Today, being May The 4th, I wanted to start a somewhat new format for the site – Collections. Mainly being a single group photo of either a certain group of characters or even a bunch of the same character, just different toys of said character.
I won’t be posting these every week, just every now and then. But I thought this would be a very good photo to start with. However, I can’t take credit for the idea as I was inspired by this photohere by Jeffery Alvord.
Which, in turn, is inspired by this classic bit of Star Wars art by Ralph McQuarrie.
Han Solo is a smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falconwho ends up joining the Rebel Alliance after aiding them in their battle against the Death Star. In The Empire Strikes Back after escaping the forces of the Empire, Solo is finally captured after his friend Lando Calrissianbetrays him and is subsequently frozen in carbonite and given to the bounty hunter Boba Fett to be delivered to Jabba the Hutt after Han fails to pay off his debts to Jabba.
Name: Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) Line: The Black Series– ESB40th Anniversary collection Manufacturer: Hasbro Released: 2020 Price: $19.99 USD Scale: 6 inch Accessories: Blaster pistol
The 2018 Black Series release of Bespin Outfit Han Solo is rereleased for the 40th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back on a Kenner style vintage card back. This particular version of Han Solo had caught my eye as it was for sale at my (at the time) local comic book shop along with Luke and Leia. Eventually I went back to buy him and later picked up Leia as well. I could not resist the Kenner vintage style packaging and larger size of the black series. (Even if, at this point I was strictly sticking to the vintage collection 3.75-inch figures and not looking to buy more Black Series after selling what I had bought earlier in the series run.) However, my intention was to just have Han and Leia from The Empire Strikes Back and maybe a choice few other figures, which so far, I’ve managed to stick to that rule.
Being May the fourth, I’m trying my best to remember to post a Star Wars review on that particular day and at least this year I have succeeded!
SCULPTING
The sculpting in hand for this figure is great. Its definitely one of the best mass market Han Solo figures in my opinion for the price that you pay. The likeness is definitely Harrison Ford as Han Solo from The Empire Strikes Back. The rest of the figure is done well the jacket, shirt, pant, holster and boots all have a good amount of detail and look realistic.
Han shot first, damn it!
PAINT
Not much paint here and that’s just how I like it. Theres a little bit for details on Han’s clothes and you also have the Photo Real printing/painting on the face which really makes it look great in person. So not too much to worry about here.
ARTICULATION
The Black Series has a kind of a hybrid of The Vintage Collection and standard modern action figure articulation. For example, the arms are definitely the type of articulation and design we would see with a normal Vintage Collection 3.75-inch figure. But we have standard double-jointed knees. (even if newer releases for the vintage Collection now mimic this type of articulation too) with that said you can get Han into a number of great poses I really had a lot of fun posing him for the photo set and it didn’t feel like chore to pose and take phots of him. He’s definitely one of those figures you want to just pick up and play with every now and then. So, I don’t think you’d have any problems posing this figure for the most part.
ACCESSORIES
Han comes with his trusty blaster pistol and that’s it. No extra hands or heads etc. which is pretty basic. But, its fine. I’m happy with that though. I would have liked some extra hands this isn’t an S.H.Figuarts figure after all.
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
I really don’t think you’re going to have any problems with this figure, unless you happen to get a bad paint application on the face?
PRICE
I paid the retail price for the Australian market and supported a local business at the same time. So, I was happy with that, even if that means the price might have been a little bit higher than what I would have payed online.
OVERALL
This is a really good Han Solo figure. Is he the best? No. Is he the worst? No again. But what you do have is an affordable, well-made figure that looks good and is really fun to play with and looks good on a display shelf with other figures from the same line of toys. And I think that’s enough to make him a must buy for me. Especially for the vintage inspired packaging for you MOC Collectors out there, he will look great, as its like having an oversized version of the original Han Solo in Bespin Outfit, abet more modern looking. If you have the chance and are a Star Wars fan, he’s worth adding to your collection.
I collect G1 Transformers and Dino-Riders as well as random toys from my childhood. I collect Hot Toys 1/6 scale figures and I also like Japanese soft Vinyl toys (Sofubi) as well.
I am a very big fan of 1980's toys, As most toys released during this period are in one word: Awesome.
I have been collecting for a number of years and have been collecting Hot toys from their very first movie masterpiece figure.
I have experienced almost every aspect of being a toy collector, from being a customer, to seller, to wholesaler, to even working as a distributor for 1/6 scale brands. I have a fair amount of experience with 1/6 scale products, some of my colleagues even call me a Hot Toys guru.
I also do a fair amount of kit-bashing of figures, custom clothing, scratch built figures, customized figures etc.
I enjoy toy collecting very much and toys in general is something I have a great passion for.
Blog Mission
What I intend to bring you are reviews on current released figures, retro reviews and articles on various details and facts to do with toys.
My main goal is to make this blog interesting, entertaining and informative.
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Any text or photos can not be used on another site without permission or a link back to my site.
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