Boba Phat

Boba Phat is an underground character that publicly debuted in 2007 at Star Wars Celebration IV, although he was first spotted wearing the costume as early as 1998 at private parties.



Description
Also known as "Pimpin' Boba Fett", "Drunk Boba Fett", "Ol' Dirty Boba Phat", "Leisure Suit Boba Fett", or "Lounge Boba Fett", the character has been seen at Comic-Con & numerous Star Wars-related events. The character refers to himself as a 'Intergalactic Booty Hunter' and "wears a 100 percent royal blue polyester leisure suit, complete with iridescent ascot, rhinestone bling ring and plastic goblet full of mystery purple drank".

Internet popularity
Boba Phat has been featured in numerous viral videos, as well as a number of Star Wars fan photos across the internet. Rapidly gaining popularity due to his personal appearances, Boba Phat is also recognized as a unique personality as portrayed by comments made about him by celebrities such as Fanboys (2009 film) star Kristen Bell, artists such as Marvel Comics' J. Scott Campbell, and musicians such as The Go-Go's rhythm guitarist Jane Wiedlin.

He is featured in several noteworthy videos, making appearances at Star Wars Celebration IV, as well as each year at Comic-Con. His popularity expanded in 2008 with his appearance at the world's largest comic book convention largely due to the release of several internet videos of him wandering around inebriated. His underground fame continues to establish itself due to his appearance at San Diego Comic-Con 2009, and its subsequent release of video footage onto the World Wide Web.

Boba Phat is featured in "Crashing the Con", a documentary on San Diego Comic-Con 2008.

Boba Phat photos and videos continue to pop up across the internet from fans as well as a multitude of media sources as a result of his prominence at San Diego Comic-Con 2009. LA Weekly featured a photograph of him under which they refer to him as their "perennial favorite Star Wars cosplayer, Pimpin' Boba Fett".

While the 2009 convention attendance ranged anywhere from 125,000 to 140,000 people, Boba Phat appealed to KSWB-TV Fox 5 San Diego, which featured him in 2 out of a mere 30 photographs acknowledged in their online image gallery entitled 'Monsters and Aliens at Comic-Con 2009'.

Additionally, he was approached by Metromix Los Angeles, to whom he provided an independent interview, and was also included in several of their video montages displaying notable cosplayers appearing at the San Diego convention.

Most recently, he was videotaped and interviewed providing a testimonial intended to be used in an upcoming Lucasfilm milestone - the launch of the all-new Star Wars Stories Project.

On October 2nd, 2009, officially declared "Stan Lee day" by City of Long Beach mayor Bob Foste, Boba Phat was again spotted at the inaugural Long Beach Comic Con immediately after American comic book writer, editor, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics Stan Lee cut the opening ribbon. On the front page of the printed version of the Long Beach Press-Telegram is a photo of Boba Phat walking around with his sidekick, the "Tusken Raver" immediately below the image of Stan Lee cutting the ribbon in the article entitled "Heroes Welcome." Not only were Boba Phat & his sidekick the only cosplayers featured in the paper at all, but Boba Phat was also the main focus of that very first article to be released & published both in print & online about the brand new comic convention by the Long Beach Press-Telegram, which identified the underground character by his iconic garb: "Instead of Boba Fett, the fierce Mandalorian warrior and bounty hunter familiar to "Star Wars" aficionados, Boba Phat is pseudo-inebriated and decked out in a blue leisure suit adorned with a medallion necklace and brown mittens. He also carries a plastic goblet with a mystery intergalactic elixir. He's also on the prowl as the "Intergalactic Booty Hunter." Additionally, he and the Tusken Raver were featured on 562CityLife.com in a photo which referred to him as Pimp Bobba (sic).



Links

 * Personal fan link (new site, pending maintenance) http://www.BobaPhat.com
 * Campbell, J. Scott; referring to "ProjectFoxhole.com: The Ultimate Convention Survival Guide", http://www.facebook.com/pages/J-Scott-Campbell/80791377580?ref=mf, July 19, 2009 at 9:16 pm.
 * Weidlin, Jane; http://twitpic.com/bhgfi, July 24, 2009.
 * Dutchman4000; "Have You Seen Boba Fett Lately?", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-sQmJCKdc0, May 26, 2007.
 * Rusbuc1985; "Drunk Boba Fett - Celebration IV", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiCMH7EHh4k, May 27, 2007.
 * 8Dauncle; "2008 Comic-Con - drunk Boba Fett" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKQTo32COog, August 4, 2008.
 * Jolts; "Drunk Boba Fett", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_BUyA4XgRA, May 28, 2007.
 * Metromix.com; "Boba Phat at Comic-Con (SDCC 2009)", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uKm3ayjB4A, July 25, 2009.
 * Vuze.com; "Wingmen?", http://www.flickr.com/photos/vuze/3752218405/, July 24, 2009.
 * Thigpen, Douglas & StreetFreaks.tv; "Crashing The Con", http://www.crashingthecon.com, June 26, 2009.
 * Carroll, Larry; with reporting by Horowitz, Josh; "Megan Fox Is More Than Just A Pretty Face At Comic-Con", http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1616949/20090724/story.jhtml?rsspartner=rssMozilla, July 24, 2009.