Biker Scout - Mini Busts

There are some characters in the Star Wars universe that Gentle Giant Ltd. really has no problem nailing the likenesses to, especially armored Imperials. The likeness is so impressive that it's impressive on unprecedented levels. This absolutely directly applies to the Biker Scout Mini Bust which is easily the greatest release of 2004. It was originally intended to be a late 2003 release but it got bumped to an uncontrollable delay in the manufacturing of it, like so many of their pieces experience. It will indeed remain one of their finest efforts for many more years to come. One thing with the Mini Bust line that is often discussed however is whether or not the poses that they place the characters in are 100% screen accurate. It’s been a longtime debate and the conversations become endless, but we've noticed that it sometimes affects whether or not collectors end up purchasing them for their own collections. Some artistic license is evident on some of the pieces, but as far as the Biker Scout piece is concerned, we’d have to say it’s pretty darn close to being as screen accurate as possible. He’s posed aiming his blaster pistol and is angled leaning to his right. Simply put, he looks unbelievably amazing. You really can’t find fault with the Biker Scout at all. Trust us on this one.

The Biker Scout has every last detailed you'd hope he would have. And even if we nitpick, we really can’t complain at all with just how well this piece came out in the least. The armor is crisp yet off-white to give it that expected lived in look that is so prominent on the various Imperial troops in the Star Wars Original Trilogy. There is some yellowing in places and there are dirt accumulations in others. Underneath his plastoid armor you’ll find the signature waffle body glove and the detail that only Gentle Giant Ltd. seems to deliver. The amount of detail that has incorporated into this Mini Bust is staggering. You may not think details like this are that important, but the attention given to these areas of interest just do wonders for a sculpture made from cold cast polystone without the assistance of mixed media materials like soft-goods which often do a great job of bringing high-end collectibles to life. Even the elastic straps that bind the armor pieces together have been included here. There is an infinite amount of characteristics innate to the Biker Scout to appreciate it here, not only in the depth of his costume, but the attitude of the Imperial soldiers so familiar to us in action in Return Of The Jedi.

A remarkable 7500 pieces of the Biker Scout were developed and manuafactured and ultimately released. This is quite a far cry from the much smaller edition Mini Busts released in 2002 and 2003. But as you can imagine, Imperials of any flavor don’t have a long shelf life and they sold out rather quickly. In fact, they rarely meet demand. Interest in the Mini Bust line peaked in 2004 and pretty much all of the ones released in the years sold very briskly. The Biker Scout is no exception. Not all Mini Busts have stunning paint jobs, but the artists at Gentle Giant Ltd. did a fantastic job on the Biker Scout. Just look at how he points his blaster pistol. It's an amazing effort in every way possible. Every last painted on detail has been perfectly replicated and the paint strokes are respectively flat and glossy when decorating the body glove or the shiny details of the armor and specifically the visor. All of the factors involved have come into perfect play for the Biker Scout Mini Bust. And the quality put forth into this piece will assuredly last a lifetime for the collectors who sought it. That’s 7500 of you out there in cyberspace!