Lando Calrissian - OTC - Vintage

Celebrate the legendary Star Wars trilogy that changed the universe forever, with The Original Trilogy Collection. This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. The finest recreations of the iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are back with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Original Trilogy: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. And, as a tribute to the dedication of Star Wars fans everywhere, we are re-releasing elements of the original packaging that harken back to the creation of Star Wars action figures, which began over 25 years ago with the Original Trilogy. May the Force be with you!

Before 2004, Hasbro produced two versions of Lando Calrissian based on the character’s main appearance in The Empire Strikes Back for the basic figure line. The first modern Lando Calrissian action figure was one of Hasbro’s earliest efforts, released in 1995 before the year’s end. 1995’s POTF2 [R/G] Lando Calrissian is one of the most exaggerated figures Kenner/Hasbro produced and contained the proportions of a bodybuilder, instead of a Cloud City administrator. It quickly aged out as obsolete. Six years later, Hasbro developed a markedly superior version in 2001’s Power Of The Jedi line in 2001 as Lando Calrissian (Bespin Escape) figure. The latter figure came with a significantly improved head sculpt and body type, and the likeness looked more like Billy Dee Williams than previous efforts. For a while, Lando Calrissian (Bespin Escape) satisfied many collectors with its enhanced features even though Hasbro designed it in an action-oriented pose. The figure also came with a gorgeous soft-goods cape. Limited in articulation, collectors pined for a better version that would contain more articulation, and perhaps a better likeness. Hasbro fulfilled that wish with 2004’s VOTC Lando Calrissian figure. The official peg-warmer of the entire lineup, Lando Calrissian, brought high levels of accuracy to the on-screen character, and many collectors embraced it as definitive. Unfortunately, it wasn’t absolute. The one issue preventing it from serving as the modern replacement to the 1980’s ESB Lando Calrissian figure was the swivel joints in the elbows. It still escapes us why Hasbro went as far as they did with this action figure, but then stopped at the elbows. It’s discouraging. But again, Hasbro did a great deal of right here, and Lando Calrissian should hold the first place ranking as the best version of this character until Hasbro updates the elbows.

Despite Hasbro designing the figure with swivel elbows, Lando Calrissian still comes with twenty points of articulation. The articulation system includes swivel elbows, a ball-socket head, two ball-jointed shoulders, two swivel wrists, a swivel waist, two swivel hips, two ball-jointed knees, and two ball-jointed ankles. No one can argue that there isn’t a decent amount of articulation here. The range of movement that this figure has in the lower body is nothing short of amazing. You’ll need the figure in-hand to appreciate what functionality it has, but the point here is that it’s more than you may realize. Again, we attribute this to how Hasbro cut the swivel joints in the hips, coupled with excellently designed ball-jointed knees and ankles. You will be surprised to see all of the freeform movement this action figure possesses, and you’ll be impressed by how realistic Lando Calrissian looks in various action poses. The arms allow for a healthy dose of movement as well, and you can pose the figure holding the blaster with both hands. When you’re able to attain these types of poses, you find less fault in typically annoying articulation points, like swivel elbows. Lando Calrissian has a lovely head sculpt. Some collectors think it looks nothing like the character, while others are thoroughly shocked by the likeness. Head sculpts are extremely important to action figures. But their interpretations from collectors can be from one end of the likeness spectrum to the other. All things are always in the eye of the beholder. We say we love it. Lando Calrissian also comes with a non-removable soft goods cape that is beautifully sewn in multiple layers and decorated with various colors. It looks gorgeous, but we wish Hasbro made it removable.

Lando Calrissian arrives packaged in a beautiful “vintage-styled” card back properly sourced to The Empire Strikes Back. The packaging as a whole is fantastically nostalgic, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Lando Calrissian hasn’t looked better in packaging that we have not seen at retail since the eighties. The “Vintage” Original Trilogy Collection casts twelve of the most popular characters from A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return Of The Jedi. For Episode V, we think the choices were a bit more complicated, but Hasbro did an excellent job selecting. Think about it. Hasbro had to knock out twelve main characters to make this line successful, but they divided each Original Trilogy film evenly with four characters that best represent them. Thankfully, with Lando Calrissian, it works without question. Lando is a staple of Episode V and symbolic of the film. We’re thrilled this character was a consideration in the line. It’s a shame, however, that Lando Calrissian didn’t sell through like the other figures in The “Vintage” Original Trilogy Collection. When you compare the quality of Lando Calrissian to Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi or See-Threepio (C-3PO), Lando is significantly better. Despite this, the former two figures sold out almost instantly by comparison. While we don’t think Lando Calrissian needs any paint operation enhancements, we know that we would love to see this figure updated with ball-jointed elbows. The figure needs this upgrade desperately, and until that update happens, it won’t be possible to classify this version as definitive. As a carded action figure, however, do you care? What’s the point of having twenty points of articulation if you don’t even know they’re there?