"You didn't see us alone in the south passage. She expressed her true feelings for me."
– Han Solo / Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Han Solo may just be a scruffy-looking nerfherder in a hooded brown jacket, but in matters of love, he knows the truth about Princess turned Rebel leader, Leia Organa, and the affection she holds for him. Or so he thinks.
In the icy south passage of the Rebel Alliance's Echo Base on Hoth, the two allegedly exchanged warm words confessing their feelings for one another. However, when Solo mentions this to Chewbacca and Luke Skywalker, Leia brushes him off and kisses Luke to prove that the so-called feelings she shared are nothing but bantha fodder.
Still, as the battle against the Empire wages on, it becomes clear that Leia has a soft spot for scoundrels, and Han has his own true feelings for "her worshipfulness." While the two begin to earn their respective reputations as heroes for the Rebellion, they come to discover that sometimes in love, it's just about knowing.
If you analyze it carefully, The Black Series [Phase III] 6” line is full of repetition. And we see this repetition very heavily in the products where basic figures influence an elevated exclusive release which comes with exclusive figures or accessories. The international exclusive Han Solo/Princess Leia Organa two-pack is beautifully packaged, but there isn’t too much newness in the set or figures that have been requested by collectors to see again. The joke is tired at this point, but the blue parka/brown parka controversy was answered years ago, yet Hasbro acts like it’s still an active thing with a release like this. Han Solo looks great, but even the bio goes into detail about the color of his parka. It’s outrageous. Oh, and that’s not the only problem with the bio on the packaging. Reading more like a Danielle Steel novel than an overview of a familiar Star Wars character, we think Hasbro missed the mark with some of the marketing of this set. But hopefully, that won’t be enough to keep your distance from it. The updated Han Solo figure in his famous Hoth outfit is gorgeous and warmly welcomed, but the straight repack of Princess Leia Organa may keep collectors scratching their heads.
To add more salt into the wound, but Han Solo wasn’t wearing this outfit in the scene that Hasbro is attempting to recreate here. Maybe all of these complaints and criticisms here already are inconsequential, but we think collectors will pick up on this stuff and perhaps it could adversely change their minds about this product. Hasbro Toy Shop posted that this set would be available for order at Entertainment Earth, and at the end of November began to ship it out to those who placed orders for it. Overall, we’re pleased with the two-pack. Han Solo is a dramatic improvement from the one offered in the Deluxe set with Tauntaun years ago. However, we’re not crazy about the furry collar. In theory, it makes the figure look fantastic, but it’s woven bizarrely and doesn’t stay in place. It’s shaped in a ring and bunches up when you try to place it on the figure in a certain manner. Interestingly, it functions beautifully as a hood, but because of its ring-like shape, there is no covering for the back of his head. So it renders it useless. The head sculpt is reused from the Han Solo (Bespin) figure. Hasbro then recolored the rest of the figure from the Deluxe set in brown to make it screen-accurate once and for all. In all honesty, he looks great in brown.
Princess Leia Organa is a slight repaint of the Princess Leia Organa (Hoth) (75) 6” basic figure. It’s a shame Hasbro didn’t include any other newness with her to make this set unique. She comes with four accessories including a removable vest, welder, goggles, and blaster rifle. Her hands are molded perfectly to interact with each accessory naturally. The “photorealistic” technology applied to her face is stunning. It looks better than our sample of the basic figure. And without going down a rabbit hole, we’d love to see Hasbro approach a 3.75” super-articulated version of her in the same manner because this figure looks beautiful. The fairest way to assess this exclusive is to say that Hasbro did an excellent job on this set. There’s no way anyone can say otherwise. But again, we have redundancy, and we believe that will be a deterrent for many collectors. Sure, it has a few issues, but that won’t detract from its greatness all that much. The Han Solo/Princess Leia Organa two-pack has an MSRP of $49.99. It’s not a terribly overpriced set, but we’re sure that most collectors would be happier if it were set somewhere closer to $40 instead. It’s nice to see a focus on The Empire Strikes Back in The Black Series 6” line, but if Hasbro can find ways to reduce the repetition, everyone would be happier.
Collector Notes
Han Solo/Princess Leia Organa
Assortment Number: E1630
UPC: 630509666935
Retail: $49.99 USD
Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on listings.
Han Solo
Status: Han Solo is a kit-bashed and repainted figure that utilizes the body of Han Solo from 2015's TBS [P2] Han Solo And Tauntaun Deluxe set with the head from 2018's TBS [P3] Han Solo (Bespin) (70) figure. The figure has also been completely repainted and also comes with a soft-goods fur collar.
Articulation Count: 28 points (17 areas of articulation)
Articulation Details: ball-socket head (1), hinge-jointed neck (1), ball-jointed left shoulder (2), ball-jointed right shoulder (2), ball-jointed left elbow (2), ball-jointed right elbow (2), ball-jointed left wrist (2), ball-jointed right wrist (2), ball-jointed torso (2), ball-socket left hip (1), ball-socket right hip (1), swivel left thigh (1), swivel right thigh (1), double hinge-jointed left knee (2), double hinge-jointed right knee (2), ball-jointed/"rocker" left ankle (2), ball-jointed/"rocker" right ankle (2)
Accessory Count: 2
Accessory Details: soft-goods fur collar, blaster pistol
Date Stamp: N/A
Princess Leia Organa
Status: Princess Leia Organa is a slight repaint of 2018's TBS [P3] Princess Leia Organa (Hoth) (75) figure.
Articulation Count: 28 points (17 areas of articulation)
Articulation Details: ball-socket head (1), hinge-jointed neck (1), ball-jointed left shoulder (2), ball-jointed right shoulder (2), ball-jointed left elbow (2), ball-jointed right elbow (2), ball-jointed left wrist (2), ball-jointed right wrist (2), ball-jointed torso (2), ball-socket left hip (1), ball-socket right hip (1), swivel left thigh (1), swivel right thigh (1), double hinge-jointed left knee (2), double hinge-jointed right knee (2), ball-jointed/"rocker" left ankle (2), ball-jointed/"rocker" right ankle (2)
Accessory Count: 4
Accessory Details: blaster, welder, goggles, removable vest
Date Stamp: N/A