Han Solo - S.H. Figuarts

S.H. Figuarts is a new standard figure series that incorporates the Bandai action figure "Art" under the theme "Pursuing Character Expression through Humanoid Action."

Well, we’d be lying if we claimed we weren’t disappointed with the final version of the S.H. Figuarts Han Solo figure. The figure has excellent execution on a couple of fronts, but it also seems to have enough going against it that it may sour whether or not you’ll consider picking it up. Han Solo has a very bizarre feature. He has a very asymmetrical face. But when you look at the face from certain angles, the figure looks great. But then there are other angles, especially a straight-ahead angle, where he looks completely distorted, like Sloth from Goonies. We honestly do not understand how this figure can look good at certain angles when looking at him from the front looks so disastrous. Also, Han Solo has an accessory feature which is not only non-functional, it’s impractical as well. His holster attaches like a plug into the side of his right leg. It is an interchangeable accessory because one holster doesn’t have his blaster in it while the other does. But when you pose the figure with it on, it always wants to pop off. Posing him with it on is a challenging and arduous thing, and it brings you to the point of frustration. Han Solo is not a collector-friendly figure in the least.

Han Solo comes with a couple other accessories too. In addition to the two removable holsters, Han Solo comes with a removable black vest, a separate blaster pistol, an extra interchangeable left hand, two interchangeable right hands, and a pair of gloved hands. Sadly, the gloved hand attachments are relatively useless. The fingers aren’t sculpted in a manner that makes them functional. They just hang there, and that’s it. It would have been great if they were cupped in some way, or pointing, or something interesting, but they’re not. We understand why S.H. Figuarts designed the holster in the way that they did. It was an effort to keep it hanging close to his body. But ultimately this approach has failed because the holster attachments don’t attach tightly enough to resist getting knocked out from any leg movement whatsoever. So, you get some nice enhancements with Han Solo’s accessories. And the figure has been tooled very nicely as well. From the neck down it imitates Harrison Ford’s silhouette beautifully. His tall, lean and athletic frame has been perfectly captured here in our opinion. We believe collectors of this line will feel similarly.

You know how we feel about the paint operations on his face. They’re relatively disastrous. Also, why didn’t S.H. Figuarts include an alternate portrait like so many other figures before Han Solo? Getting a second portrait may have salvaged the disaster created by the main one. We’re not sure went wrong here with Han Solo, but we find it a terrible shame. This figure had incredible potential. It’s not a wasted slot in the line, but we wish beyond a shadow of a doubt that S.H. Figuarts would have corrected its issues before it went into mass production. But even with messy facial paint operations, the rest of Han Solo has been painted very nicely. His cream-colored shirt looks great (and even has the right openness in the front as seen in Episode IV. The blood stripe running down the sides of his pants is perfectly applied as well. Again, Han Solo has a lot going for him. It’s just sad that the final execution leaves you wanting more. Also, figures do tend to vary from one another. So perhaps our sample is a little bit exaggerated in its issues. And the high-resolution photography just accentuates any imperfections a figure may have as well. Han Solo feels like a required purchase, but be forewarned that he may come with more than a couple of issues.