Tag Archives: Han Solo

#0996: Han Solo

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

HAN SOLO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

HanStarkiller1

Continuing off of what I said about Leia and Han yesterday: given the sizeable role of Han in The Force Awakens, it was no shock that he was the first of the pair to get added to the toyline.  It was a bit surprising that he was not offered in the higher-end 3 ¾ inch line, though.  However, that’s something that Hasbro has now amended, if perhaps not quite in the way we were expecting.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HanStarkiller2Like Leia, Han was released in the fourth series of Walmart’s exclusive 3 ¾ inch Star Wars: The Black Series.  This is the second Han in this line (though the first one was from Jedi) and the third Force Awakens Han overall.  So, how is this not quite the Han we were expecting?  Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, he’s wearing his cold weather gear, which Han has for (parts of) the attack on Starkiller Base.  It’s not a look that he has for long, and it’s certainly less of a signature look than the black jacket. With that being said, it’s far less of an issue with Han than it was with Leia, since this isn’t Han’s first figure from TFA and it’s also not a bad look.  The figure is about 4 inches tall and has 24 points of articulation.  The sculpt isn’t quite as good as his 6-inch counterpart, but it’s not bad.  The body definitely gets the best work, with tons of really great texturing on the jacket in particular.  I’m also glad that the holster can be plugged and unplugged from his leg, allowing for some additional movement that the prior Han did not.  I’m having trouble seeing much Harrison Ford in the head, but I think that may have more to do with paint than anything else.  Structurally, the head sculpt doesn’t look too far off from the 6-inch version, which was pretty good.  So, about that paint.  It could definitely be better.  The body isn’t bad, but the head is a bit of a mess.  Ignoring the brown hair (which seems to be a licensing thing), the application on the eyes is just off.  They’re not properly placed and they’re at least twice as big as they should be.  Han’s definitely got the crazy eyes going on.  The brown hair and larger eyes also have the misfortune of making him look far younger than he should, which is not what you want from an old-man Han.  Han includes his blaster pistol, which is nicely sculpted and very well painted.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just as with Leia, I didn’t find Han at any of the Walmarts near me.  In fact, I didn’t find him at all: Super Awesome Girlfriend did!  Han’s a figure that could definitely use some improvement.  He had a high bar to clear after the truly amazing 6-inch Han, and he didn’t quite do it.  That being said, he’s certainly not a bad figure.  I’d be curious to see if a better paint job could breathe some new life into him.

HanStarkiller3

#0877: Princess Leia & Han Solo

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

PRINCESS LEIA & HAN SOLO – BESPIN

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

HanLeia1

You know, they say the best things come in threes (who says that? I don’t say that! I don’t think that’s a thing…) I’ve already done two days of Princess Leia reviews, why not go for a third? Well, you’re getting a third whether you want it or not. This is my site! ….Which I’m incredibly glad you’re all reading right now! So…if you don’t like this, I promise I won’t review a Princess Leia tomorrow. Anyway, here’s today’s review. It’s not just Leia, though, there’s also a Han! Yay?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Like yesterday’s set, these two are from 1997’s The Princess Leia Collection sub-set if the Power of the Force II line. This pair represented The Empire Strikes Back.

PRINCESS LEIA

HanLeia2After spending almost the entirety of the first film in the same basic outfit, Leia was given a few more looks for the sequel. While her Hoth look from early in the film is by far the more definitive look, this figure was based on her slightly more regal look from a few of her scenes on Bespin. She’s 3 ¾ inches tall and has the usual 6 points of articulation. Unlike the last pair of figures, this Leia didn’t have an equivalent single-release figure. She got a totally new sculpt. Like the other figures in this line, it’s not really fantastic, but it’s passable enough. The general proportions are fairly decent, and she looks sort of like Carrie Fisher. She’s a bit oddly posed, though; the legs are in a slight stride (making it really hard to keep her standing) and her right arm is bent in such a way as to make it longer than the left. Like the prior Leia, this figure uses some cloth parts for her costume, specifically the skirt and cape (though, this time, the cape uses a plastic piece for the collar). The pieces once again scale pretty well for cloth, which is always nice to see. The paint is all pretty passable and clean, though some of the work on the face is a little bit heavy. Leia includes no accessories of her own (unless you count Han!).

HAN SOLO

HanLeia3While Leia got a few different looks in ESB, Han pretty much just stuck with the one main look for the majority of the film. Since it’s the look that he wears around Bespin, it makes sense to pack this one with Leia. The figure is a little taller than Leia, and has the same 6 points of articulation. Like yesterday’s Luke and Leia, Bespin Han had a single-release counterpart in the main line (which I even reviewed on this site!). This figure uses the same head as that one (as did most of the PotFII figures); it’s not a great head sculpt, mostly because it bears next to no resemblance to Harrison Ford, but at least it was consistent. The rest of the sculpt is okay, but not fantastic. Like Luke, the body feels rather undersized, especially the hands. This only exaggerates the problems with this head. I think part of this may be to counteract the use of a cloth coat, which does bulk up the figure a little. The coat isn’t as well tailored as Luke’s, but it’s alright, I guess. Once again, the sculpted version looks a fair bit better. The paint is fairly well handled, though, like Leia, the face is a bit heavy handed. It’s not technically a paint issue, but it should be noted that the color of the coat is incorrect. It should be blue. It’s worth noting that the single-release figure also had the wrong colored coat, so it may have been a licensing thing. Han was packed with his usual blaster, which, like all of the PotFII blasters is a fair bit over-sized.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with yesterday’s set, I picked this pair up from a collectibles store across from the theatre where I saw The Force Awakens. This was actually the one of the two sets I was more looking forward to, but after opening them, I think it may be the lesser set. Once again, the Leia figure is the superior of the two figures, and she’s helped by the fact that she’s the only PotFII version of this particular look. Han, on the other hand, is rather a letdown. Still, this is a cool enough set that I don’t regret getting them.

#0864: Han Solo

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

HAN SOLO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

HanTFA1i

A lot of (very much deserved) praise has been heaped on the new cast members introduced in the Force Awakens, but one of the coolest things about the movie was the return of some of the “old guard” from the Original Trilogy. The most prominent returning hero by far was everyone’s favorite scuffy-lookin’ nerf-herder, Han Solo. For a number of reasons, Han, along with most of the other returning characters, was absent from the first few waves of Force Awakens product, but the merch based on him is starting to hit in full storm. Today, I’ll be looking at his much anticipated Black Series figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HanTFA2Han was released in the fifth series of the latest iteration of Star Wars: The Black Series. He’s marked as number 18 in the line, which makes him the last figure in this particular series numerically. The figure stands just over 6 inches tall (which is the same as his A New Hope figure) and has 27 points of articulation. Some of the movement, most notably his hips, is a little restricted, but he can certainly pull off just about any pose that the real Harrison Ford can. Han’s sculpt is totally new, and it’s an amazing piece of work. The proportions look great, certainly better than the last Han, and the detail work on the clothing is just fantastic. The jacket in particular has some amazing texture work, which adds a lot of character to the figure. The shirt and underlying belt are a little on the soft side, and I’m not sure I’m a fan of the pose on his left hand, but those are my only real complaints. The real draw of this sculpt is the likeness. Harrison Ford has a notoriously hard to capture likeness, but this is perhaps the best one we’ve ever seen. There are a few angles where it looks a bit off, but the HanTFA4boverall appearance is very close. Now, you may be thinking that, based on the pictures, he really doesn’t look as close as I’m saying. Well, here’s where the paint comes in. For the most part, the paint’s great. The clothing (particularly the coat) has some really great work, which really sells this as a real person. My first nit is the eyes; they aren’t terrible, but they’re a little sloppier than I’d like. However, the major issue here is the hair. The application of the paint is alright, but there’s no getting around the fact that it’s simply the wrong color. Instead of being mostly grey with maybe a few streaks of light brown, it’s light brown with just a few streaks of grey, resulting in him looking a fair bit younger than he should. It’s really annoying, because it seriously throws off an otherwise really great figure.* Han only includes one accessory: his signature blaster, which is a totally different mold than the one included with the Series 2 Han.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I found out this figure was hitting stores, I was anticipating him being a chore to find. So, I was pleasantly surprised to walk into my local Target and find him hanging on the pegs, hiding behind a pair of Jango Fetts. I’m not sure I can adequately describe just how much I like this figure. He’s hands down the best Han Solo figure I own, and possibly one of the best Black Series figures to date, and certainly the best of the Force Awakens figures. Yes, the hair thing is annoying, but this figure outshines all those issues, and is just a ton of fun to mess around with.

HanTFA3c

*It should be noted that the hair thing isn’t limited to just this figure. The Pop! and LEGO versions also sport the light brown hair, suggesting it’s a licensing issue of some sort.

#0860: Star Wars Mashers

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

LUKE SKYWALKER, HAN SOLO, DARTH VADER, STORM TROOPER, & SCOUT TROOPER

STAR WARS HERO MASHERS

ROTJMashers1

For a guy who’s not a huge fan of Hero Mashers, I sure do seem to be picking up a lot of these guys, don’t I? Yeah, I don’t really have an excuse. I’m a bit of a push over when it comes to certain things. But, hey, it means you guys get to keep reading about these figures. Isn’t that a plus? No? Well, sorry…

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This five-pack of figures was released not long after the onslaught of Star Wars-merch in September. It initially appeared to be a TRU-exclusive set, but has recently begun to show up at other retailers. All of the included figures are based on Return of the Jedi.

LUKE SKYWALKER

ROTJMashers2Luke makes his second appearance in the Mashers style here, based on his Jedi look from….Jedi. Specifically, he’s based on his look from towards the end of the film, after he’s ditched the vest and unbuttoned one side of his chest-flap-thingy. The figure stands 6 inches in height and he’s got 18 points of articulation. He’s got the same reduced shoulder movement that all the more recent Mashers have gotten, but I’ve really stopped noticing at this point. The figure shares his head with the Bespin version of Luke from the two-pack. That’s nice from a consistency standpoint (even if Hamill does look different in the two films…) and the actual sculpt does a pretty nice job of tweaking Hamill’s likeness to fit the style. The rest of the sculpt is unique to this figure, and it’s a pretty sharp sculpt. This particular design definitely transfers well to the Mashers aesthetic. Like every Mashers figure, Luke can be disassembled at the neck, elbows, hips, and knees, and his parts are interchangeable with the rest of the line (if you’re into that sort of thing…). Luke’s paintwork is generally pretty simple; it’s limited to the face and chest, with some slight finish variance on the glove and boots. There’s an odd spot of silver on one side of my figure’s collar, but aside from that, the application is pretty clean. Luke is packed with his green lightsaber from the movie, which is so far unique to this set.

HAN SOLO

ROTJMashers3After getting his styling jacketed look in the two-packs, this Han returns him to his classic vested look (albeit the slightly less classic variant of it from Jedi). Han’s sculpt is mostly the same as that of the two-pack figure, with only a new torso piece. The re-use isn’t too terrible, but it does mean Han’s got pockets on each arm, which isn’t accurate. The overall sculpt isn’t bad, but Han doesn’t seem to have translated as well to the Mashers style as Luke. The head in particular just seems far too generic for Harrison Ford. Also, this figure’s hips seem particularly wideset. An additional note: Han’s hands are separate pieces from the forearms. They aren’t designed to be removable, but they might pop off if you aren’t paying attention. Han’s paint is a bit more complex than Luke’s, and it’s handled pretty well. There are a few fuzzy lines, but nothing really terrible. Han is packed with his signature blaster. It’s got a blaster bolt permanently attached, which looks a little odd in a basic pose, but does add some nice flare in an action set-up.

DARTH VADER

ROTJMashers4I’ve actually reviewed a lot of this guy before. Vader, unlike the others in this set, goes for a very scene specific look. Namely, the scene where he’s getting electrocuted by the Emperor. That seems a little morbid for a kid-aimed toyline, but okay! The torso, upper arms, legs, cape, and skirt are all exactly the same as the single-release Vader. Same sculpt, same paint, same everything. What’s new are the head and lower arms, which take the previously used pieces, add a bit of “electricity” detailing to them, and cast them in a cool translucent blue. Of course, to be truly accurate to the scene, he should be missing his right hand, but I guess that would be too morbid for the kid’s toy. Vader is packed with the same extra as his single-packed counterpart, a lightsaber, as well as two electricity effect pieces.

STORMTROOPER

ROTJMashers6And now for the set’s one straight re-pack, the Imperial Stormtrooper! Yes, this guy’s the same exact figure as the single-packed version. But come on, it’s a Stormtrooper! You can’t have too many of these guys, right? The design definitely fits the style very well, and he’s helped by the totally armored look. He’s easily got the sharpest detailing of the figures included here, which definitely helps the overall look. The one major nit with the sculpt is more an articulation issue than anything; since his elbows only swing forward and back, he can’t actually hold a blaster two-handed. Also, like Han, the hands are separate pieces, glued in place. The Stormtrooper’s paint is generally pretty decent, though the black is a little sloppy in a few spots, and there are a few bits of slop. It’s all relatively minor, though. He’s packed with a standard trooper blaster, which, like Han’s, has a blaster bolt permanently affixed. Consistency!

SCOUT TROOPER

ROTJMashers5Last, and very much not least, it’s the Scout Trooper! By far my favorite Trooper design from the OT, and also the one totally new figure included in this set. The Scout Trooper’s design is already pretty chunky and blocky, so it translates very nicely to the Mashers style, and doesn’t look quite as cartoony as some of the other figures. The general quality of the sculpt is pretty great. Some of the details are a bit on the soft side, especially on the torso, but he’s no worse than other Masher figures. The one thing that knocks this figure down a peg is his paint. It’s not terrible or anything, but there’s definitely a fair bit of bleed over, and the edges of the white paint are all pretty fuzzy. From a slight distance, he looks fine, but up close he’s a bit off. The Scout Trooper includes a small blaster, which has the affixed blast, just like the other two. Three for three!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

“Ethan, if you aren’t a huge fan of Mashers, then why did you buy this big set of figures?” The answer is simple, hypothetical reader: Scout Trooper. I have an unhealthy addiction to Scout Trooper action figures. It was just my luck that this guy had to be part of a big boxed set. Due to the slightly high price tag of the set, I actually passed on it several times. However, last month, I was at Target, and they had this set for half-price. For $25, I figured it was worth it. I don’t regret this purchase in the slightest. The Scout Trooper is definitely my favorite, but the basic Stormtrooper and Luke are pretty awesome too. Han’s not really my preferred version and I can take or leave Vader, but the overall set is actually pretty fun.

ROTJMashers7

#0506: Han Solo – Bespin

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

HAN SOLO – BESPIN

POWER OF THE FORCE II

HanBespin1

Hey! Do you like reading about Han Solo figures? I sure hope you do, cuz I’m reviewing another one today. Yes, after the barrel of laughs I had writing yesterday’s review, I thought, why not another one? So, I’ll be wrapping up this little subset of Power of the Force II reviews with another Han Solo. Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HanBespin2This particular Han found himself released in the second year of Kenner’s Power of the Force II line. After doing the primary looks of most of the main characters from A New Hope (as well as one or two figures from the other two movies), the second year turned to the later looks of the primary characters, just to make sure the line didn’t run out of Hans and Lukes. So, Han is based on his primary look from Empire Strikes Back, commonly referred to as his Bespin look, as it’s what he’s wearing during all of those scenes. It’s definitely a fan-favorite look, and I’d say its popularity rivals the ANH look. The figure is about 3 ¾ inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. The figure’s sculpt is mostly new, with the exception of the head, which is re-used from the previous Han figure. That was definitely the best sculpted piece on the last figure, but it’s still saddled with its own set of issues, chief among them being it just doesn’t really look like Han Solo. That said, it’s on an entirely new body here, and that does the sculpt a few favors, chief amongst them being that the head is just a heck of a lot more proportional with the new body. Kenner kind of caught on to some of the complaints about the first assortment of POTF II figures’ proportions, so later assortments ended up at least a tad less ridiculous. Han is still a little bulky, but it’s more evenly spread this time. He lacks the laughable hour glass figure of the previous Han, and his arms don’t look like they’re about to bust the seams of his sleeves either. Those are both pretty big improvements. The figure’s clothes also have a fair bit more texture this time around, especially the shirt and coat, which helps make the figure at least a little more interesting looking. Sadly, he still has some oddly posed legs, but at least they look more like a deep step this time than the freaking side lunge that smuggler Han was doing. The paintwork on Han is overall pretty clean and well handled, and it seems to be better that the other Han. However, there’s a paint chip on his neck, which is rather annoying. Also, the most glaring issue with that paint is that they flat out got the color of his coat wrong. In the movie it’s very definitely blue. Here, it’s black for some reason. I wonder why that happened. Han includes his trademark (and still way oversized) blaster pistol, as a large gun, which I am once again pretty certain he never actually carries in the movies.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Okay, so while I didn’t actually have this figure growing up, I did get to play with one on a fairly regular basis. See, my grandmother wanted my cousin Patrick and me to have some figures to play with when we stayed with her, so she had me pick out a handful of POTF II figures for the two of us. This version of Han was among them. Patrick and I had dug out a small little dirt pit in the back yard, which we used as a stand in for the Sarlac Pit, and one day, it started raining and we had to run back in. We thought we had grabbed all of the figures, but poor Han got left behind. The next time we were both at the house, our grandfather had filled in the pit. Patrick and I dug for a while, but Han was nowhere to be found. It’s always been that figure that got away. While at Farpoint this year, still high from the excitement of getting the other POTF II figures from the charity sale, I found this Han at one of the dealer’s tables. His package had yellowed so much that it looked like the poor guy had been encased in amber, but the figure was just fine. And now I have that Han figure again. Huzzah!

#0505: Han Solo

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

HAN SOLO

POWER OF THE FORCE II

HanANH1

I’m desperately trying to come up with a good intro here, and literally the only thing going through my head is “Han Solo Cup.” Of which I feel rather ashamed. Yesterday, I remarked that I never had any of the Power of the Force II Stormtroopers. Well, funny thing about that is, on the flip side, the only Han Solo I owned from the line was Stormtrooper disguise Han. And, in what seems to be the story of my adult collecting life in general, I’ve decided to fix that. So, let’s look at a Han Solo figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HanANH2Han was released in the first assortment of POTF II figures, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone. He was Han freaking Solo after all. He’s roughly 3 ¾ inches in height, and he has the line’s standard 6 points of articulation. He’s based on Han’s primary look from A New Hope, which is generally the look most people associate with the character. Han’s sculpt was original to him, and it exhibits a lot of the same style cues present in other POTF II figures. Let’s start off with the basic proportions of the figure: he has an overall body-builder-esque physique, but even by body-builder standards, he’s a bit absurd. His shoulders are really broad, and his arms are practically bursting out of his sleeves. He also has the huge hands and impossibly thin waist that were prevalent in the line. Han, more so than others in the line, feels like a cartoon caricature, not a human being. On top of the proportions, Han’s sculpt is plagued by a few issues. Like a lot of the others in this line, Han’s legs are somewhat strangely posed, requiring that he stand in a deep stance to be even remotely balanced while standing. Also, though his hands may be large, they haven’t been sculpted to really hold anything. This is the worst on his right hand, you know, the one he holds his blaster with, which is sculpted flat, so he can’t actually do so. Finally, there’s the head. Now, to be fair, the head is easily the best part of this figure, especially from a technical standpoint. There’s some really nice detail and texturing. However, it seems like the sculptor was working from pictures of Harrison Ford at the time these figures were made, instead of at the time of the movies. And even then, it’s hard to see a lot of Ford in this sculpt. He looks a bit like the lovechild of Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, which, needless to say, isn’t Han Solo. Han’s paintwork is pretty much typical for the time. It’s certainly not bad, but it’s not anything amazing either. Everything is pretty much where it’s supposed to be, and there aren’t really any issues with bleed over or slop.  Han included his signature blaster pistol, which is hysterically oversized, and a larger blaster rifle, which doesn’t appear to be one he carries in the film.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I mentioned in the intro, this isn’t the Han I had growing up. I think part of what turned me off to Han figures in general was that likeness he had. I just didn’t like that Han looked so much older than he should. But, over time, the old Han figure has started to grow on me. So, Han ended up being one of the POTF II figures that I fished out of the charity sale box at this year’s Farpoint. Like the Stormtrooper, he’s definitely a goofy figure, but I feel a twinge of nostalgia for this guy.

#0045: Han Solo

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

HAN SOLO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

Today marks another Star Wars: The Black Series review.  This is a great line, and it’s steadily becoming one of my favorites.  This time around, I’ll be looking at my personal favorite figure from the line: Han Solo.  Han is of course the last piece of the main trio, and is my favorite character of the three, so there’s a lot riding on this figure.  Does it deliver?  Well, yeah.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Han was released as part of the second series of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series line.  Like the others in the line, he’s got a figure number, #008.  Han is presented in his main look from the first Star Wars movie (The real one).  It’s a good choice because it’s probably the look most people think of when they think of the character.  He stands just about 6 inches tall, and features roughly 25 points of articulation.  Han features a brand new sculpt.  It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty darn good.  With one or two exceptions, the articulation is integrated well into the sculpt, a great improvement over Leia.  His arms seem a bit too skinny, and I think the neck may be just a smidge too long, but with decent posing, neither of these issues is overly noticeable.  The paint is really the figure’s weakest point.  It’s not bad, but it doesn’t do much to bring out the sculpt.  In particular, I feel like the likeness on the head sculpt would be better with a more complimentary paint job.  As it stands, it looks the slightest bit off.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s obvious who it’s meant to be, but it could be phenomenal  with the proper paint.  On the flip side, the highlight of the figure is his accessories.  Decent accessories tend to be a rarity these days, but Han seems to have lucked out, with his trusty blaster pistol, a spare set of gloved hands, his regular belt, and the belt and blaster he stole from a Stormtrooper on the Death Star.  The accessories are all really great, and allow you to display with just about every look he has over the course of the film.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In my previous two SW:TBS reviews, I’ve used this section to express some conflict between my feelings of the source material and the quality of the figures.  Not this time.  This figure is pretty much everything I wanted from the line when it was announced.  He’s a really great figure all around, and really shows off where this line can shine.  Plus, he’s Han Solo.  How can you not?