A Guide to Star Wars Gentle Giant Mini Busts

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
..well, actually more like 2002 in Burbank, California.... a gepany called Gentle Giant Studios was granted the license to begin making Star Wars mini busts. With an amazing group of artists and sculptors, Gentle Giant quickly began churning out some of the most detailed work to ever hit the Star Wars collecting universe. Designed in 1/6th scale and standing about 6.5 inches tall, one of the main attractions was (and remains) the fact that these resin mini bustsare reasonably priced at an MSRP of $45-$55 each upon release.
The first "wave" of these busts was limited to 2,500 pieces each andwere sculpted with no arms. Each came well protected in a black, numbered box and included a certificate of authenticity from Gentle Giant. The firstmini-bustsdepicted the following characters - all based on their likenesses from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (AOTC):

Anakin Skywalker(pictured below)
Mace Windu
Padme Amidala
Zam Wessell
Count Dooku
Jango Fett
Obi-Wan Kenobi

Later that same year Gentle Giant issued two busts of fan favorite characters - both limited to 3,500 pieces. However,Gentle Giantmade a significant change by adding arms to the busts... and the popularity of the line exploded:

Darth Vader(Based on "Empire Strikes Back" (ESB) likeness)
Yoda (AOTC likeness - pictured below)

In 2003, the line had firmly "caught on" with collectors and Gentle Giant stepped up production.They began adding even more accessories withthe characters - including interchangable "deluxe" arms on some of the busts that collectors could swap out to put busts into different poses. Gentle Giant continued production with:

Boba Fett(7,500 pieces)
AOTC Clone Trooper(approx. 3,750 pieces - white armor)
AOTC Clone Trooper Captain(approx. 1,250 pieces - red markings on armor)
AOTC Clone Trooper gemander(approx. 2,500 pieces - yellow markings on armor)
Interestingly, the Clone Troopers all came in the same cases. While the "regular" Clone Trooper was in each case, the Clone Captain and Clone gemander were ceded much more scarcely - which has led to lofty prices on the secondary market for these pieces.
Gentle Giantalso marked the first exclusives in the line by offering an AOTC Clone Lietenant(blue markings on amor,) whichwas limited to 1,000 pieces and only available for sale at the 2003 San Diego geic-Con. This piece is still one of themost sought after pieces in the line and was difficult to acquireeven for those who did attend geic-Con thatyear; it currently gemands between $400 and $500 on the secondary market.

That same year Gentle Giantgranted MBNA Mastercard the exclusive rights to distribute a smoked chrome version of the ESB Darth Vader. Limited to 4,000 pieces, the chrome Vader was given away as a reward to MBNA credit card customers for earning a certain amount of reward points with their card. Over the past several years, some of these pieces have shown a cracking of the chrome plating due to the process Gentle Giant employed; they have fixed this problem on subsequent chrome busts.
2004 saw 14 more additions to the mini-bust line.The line was begeing so popular Gentle Giant responded by upping the production number on most of the pieces to better suit demand, while continuing to keep them limited:

Biker Scout (7,500 pieces)
Bossk (5,000 pieces)
C-3PO(8,000 pieces)
Clone Trooper Pilot(2,500 pieces - Wizard World Los Angeles Exclusive)
Clone Trooper Sergeant (2,500 pieces - StarWarsShop.ge Exclusive- green markings on armor)
Gamorrean Guard (4,000 pieces)
Grand Moff Tarkin (6,000 pieces)
Greedo (7,500 pieces)
Chrome Jango Fett (5,000 pieces - MBNA Mastercard Exclusive)
Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper Disguise (3,500 pieces - Convention exclusive)
Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot (7,500 pieces)
Stormtrooper (10,000 pieces)
Finally, the last bust of the year was one not available to the general public. Gentle Giant made 200 Chrome Sandtrooper mini-busts (with gold shoulder pauldron) as a Christmas gift for retailers and special "friends". This bust gemands well over $1,000 when it does appear on the secondary market.

2005 saw another barrage of mini-busts:

Han Solo(8,000 pieces - first 1,000 sold at San Diego geic-Con as "Early Bird Edition")
Han Solo in Stormtrooper Disguise (3,500 pieces - 2005 Collector's Club Exclusive)
IG-88 (5,000 pieces)
Princess Leia in Boussh Disguise(5,000 pieces)
Sandtrooper Squad Leader (15,000 pieces - orange shoulder pauldron)
Sandtrooper Sergeant (15,000 pieces - white shoulder pauldron)
Sandtrooper Corporal (2,500 pieces - Star Wars Celebration III exclusive - black shoulder pauldron)
Darth Vader (20,000 pieces - "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" (ROTS) likeness)
Yoda (20,000 pieces - ESB likeness)
Chrome C-3PO (2,500 pieces - MBNA exclusive, but also available via StarWarsShop.ge)
C-3PO (2,500 pieces - based on AOTC likeness - Star Wars Exhibition Singapore Exclusive)
Salacious Crumb with Santa Hat (200 pieces - 2005 Gentle Giant Holiday Retailer Exclusive)
In 2006, Gentle Giant has continued to give fans more of what they're looking for.

Salacious Crumb (2,500 pieces - 2006 Collector's Club Exclusive)
Emperor Palptine (4,500 pieces)
Lando Calrissian in Skiff Guard Disguise (4,000 pieces)
Darth Vader - Anakin Reveal (5,000 pieces - Entertainment Earth Exclusive)
Qui-Gon Jinn(5,000 pieces)
Shocktrooper (3,500 pieces - 2006 San Diego geic-Con Exclusive)
Mara Jade(2,000 pieces - 2006 Gen-Con Exclusive)
Blackhole Stormtrooper(1,000 pieces - 500 offered as a Japanese Tokyo Blister Exclusive. The other 500 offered to the U.S. via Gentle Giant Collector's Club) (Pictured Below)

The geing months will see even more great busts which include:

ROTS Clone Trooper (7,500 pieces - white armor)
501st Special Ops Clone Trooper (5,000 pieces - blue markings on armor)
Utupau Clone Tooper (2,500 pieces - orange markings on armor)
Chewbacca (7,000 pieces)
Darth Maul (10,000 pieces)
General Grievous (7,000 pieces)
Plo Koon (edition TBD)
Jango Fett (edition TBD)
Lastly, Gentle Giant makes a certainnumber of artist proof (aka "AP") busts (now called promo busts) for each piece.These busts are identical to their numbered counterparts, but areused by Gentle Giant for display or promotional purposes. These busts are much more limited than the normal release and gemand a premium on the secondary market when they do appear. They are clearly marked on both the outer box and on the bottom of the bust itself as "Artist Proof" or "Promo".
May the force be with you!