Han Solo, Princess Leia And Chewbacca - OTC - Commemorative Trilogy DVD Collection

Celebrate the legendary Star Wars trilogy that changed the universe forever, with The Original Trilogy Collection. This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. The finest recreations of the iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are back with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Original Trilogy: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. And, as a tribute to the dedication of Star Wars fans everywhere, we are re-releasing elements of the original packaging that harken back to the creation of Star Wars action figures, which began over 25 years ago with the classic trilogy.

There wasn’t much planning for The Original Trilogy Collection because it came out of nowhere thanks to a sudden announcement from Lucasfilm LTD. 2004 was the year for fans to prepare for the long-awaited release of the Original Trilogy on DVD. It was an exciting time, and because the line focused so heavily on the Original Trilogy, it engaged collectors in an unprecedented manner. The engagement Hasbro had with fans was a direct result of taking elements of the vintage Kenner packaging and focusing on the characters that made us who we are today as collectors. Hasbro worked up an interesting line of new and old, but updated, figures to include in The Original Trilogy Collection. As briefly mentioned, the packaging was incredible, and the line ultimately performed better than expected (no doubt to the strong vintage Kenner ties Hasbro worked into the line). While The Original Trilogy Collection, for the most part, was a well-received success, Hasbro did falter with a couple of uninteresting store exclusives. We’re specifically referring to the Commemorative Trilogy DVD Collection multipacks. They were relevant from a certain point of view because they directly supported the home video (DVD) release of the Original Trilogy. But thanks to the inclusion of outdated figures (and not updated in any meaningful way), the sets felt lackluster at best.

The Han Solo, Princess Leia And Chewbacca three-pack is perhaps the best of the three commemorative sets released. The figures work well together and are closely themed around the events that transpired after they were betrayed by Lando Calrissian. The set also succeeds because the figures included in it are in perfect scale with one another, something that was an intentional consideration for figures of the Power Of The Jedi line. And all three of these figures made their debut in Power Of The Jedi. The figures not only look great next to each other, but interact beautifully as well. Han Solo is the very first Star Wars figure from Hasbro to come with two ball-jointed shoulders. It was an early attempt by Hasbro, but they have held up within the last couple of years. It isn’t the worst version of Han Solo we have seen, but it’s time that Hasbro tools an all-new version so that it can keep up with the new figures introduced into the line each year. He comes with a removable vest shell and a blaster pistol which can be stored in the functional holster on his right leg. The paint operations are decent on Han Solo and don’t stray too far from what we have seen Hasbro do with this sculpt in the past. Nonetheless, you will find some paint operation differences on this figure as you probably will on all figures every time they get re-released. This Han Solo figure is no exception.

Our favorite figure in this set is Princess Leia. She looked great as 2001’s POTJ Leia Organa (Bespin Escape) and she looks great as part of this set. Like the others, Hasbro has made some paint operations changes which give the figure a slightly different appearance. But the thing to take away here is that they tooled a great action figure in 2001 which holds up equally well in 2004. Petite with a perfect passive action pose, Princess Leia is included in this set to sell the point home that this trio of characters is based on their encounter with the Galactic Empire on Bespin. She comes with a gray E-11 blaster which she commandeered from the Imperial Stormtroopers via Lando Calrissian, and she looks amazing holding it with both hands. It’s fantastic how well this figure has held up. You’ve probably seen this version of Chewbacca way too many times in the basic figure line. You’d be right about that. Hasbro always reaches for him because of the figure’s proper scale. And in all honesty, the sculpt is imperfect, yet looks pretty good despite this. He only comes with his bowcaster this time around. All in all, the Han Solo, Princess Leia And Chewbacca three-pack is a decent set. Hasbro chose these three action figures wisely in our opinion. When you compare the other two commemorative sets to this one, you’ll see why this one is the greatest of them all. But in all honesty, it’s not a bad set.