The Greatest Action Figure on Earth
(with excerpts from theswca.com)

If the loose Rocket Fett first shot is the ‘holy grail’ of Star Wars collecting, then what is the carded Rocket Fett? It's hard to believe that an actual carded version of this legendary prototype was displayed at Toy Fair 1979 by Kenner, and that this sample has managed to survive all these years.

The card is actually a Photostat image that was glued to a cardboard backer. Upon careful inspection, you will notice that the image of Boba Fett and the fireball are shown at a slightly different scale than they are on the regular carded version. But perhaps more importantly, the fireball on this early mock-up is a totally different piece of airbrushed artwork than the one shown on the production blister card. Also, note that there is no text on the fireball, and that certain portions of the Boba Fett image, which are not visible on the production card, are here unobscured.

You might also be able to tell that this card is the product of a type of mock-up procedure, in which graphic elements were cut out and pasted carefully onto some kind of ground (yes, sometimes the folks at Kenner used the same techniques as custom figure makers when creating these prototypes). Then, the entire thing was photographed to make it appear more unified, and the resulting Photostat was applied to a cardboard backer. You can actually see a remnant of this cut-and-paste technique in the "Ages 4 and Up" text at the top of the card, which actually retains the rectangular border marking where it was cut out.

After years of storage the bubble began loosening a little. When the original owner read about the legendary Rocket Fett in Steve Sansweet's "From Concept to Screen to Collectible" book he wanted to see if his specimen was rocket-firing. Since the bubble was open at the top, he simply slid it out and saw that the figure was indeed the coveted prototype. The contoured plastic piece visible inside the bubble was made to hold the figure in place. It fits perfectly around his backpack.

The action figure itself is of the later "J-Slot" type, which makes sense, as the J-Slot is known to be the version of Rocket Fett which made it closest to being released. As everyone and their uncles should know by this point, the rocket-firing Boba Fett was never commercially available in stores or as a mail-away, carded or loose. The small tab on the slot also has a tiny crack, so it's quite possible that this was once a test specimen, as Kenner testing technicians broke many of the tabs as they tested the figures for safety. Since the thin plastic broke so easily it was a safety hazard and further added to the figure's ultimate downfall.

The original owner obtained this piece from the 1979 Toy Fair display, but when he first brought it to the attention of collectors he had no way to verify his story. All that could be verified was that he once worked for a company that had good reason to send him to Toy Fair in the first place. As these things happen, word spread among collectors and the owner of some old Toy Fair slides was able to supply the proof needed to confirm his story. A slide which had turned up previously from an ex-Kenner model maker who had ties to Toy Fair provided the necessary evidence to authenticate this important piece of history. Nobody had really noticed the Boba Fett in the photo until recently. Amazingly, this image from the 1979 Toy Fair shows this very same carded Rocket Fett sitting happily on the display floor. It should be stressed here that this isn't a similar carded Rocket Fett visible in the picture; it’s the exact same figure as the one we're offering for sale in this auction. This is simply the most significant Star Wars prototype ever to surface!