Star Wars Smuggler’s Bounty 40th Anniversary box reviewed: Where’s Leia?

The Smuggler’s Bounty box themed around the 40th anniversary of Star Wars has a lot of good points, but it seems that someone important is missing.

Smuggler’s Bounty, from Funko, sells itself as a Star Wars exclusive box. After quite some time away, the company enticed me back with a box themed around the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, which is, in case you missed it, later this week. So, since the box has arrived, let’s break down what’s in it and where it could have improved.

Upon first impression, the 40th anniversary box is, well, huge.

Here it is with an older box, The Resistance, on top for comparison:

Smuggler’s Bounty boxes. 40th Anniversary box is below. Image by C. Wassenaar.

The reason it’s so big? That would be the marquee item. But first, here’s what you’ll see when you open the box:

Smuggler’s Bounty box by Funko. Image by C. Wassenaar.

That’s a patch on the left featuring Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing pilot’s uniform, and a Chewbacca pin on the right. These two items always appear with special designs for each box’s theme.

Funko has included Pop! home items before. The company went back to that well again this month. Check out the Han Solo and Greedo salt and pepper shakers:

Han Solo and Greedo salt and pepper shakers from Smuggler’s Bounty box by Funko. Image by C. Wassenaar.

Han is totally ready to shoot first, and that’s possibly the best detail about these shakers. Still, they’re a cute set that will add that geeky touch to your kitchen if you can bring yourself to use them.

Funko always includes Pop! figures of some sort in these boxes. This month’s exclusive appears to be the biggest of them all. Here’s Luke Skywalker with Speeder, this month’s Pop!:

Luke Skywalker with Speeder figure from Smuggler’s Bounty box. Image by C. Wassenaar

The attention to detail here to have Luke’s speeder actually “hovering” off the ground with the help of some clear plastic is a really cool one. But before you think this doesn’t look that big at all, here’s Luke next to a regular-sized Han Solo Pop!

Han Solo (Action Pose) and Luke Skywalker with Speeder Pop!s by Funko. Image by C. Wassenaar.

So yeah, Luke’s huge. It’s really the kind of item you can really build a collection off of.

Funko threw in an additional item as well, a pair of Star Wars sweatbands, though only one is in the photo below:

Smuggler’s Bounty 40th anniversary box contents by Funko. Image by C. Wassenaar.

All in all, the obvious draw here is the Luke Skywalker. But it really feels as though Funko missed a trick here. Looking at the previous boxes on the official website, Leia has not gotten a Pop! figure. Sure, Funko put her on the front of this month’s box, but then to not have her feature on anything — not even the monthly patch — seems like an odd omission.

Of course, it could be that Funko has plans to do a big Leia Pop! later, since the company has put Han on a tauntaun before for a previous box. It could be that the plan will eventually be to complete the set. (Some pattern recognition suggests that it’ll be something from Return of the Jedi — Leia with the Ewoks, perhaps, since one of Leia and Jabba the Hutt already exists.) However, the lack of Leia acknowledgement means that the Smuggler’s Bounty 40th Anniversary box could have been a touch better here.

Next: First look at Justice League Pop!s

Those salt and pepper shakers are still really cute, though.