Posted in: Collectibles, Games | Tagged: darth maul, funko, funko pop, han solo, smuggler's bounty, star wars rebels, tauntaun, wampa

The Empire Strikes Back Smuggler's Bounty Box Is The Best One Yet

Published Wed, 18 Jan 2017 10:45:12 -0600

by Jeremy Konrad

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I won't lie, the last couple Smuggler's Bounty subscription boxes have not knocked my socks off (a joke that will be appreciated later on here, bear with me). I am a Funko enthusiast, don't get me wrong, but I felt that while the Pops are always great, some of the ancillary offerings have been lacking. I am happy to report that at least for me, that is not the case with the January box.

The theme for this box is Empire Strikes Back. Which is the best Star Wars movie, and maybe the best movie of all-time (I am bias). As usual, the box design is awesome, with a cool picture of Luke.

The collector's patch and pin this month are quite awesome. For the patch, we get Yoda, and the pin is a fabulous Lando Calrissian pin. Both will look amazing on my convention bag this year.Now, usually there is a shirt inside the box, however due to the size of the Pop figure in this box, they did not include one. Instead we get three strong items.

First, a pair of new Funko socks. Now, I don't know how or why socks have become such a big thing, but I get asked multiple times a day at the comic shop I work at if we carry socks. Lots of other subscription boxes do them as well. Funko in this instance seems a bit late to the party, but the quality is there, as expected. The design for this pair has little Darth Vader and Stormtrooper heads. As i type this, they are currently keeping my feet warm and cozy.

Next is a Wampa from their new line Galactic Plushies. I had not seen any of the regular releases in stores yet, but the look of them is great. The Wampa is very, very soft and has harder fabric tusks. This line can be a big hit if all of them are of this quality, and who doesn't like a good plush?

Finally, the main event. Lately to spur sales, they have been announcing ahead of time what the Pop figure will be inside the box, so we already knew what this was going to be. But man, did they knock this out of the park. Han Solo on Tauntaun is the early leader for Pop of the Year. Funko has stated that they will be doing more creatures from Star Wars this year, and if they keep this up they will be fine additions to any collection. The whole figure is a new mold, and it comes with a snowy Hoth base with pegs that hold the figure up extremely well. Han is a bobble-head, with his body molded onto the tauntaun itself to make sure he does not come off. The tauntaun mold is very detailed, and not a bobble-head thank god, I was worried about that. Paint aps on mine leave a little to be desired as Han has some black paint on the back of his hood, but it was easily taken off.

The shine is off these boxes a little, so it is really up to Funko to bring their "A" game to them. The subscription box market is completely saturated right now, and with a box like this one it is easy to see how Funko can set themselves apart from everyone else. Hopefully they keep it up with their next box, which has a Star Wars Rebels theme, and it was announced yesterday that it would include a Rebels version of Darth Maul.