When first working on Star Wars, George Lucas infamously sacrificed a sizeable chunk of his paycheck in order to keep a hold of his film's merchandising rights. The executives at Fox were happy to agree to Lucas' terms, mostly because they didn't foresee the incredible commercial success the franchise would go on to enjoy and, at the time, merchandise was not as valuable as it is today. After being turned down by several of the larger toy companies, Lucas went to a small Cincinnati-based company called Kenner, which resulted in the Star Wars toy line becoming legendary among collectors.
In recent years, One action figure from Kenner's line has achieved near-mythic status, regarded as the Holy Grail of Star Wars collectibles. Oddly enough, though, it was a figure that was never actually released, as it was deemed too dangerous to hit shelves.
While this much sought-after collectible was modeled after the legendary bounty hunter, Boba Fett, this was not just any figure and was certainly not the one that would be made available to Star Wars fans. This rare piece was the Boba Fett action figure that came complete with a rocket-launching jetpack, which was only to be available via a mail-in promotion as a free gift for anyone who had already purchased four other Star Wars figures. However, despite the advertising of the rocket-launching feature and what several fans who ordered the figure may claim, this version was never sent out.
The issue with the figure was the choking hazard posed by the missile Boba Fett fired -- an issue that another science fiction toy had brought to the public's attention. In December 1978, a four-year-old boy died after firing the projectile from a Battlestar Galactica toy into his mouth and choking on it. Public outcry demanded such projectiles be removed from all toys, which resulted in Boba Fett's rocket-launching mechanism being removed. The figures were still sent out through the mail-in scheme, but the jetpack and missile were now one solid piece. The only surviving figures with the rocket-launching feature were the prototypes Kenner had initially developed.
With only a handful of figures produced that included the rocket-launching jetpack, it's no surprise they became such a highly valued collector's item. Beyond the simple matter of rarity, the figure's desirability was elevated amongst those Star Wars fans who were around when it was first released because of the mystique around Boba himself. The mail-in campaign that offered fans a chance to get their hands on the figure was first promoted in 1979 -- a year before Boba first appeared in live-action in The Empire Strikes Back. At that point, the character's only appearance had been an animated cameo in the much-maligned Star Wars Holiday Special and all fans knew about him was that he was a masked ally of Darth Vader and would presumably be firing rockets from his back.
Despite the fact the back-mounted rocket launcher was Boba's signature weapon to many fans at the time, the weapon wasn't seen in use for 23 years, only reappearing when his father Jango used it against Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2002's Attack of the Clones. The weapon wasn't seen in use on Boba's version of his father's armor until the much more recent second season of The Mandalorian -- first by Cobb Vanth in the Season 2 premiere, "The Marshal," and then by Boba himself for the first time in Season 2, Episode 6, "The Tragedy," a full 41 years after the weapon was first teased.
As for the value of this safety hazard of a toy has gained, in 2019, a Kenner prototype Boba Fett complete with rocket-firing backpack sold for a record-breaking $185,850. Another prototype figure appeared on eBay last year for an asking price of $225,000. Ironically, a toy that was once intended to be given away free has become Star Wars' most valuable collectible and placed the highest price on the head of the galaxy's most notorious bounty hunter.