With the Fett out of the bag, the costumed bounty hunter now took his show on the road, visiting department stores, malls, and special events as Vader's enigmatic accomplice. Like Vader, Fett signed early black and white photos (as "Boba") and posted "WANTED" flyers to publicize his role as a bounty hunter, separate and distinct from a soldier of the Empire.
In the summer of 1979, members of the Official Star Wars Fan Club got a glimpse of Boba Fett on the back page of the club's newsletter, Bantha Tracks. Describing Fett as a bounty hunter who "wears part of the uniform of the Imperial Shocktroopers, warriors from the olden time," the seeds were sown to breed rampant speculation about the origin and identity of the mysterious mercenary.
Continuing the momentum of pre-Empire publicity for the character, Kenner launched the Boba Fett action figure as part of their second series for 1979. The figure had famously lost its much-publicized spring-loaded rocket-firing feature before release, due to fears of a choking hazard found in a similar toy line. A 13-inch version of Fett was released around the same time, and, like the final costume, underwent slight modifications to its paint scheme before going into production.
By the time Empire rolled out of theaters in May, 1980, fans were well-aware that Fett would be making an appearance in the hotly-anticipated sequel. They may have been surprised, however, by the small amount of screen time given to a personality which had been trumped up by Lucasfilm for nearly two years. Though Fett's character suffered cutbacks in script rewrites, the ultimately short amount of time he spent on screen probably helped bolster the mythos which surrounds him. With so little revealed about the "galaxy's best bounty hunter," fans were allowed to fill in the details, making for a much more evocative and intriguing character. And with the filmed saga now complete, there seems to be no waning of interest in Boba Fett, whose character effectively embodies the danger and mystery found in the darker corners of the Star Wars universe.
