Han Solo [TFA] - TBS [P3] - 3.75 Inch Figures (Exclusive)

Though Han Solo has seen much in his long, checkered career, nothing compares to the abominable threat of the First Order's latest weapon. In a foolhardy mission to save the galaxy, Solo races to the heavily fortified Starkiller Base.

Who is this action figure supposed to be? The packaging says Han Solo, but the figure looks nothing like Harrison Ford. How hard is it to give an aged Han Solo character gray hair? We’ve gotten brunette with The Black Series [Phase III] Han Solo (#18) figure. And now this figure gives us red hair. (Unless we’ve lost our minds, Han Solo has never had red hair.) In all honesty, Han Solo (with the unofficial subtitle of Starkiller Base) is about as perfect as you could wish for a 3.75” from the neck down. It’s the head sculpt that ruins it. Hasbro would have been better off to properly tool 2015’s TFA Han Solo Build A Weapon (Forest) head sculpt, hopefully revive some of the simple paint operations and place it on this figure instead; because that head sculpt is infinitely better. Between the red hair, the rounded face, the poorly applied eyes and the brown sewage stains on his flesh, Han Solo from Walmart’s exclusive 3.75” The Black Series [Phase III] action figure line is going to divide the collecting community for sure. Just like Princess Leia Organa [TFA], we wonder why Hasbro went for this outfit for Han Solo [TFA]. He literally wears the parka for just minutes in the film. It is the outfit underneath which truly represents his The Force Awakens look and appearance. Yes, were this a line with 60 action figures a year, we would easily want both of them, but now that only a handful get released, Hasbro should probably be going for versions of characters for which represent the most screen time.

In all fairness, Han Solo [TFA] possesses a beautiful sculpt from the neck down. The tooling is truly wonderful and he comes with a ton of articulation. One interesting thing about the figure however is his jacket shell. We preferred how figures with jackets in The Vintage Collection were approached much better than the way this Han Solo [TFA] figure was. Remember how in the past Hasbro tooled jacket shells in way where they weren’t removable (in most instances) as seen in examples made for The Vintage Collection releases. They worked them into the sculpts instead? Well, Hasbro returned to the POTF2 era type jacket shells for both this figure and Princess Leia Organa [TFA]. The only difference now is that Hasbro has made these shells essentially unable to be removed. We’re sure some collectors, especially customizers, will find a way to remove these shells without issue, but it isn’t something we’re going to waste time with or even attempt. But a shell that is unable to be removed does present problems of its own. Because of this shell, the figure’s fantastic articulation is compromised. It would have been great if Hasbro allowed these shells to be more easily removed, but we still would have preferred if they were part of the figure instead of a layered accessory anyhow. Despite the encumbrance created from the jacket “accessory” you are still able to pose Han Solo [TFA] in a variety of ways. This is good especially when things could have ended up a whole lot worse.

A great sculpt and fantastic articulation should make any Star Wars collector happy, right? Sigh. We wish we could agree with that sentiment. But Han Solo ultimately fails because of horrid paint operations on the portrait. The rest of the figure is painted rather beautifully, so why is the head sculpt a complete and utter nightmare? It is so frustrating to keep asking these same questions over and over again! Anyway, our Han Solo [TFA] sample is a complete disaster He has red hair and it apparently was too watery because the figure has stains running down his face which in all honesty looks like he has some sort of scatological obsession. Although it does look like Hasbro managed to capture his hazel eye color perfectly, the placement of the irises and pupils will make you cringe. (Then imagine red hair on top of that.) These are supposed to be collectors’ figures, so why are they the worst looking figures from Hasbro (as far as likenesses are concerned)? They screwed up the First Order Stormtrooper (which looks like and Episode IV stormtrooper instead) and now two characters we have desperately waited months to get in super-articulated 3.75” scale are shoddy at best. It’s defeating. We will go to our graves completely unable to understand how Hasbro was unable to get senior citizen Han Solo’s gray hair color accurately done in the toy line (in any scale). It perplexes us to rage. Han Solo [TFA] definitely has some high points, but it’s his jarring portrait deco that may just kill your spirit.