Watto - Mini Busts

Watto was the Toydarian junk dealer/human trafficker who made a lucrative business for himself on Tatooine. As the owner of a junk shop in Mos Espa, he was a cunning opportunist, preferring to do business with offworlders, rather than seasoned locals, as they were easier to con out of their hard-earned money.

Even if you’re the biggest hater of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, we believe that if you search your soul that you would be able to admit that look of the characters were very impressive. This doesn’t mean you have to like the way that they talked or the way they behaved, but just the simple appearance of them should inspire some awe within you. This can be said of characters like Jar Jar Binks, Boss Nass and Watto. Watto, despite extremely controversial accusations that he was a stereotype for a Jewish man (something we just have to shake our heads over), was an engaging character with a completely unique look and an equally rough exterior and interior that made him a character you liked to dislike. He was Anakin’s slave owner and a junk dealer entrepreneur and was involved in more gangster crime than probably anyone of us could possibly estimate. After all, he did fear the Hutts. Now this Force-resistant Toydarian comes to collectors in the form of an excellently done Mini Bust. And it may just be the greatest collectible interpretation of him on the market today.

Watto couldn’t be more scene specific. Sometimes the artists at Gentle Giant Ltd. go uncomfortably off screen to create Mini Busts that utilize a healthy dose of artistic license. One example that comes to mind is the Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) Mini Bust. No matter how you slice that Mini Bust, you just can’t come up with a scene from Return Of The Jedi where that Mini Bust accurately represents him. Watto, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He is posed from the scene where he bets with Qui-Gon Jinn for Anakin Skywalker’s freedom (as well as the much needed hyper drive parts for the Royal Starship), complete with blue and red sided die held firmly between his fingertips. Watto’s details are simply unbelievable. His multiple chins and the folds created from his loose skin couldn’t be more realistic. He has very angry eyes which are fitting for the scene in particular. If we had to find room to complain, we would have wished that the sculptors didn’t pose his right hand around his neck. From side view is looks fine, like he is pondering something. But from a straight ahead view, it looks like Qui-Gon Jinn has used the Force to choke him instead of on the die to make it fall on his winning color.

We love the paint job Gentle Giant’s artists have given Watto. Interestingly, they colored Watto in a sea foam green color, which we now know is not the correct color. You can look at the stills of Watto for Episode I for the proof, but do you recall how Watto was interpreted in Hasbro’s line? In 1999, he was the same sea foam green as this Mini Bust. But in 2008’s TAC Watto/R2-T0 (5 of 6) Droid Factory two-pack, Hasbro updated the paint job which we feel is the most accurate color scheme for Watto. What’s even more interesting than this is that it appears by the box art (and the certificate of authenticity) that Gentle Giant Ltd. intended to give Watto the revised (bluer) paint job as given on the 2008 Hasbro figure (or at the very least in a similarly colored style). Something changed before the Mini Bust was released. But don’t worry. It really doesn’t detract from the piece that much at all. Both the sculpt and paint job are absolutely stunning on the Watto Mini Bust. Again, we’re not completely enamored of his character or role in Episode I, but we have to admit we fell hard for the Mini Bust. (It would have been cool if his right hand was holding a data pad instead of his neck for the record.)