My barge arrived today!

 

Also, many of these have turned up on the secondary market. Some folks are selling them at cost, others are wanting nearly double. I just bought one and I can't imagine having more, but I've seen photos on the barge backers facebook group of people who bought as many as a dozen.

The box it comes in has the usual Hasbro purple and black stripe, but some seem to have just the black stripe. That is the outer shipping box. Inside of that is a plain cardboard box sealed with packing tape. Under the seams with the tape is a cardboard strip keeping you from cutting the package. The package itself is in the same vintage Kenner style packaging but has a slightly raised HasLab sticker on it. The box itself uses no tape and is held together by cardboard tabs and slots. It took me 15 minutes to unpack it all by myself as the box is over 4 feet long and isn't the easiest thing in the world to carefully open.

The YakFace figure has a vintage style card with the silvery "STAR WARS" horizontal wording across the top AND an *unpunched* peg hanger slot. It also contains a coin done in the same style as the vintage ROTJ coins. The figure itself is the same one that is in the current wave of Vintage Collection figures. The Jabba figure is just wrapped in plastic.

The barge took me 30-45 minutes to assemble. Aside from being unwieldy, the hardest part was assembling the sails which required some patience. The barge itself is mostly one piece but has removable side panels on the port side all the way down to the stern. Some of the shutters on both sides are hinged and can be opened, but not all of them. Jabba has a dais in the barge which is sculpted to the figure. The turrets are removable as are the sails and side panels. The cockpit also has a removable panel as you may have seen in the photos.

I really like this piece. Yes, the size is an issue, it's nearly 4 feet long, and the packaging is one you'll want to carefully hang on to if you're so inclined. Should any of you manage to get one of these, clear some space and prepare to make it a centerpiece of your collection, you will not be disappointed.

 

I would LOVE to have one of those but man, I have no room for it (not to mention the moola.) I'm just happy seeing everyone's photos. I'd heard the sails were annoying to get on.

Some people bought a dozen of them? Well there's how the crowdsourcing numbers suddenly skyrocketed towards the end w/ people backing it I guess.

I'm assuming this was a huge success for Hasbro. The barge is beautiful, I'm jealous. I'm going to just try to pick up the accessories that go w/ it - the awesome Jabba's interior playset and the Skiff.

I wonder what they'll make next. Somehow I'm guessing an Imperial Star Destroyer is on the horizon or a massive Death Star playset.

@Kyle Katarn post photos if you have them!