Han Solo - TBSA - Six Inch Figures

The exploits of Han Solo are legendary – he's been a famed smuggler, captain of the Millennium Falcon, and a hero of the Rebel Alliance. Solo once again finds himself in the center of the action.

For over half of a decade, Hasbro has lied to collectors claiming that they updated The Black Series [Phase III] Han Solo 6-inch figure from The Force Awakens. It never happened, no matter what you heard. Thankfully, the lies proved beneficial. Instead, they decided to tool an all-new screen-accurate head sculpt for the figure, give it gray hair, repaint the rest, and then repackage it in The Black Series Archive line. It was worth the wait. There is no point in complaining about that past. While the figure has some outdated tooling, the new portrait is the reason to repurchase this action figure. The coloring is right now, and dare we say it’s refreshing to get a character again from the film that started Star Wars down its unredeemable dark path to hell? The Black Series Archive line is bittersweet for many collectors. We have been impressed overall with the character selections, the beautiful updates, and the general collectability of the line. The packaging is attractive and pays indirect homage to the previous line looks. Not every selection is perfect for The Black Series Archive line, but this collection of greatest hits serves an essential purpose for both old and new collectors. We welcome its continued longevity.

The original Han Solo from The Black Series [Phase III] 6-inch line, based on his appearance from The Force Awakens, didn’t turn out that well in retrospect. It always had a great deal going for it, but some things disappointed us. Visually, the likeness of Han Solo was terrible. Most glaring was the action figure’s brown hair color. We all presumed, and Hasbro confirmed, to see a running change to gray hair shortly after its release, but it never came to pass. But what we have here is better than a running change in deco. Hasbro tooled an all-new and excellent portrait of “old” Han Solo, and the final results are extraordinary. The new likeness also helps to distract from Han Solo’s lankiness in stature. The length of the legs compared to the torso is off somehow. Now more than ever, this figure looks like actor Harrison Ford no matter what angle you look at it. Another area Hasbro updated was ensuring that the sleeves match the leather jacket shell, a removable accessory. The first release had mismatched parts, and it’s lovely to see this updated too. Also, they managed to maintain the leathery, mottled pattern, which helps it to look lifelike and screen accurate. This action figure is beautiful.

Han Solo comes with a blaster pistol (it looks to be a DL-44) that fits perfectly into the functioning holster in the belt. As mentioned, the jacket shell is also removable; underneath, the figure has a white shirt. Collectors seem excited about new characters from The Force Awakens in the 6-inch line. Characters like this make that easier to swallow. Generally speaking, 6-inch action figures look increasingly better every time a new one is released. That’s a remarkable track record, and Hasbro should be proud. But they need to keep incorporating newness into the line because The Black Series format cannot convert into a repack and repaint line across the board, and that’s what appears to be happening as of late. This figure has great potential, so let’s hope Hasbro can change things up a bit more to keep things fresh. We find the $24.99 MSRP for a “repack and repaint” collection egregious and unacceptable. Four figures cost $100 now. How did we get here? How can collectors keep affording these expensive action figures? We also think Hasbro should re-release some of the already released figures in The Black Series Archive line. Many need another chance at retail.