I had been on the fence for awhile on this guy myself. Had been eyeing the first one on eBay for years, but the aftermarket prices for V.1 were, and to a degree still are, out of control. I was lucky enough to PO through Timewalker, which was $50 cheaper than Sideshow, if I remember correctly. They had a payment plan option, which was nice, as well (not quite as good as the Sideshow plan, but still helpful). It’s still going to ship direct from Sideshow (since they’re the distributor), but even with their outrageous shipping, it should still work out to roughly the same as the full MSRP, around $800.
This was definitely a tough decision to make, but I’ve been involved in single custom figure projects that aren’t anywhere near as massive as this, that ultimately cost even more. Still a tough call, and I understand anyone’s hesitation. My Star Wars collection is nowhere near as expansive as some, but this guy is going to be an impressive center-piece. All of the sequences with Jabba were the best part of Return of the Jedi to me, so I’m excited to finally add him (it also didn’t hurt that Carrie Fisher was nearly naked in those scenes).
And Ephi, you’re right, I’d love to be able to add Oola to the display. Been eyeing a couple Bib Fortuna’s and Gamorrean Guards on eBay, but I just don’t know (I’m kind of hoping that Sideshow revisits those guys at least).