Han Solo (A New Hope) - Ultimate Quarter Scale

Name: Han Solo

Homeworld: Corellia

Born: 29 BBY

Species: Human

Height: 1.8 meters

Affiliation: Rebel Alliance

A former smuggler and freelance employee of Jabba the Hutt, Han Solo traversed the galaxy aboard the Millennium Falcon before encountering Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the questionable Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine. Dragged into the growing conflict between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, Han Solo would go on to become one of the most important men in the galaxy.

Along with his trusted copilot and friend Chewbacca, the notorious thief and smuggler worked for the highest bidder - taking jobs from both the Alliance and the Empire. After numerous betrayals and a dumped spice cargo, an impatient Jabba the Hutt contracted a bounty hunter of his own to handle the Han Solo problem. With the attempt on his life making Jabba's intentions quite clear, Han Solo wisely partnered with the Rebel Alliance.

The Ultimate Quarter Scale line is dead in the water. Stick a fork in it! Sadly, Diamond Select Toys didn’t have a chance making this line successful. With the obvious “reuse the buck as many times as possible”approach for this line, characters collectors were desperately waiting for like Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Emperor’s Royal Guard, Luke Skywalker from A New Hope and many, many others will now never see the light of day. (And all of those and more were planned and prototypes were made for each.) Admittedly, Diamond Select Toys’ Ultimate Quarter Scale line was doomed from the start. With a much too lanky and disproportionate buck that was utilized for all of the characters in the line despite their actual height, very few of the Star Wars Ultimate Quarter Scale figures looked right out of the box. And instead of producing as many unique figures as possible in the UQS line, Diamond Select Toys repeated characters in different outfits instead of releasing all-new characters in the line which worked against its success too. Han Solo (A New Hope), the second Han Solo after Han Solo In Hoth Outfit is the final UQS figure in the line. It isn’t terrible, but it has the same things working against it like the others and it may out you off because you’re going to wish for a little more accuracy.

What’s so upsetting about the Ultimate Quarter Scale line is that there were generously priced with quality. If Diamond Select Toys worked with a vendor to perfect the body type, and maybe tweak the human portraits a bit more, we believe the line would have had a longer life. These are cheap figures. The soft-good clothing is quite impressive. And they utilized mixed media to make all of the parts more screen accurate. For example, Han Solo (A New Hope) has twill styled pants, complete with a red blood stripe running down the out-seams of his pants. He also has a cotton type vest and jersey styled long-sleeved shirt. Each separate fabric has a unique feel and texture. It’s quite mind-blowing actually. What’s more, Han Solo (A New Hope) has a faux leather belt and holster with metal details. It looks like real leather and it’s screen accurate to boot! Even his boots have been sculpted unbelievably well. But it’s his darn long legs that make his stature look off and much too long and thin. There is not doubt that Han Solo is athletic and thin, but he isn’t this thin by comparison and it is something you’re going to find off too. Still, it is very hard to fault the effort that went into dressing this figure up. He does look fantastic from this perspective.

All Ultimate Quarter Scale figures are admirably accessorized. They don’t come with millions of parts like the 1:6 Scale Figures from Sideshow Collectibles, but they do comes with less than a half dozen of parts including alternate hands and signature weapons. For Han Solo (A New Hope), he comes with his DL-44 heavy blaster pistol and an interchangeable hand. While not screen accurate, he also comes with the Alliance Medal of Bravery. This accessory is screen inaccurate with this particular version of Han Solo because he wore a different shirt for this scene in the film. Anyway, Han Solo (A New Hope) has about as many positives as it does negatives. We had high hopes for the line, but it really didn’t even have a chance to get going. It may have been wise to release a blockbuster Darth Vader and Boba Fett first, then sucker everyone in with the “less impressive” human characters like the ones they released that did make it out. There certainly were some impressive pieces in the line, but if we’re honest, we understand why it’s now belly up. Han Solo (A New Hope) is better than the average figure in this line, but he really could have been a stunning release had Diamond Select Toys changed a few things prior to its release. For us, it’s sad that this line didn’t go further.