pop apart with the slightest touch. I do remember that they did a Boba Fett's Slave I that looked pretty much the same, but was a more robust build, so I'm wondering if those changes were carried over from this set.
@nashikens:
Heh. Besides buying a copy of this set for myself (and kicking myself for not getting the version that came with the exclusive black SW carry case), I ended up getting two copies of the minifig from parts drafts in my LUG. One of them I stripped down to the torso to make Firefly from The New Batman Adventures.
Lego was transitioning into periodically re-making sets. Up until 2002, the only time a vehicle ever changed was the upscale to the big UCS X-wing, or the downscale to the kid-friendly Pod Bucket. Not remakes. In 2002 that started to shift. The speederbike got a facelift. The Naboo Fighter received a fancy new chrome version that was still roughly minifig/System scale, but was either a UCS or "Special Edition" depending on who you ask.
Jango's Slave I was also an odd case, because it was a remake but not quite. They weren't remaking Boba's Slave I, but it was still the same ship. The first look at it was magical. It was a promo shot of it in the Geonosis asteroid belt, chasing Kenobi's Jedi Starfighter. It was in a weird angle, and it was hard to tell what its actual size was or what its proportions were. It did look huge, and clearly bigger than Boba’s. 2002 was also the year that introduced the new bowed slopes, which this set had in spades. Seeing them here felt alien and fresh, almost like a Bionicle set. You could also see a glimpse of the hidden cannons on the sides of the nose. All these factors gave it such an exciting mystique. I got one, and as a kid during the prequel era (and a huge Jango fan) the set could not have been more entertaining with the sheer level of play features it contained. There’s very little dead space in the model. Almost all of it opens, swivels, deploys, or contains something. Very appropriate for the Fett doctrine of having weapons and secrets anywhere and everywhere.
Lego would start remaking sets in earnest the following year, with the new X-wing, Snowspeeder, Landspeeder, and Millennium Falcon. Jango’s Slave I was an early indicator of what Lego could do when they wanted to revisit a ship and improve it.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone! My own reminisces aside, this set is indeed packed with features. Aside from the pop-out laser cannons, the main laser cannons are on unique click-hinge bricks for rotation, there are storage cabinets on both sides for Jango's pistols and hair piece, a bounty capture jail magnetically attached to the lower level of the ship, and an engine room with the hyperdrive and proton torpedoes. And I haven't even mentioned the somewhat-lame bomb dropping chamber on the underside of the ship and the fact that the cockpit rotates with the wings (a standard amongst Slave I sets). A great set, whether for play or display!
This was a well done set, one of the first to have those new curved wedges which made for a revolution in building techniques. I never much liked the set itself, but I acknowledge it was well done. The minifigs from it were worth quite a bit, last I checked.
^ I ended up selling mine some years ago--wonder if you bought it, heh!
I like how they used those Pohatu pieces from Bionicle on the wings. They fit in surprisingly well.
What a great story. My favourite post dark age set is the 20th Anniversary Slave I.