Hutt Wheels for Sale
Apparently, Jabba the Hutt's ride can be quite the chick magnet.
"Oh, yeah, it's definitely proved useful in that," says Neal Ormond. "It's definitely comfortable on the inside."
"It" is the JL421 Badonkadonk, a "completely unique, extremely rare land vehicle and battle tank," with a 400-watt sound system, a fully carpeted interior, a top speed of 40 mph--and a price tag of $19,999.95. The Badonkadonk, or Donk for short, is not street legal, and is not to be confused, although it has been, with Jabba the Hutt's sail barge from
Return of the Jedi.Ormond, a Palo Alto, California-based designer, built the Donk with the help of like-minded associates, and without the help, or blessing, of Lucasfilm. Ormond says he hasn't heard a word from
George Lucas' Star Wars base camp about his homegrown transport device. Yet."No, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the next call," Ormond said Wednesday.
The Donk quietly went on sale last October through Amazon.com. (It was available via Ormond's firm, NAO Design, even before that.) But all was relatively quiet on the battle-tank front until the last week, when it was "discovered" by Netizens, in general, and Jedi followers, in particular.
"It is instantly recognizable by Star Wars fans...Everybody who sees it says, 'Oh, my God,' " says Philip Wise, Webmaster of the leading Star Wars fan site, TheForce.net.
To be fair, and for the benefit of Mr. Lucas, it should be pointed out that while the Donk sure does look an awful lot like a sail barge, and while Ormond does cop to reviewing Jedi for inspiration during the building stage, the armored, hatch-equipped hulk also has been compared to a Dalek, usually when those doing the comparing are acquainted with the mechanized villains from the British sci-fi series Doctor Who.
"The people who are slightly older than the Star Wars fans generally would reference Doctor Who," Ormond says.
Around Stanford University, but mostly in the shack next to the headquarters of the famously infamous Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band, Ormond says the Donk is known as that thing that transports the drums.
"Its regular job is pretty much within the band," says Ormond, a class of 2001 Stanford grad who still plays skins for the group. "In the evening hours, it's a party vehicle."
Yes, back to the "chick magnet" part...
Although it began life as a humble go-cart, the Donk seats up to five passengers and has "cozy" carpet and accent lighting. (Jabba's sail barge, after all, was a "pleasure ship," Wise says.)
Despite featuring all the comforts of Tatooine, Ormond says he didn't seriously consider bringing Donks to the masses until Amazon approached him last fall. And now that he has considered selling them, he hasn't. Sold any, that is.
Wise says he wouldn't be surprised if a Star Wars fan broke the bank to buy one.
Perhaps a fan like Wise?
"No, and I don't know anybody who would--and I know a lot of [fans], that's for sure," Wise says.
Lack of demand isn't necessarily a bad thing. Right now, only one Donk exists. And since Ormond says it's going on three years old, he probably wouldn't sell that one. He figures it might take six to eight months once an order is made to complete a new custom one.
In the meantime, Ormond's working on other "cool stuff," like, um, a flame-thrower. ("Not a destructive one," he promises.) What about something that levitates, maybe like a skyhopper?
"The flying version is two or three down the road," Ormond says.
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