Han Solo - Real Action Heroes

The dashing captain of the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo was once a common smuggler before he became a hero and general of the Rebel Alliance and fell in love with the equally strong-willed Princess Leia of Alderaan.

This particular Han Solo Real Action Heroes sample has travelled far and wide to make it into today’s Research Droids Review. First provided by Sideshow Collectibles to our friends at BanthaSkull.com, it has graciously been donated to Jedi Temple Archives via BanthaSkull.com. So we salute them (but just for today though). We’re huge fans of the Medicom Toy’s various product lines as evidenced by our thick database of all their products, but we’re particularly fond of the Real Action Heroes line. One-sixth scale figures are a highlight of our Star Wars collecting experience, and Medicom Toy consistently ensures that they make quality one-sixth scale products to not only provide collectors with their own unique subset of the one-sixth scale universe, but as a complement to the other great 12” scaled lines already available. The A New Hope version of Han Solo is one of his most iconic looks, so Medicom Toy decided that would be the very first attempt for the Real Action Heroes line. Already utilizing a great base body sculpt, Medicom Toy just need to tool a new head sculpt, some new hands and some character specific accessories. And that’s exactly what they did here.

The new head sculpt of Han Solo is actually quite excellent. Like so many other one-sixth scale lines, likeness is always controversial. No two discriminating collectors seem to agree exactly on whether a portrait is just a fair representation of the character, or an eerie dead ringer instead. But as far as Han Solo is concerned, our assessment is that it is good; not excellent and not poor. Some of actor Harrison Ford’s key characteristics are forever cast into this head sculpt: from the scare on his chin to the perfectly shaded hazel eye color (although in some lights they border on yellow). To make the head sculpt unique, Medico Toy sculpted two strands of hair that fall over his forehead. This detail is very much appreciated and not taken for granted. Han Solo’s outfit is expertly tailored and comes with many parts. The pants, the shirt and the vest are so very nicely constructed that this remains the best costume in this scale we have ever seen for this character. If you purchase this figure, this will be among one of the biggest highlights of the figure. For the parts of the costume that couldn’t be woven from fabric, like the boots for example, they’ve been cast in a very pliable plastic which makes for posing the figure very easy and aggravation free.

Han Solo’s belt and holster have some very neat features/functionalities. His blaster pistol is ingeniously sculpted. It looks just like a miniature replica of the original prop. Collectors will eat this up as it is one of the figure’s best attributes. It perfectly fits into the functioning holster in which the strap plugs into the main part of the holster with a tiny plastic pin. His holster also has a clasp to hold the included droid caller accessory. It’s wide open, but it holds the accessory perfectly well. In summation, Han Solo is a really beautiful piece. It’s our bet that some collectors won’t take kindly to the likeness, but we think it looks fantastic. The issues with this figure are elsewhere, like the price. Medicom Toy has consistently increased the price of these figures each year and now Han Solo is at the $179.99 mark. That is just too high of an MSRP for this level of collectible. We feel that no figures in the Real Action Heroes line should exceed $149.99, save for maybe Darth Vader or similarly large/complex figures. They need to find a way to bring down the retail prices of these collectibles. Han Solo is a very nice Real Action Heroes. We hope this line continues to bring collectors highly detailed and wonderfully articulated quality figures like they have for so many years already.