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Name: Han Solo
Collection: The Vintage Collection
Number: VC124
Source: Solo
Availability: August 2018
License: Hasbro
Celebrate the legacy of Star Wars, the action-and-adventure-packed space saga from a galaxy far, far away, with this collection of premium, highly-detailed 3.75-inch scale figures and vehicles. (Each sold separately. Subject to availability.)
Well, if the only thing separating The Vintage Collection figures from the 5POA line is articulation, it means that either the 5POA has come very far from its early days, or The Vintage Collection is nowhere near on par with the first run of figures between 2010 and 2012-ish. That’s a bittersweet sentiment, but we believe the line is on its way to become a success because Hasbro announced that “photorealistic” technology comes to the line in 2019. That doesn’t help figures like Han Solo much, but at least a fix is in our future. In all honesty, Han Solo is a nice-looking action figure, but his portrait is a mess. Terrible, terrible paint operations destroy his likeness. And were it not for his super-articulation, we couldn’t tell the figure apart from the pack-in figure that came with the Force Link 2.0 reader in the Star Wars [Solo] line. That isn’t acceptable anymore. The Black Series 6” collectors demanded better likenesses and quality figures and got it. Thankfully, Hasbro caught this early on for The Vintage Collection figures, and we can expect better-looking figures in 2019 and beyond. It will be interesting to see where the line goes and how far they will take the technology to make their action figures look better than ever. There are other problems with The Vintage Collection too. Take Han Solo for example once again. Hasbro should not call this figure “Han Solo.” “Han Solo” is the character from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Any other versions of Han Solo need a qualifier. In this case, Han Solo (Corellian Outfit) would work. Or any derivation of that would work. Naming figures in this manner is precise to the classic Kenner approach, and Hasbro should follow this convention in the modern era. Figure subtitles are essential for marketing, clarity and overall organization.
Aside from a terrible paint job on Han Solo, the figure is very nice otherwise. (It’s hard to apply “nice” to a figure that doesn’t look like the onscreen character, but whatever.) The packaging has bowed parts of his body, most notably the lower limbs, but with time the figure should return to normal. Hasbro loaded Han Solo with articulation. He is graced with an astounding 30 points of articulation and can attain any movement, motion or pose you desire. There is an incredible amount of detail that Hasbro tooled into the figure. You should spend some time inspecting the figure to see what they did to make this action figure look authentic to the character in the film. Hasbro tooled a separate removable jacket shell for layering and texture. They also added a removable belt/holster combination piece. And lastly, he comes with his widely-used blaster pistol that fits into the holster when not in use. With an incredible articulation system, Han Solo looks fantastic in various action poses while holding the weapon. See our Photo Gallery for some ideas and options that exist with this great action figure. With ball-jointed hips, swivel thighs, and ball-jointed knees and ankles, Han Solo has many options when it comes to positioning him in lifelike ways in your collection. We’d, however, ask Hasbro if they could return to implementing “rocker” ankles in The Vintage Collection figures. We’d forgo the swivel thighs if it meant they could bring back “rocker” ankles in their place. Overall, Han Solo delivers on articulation. It’s a crying shame that his head sculpt doesn’t meet our expectations. You have to wonder how the final deco received approval by anyone at the factory level. Expensive action figures demand expensive paint jobs. Hasbro shouldn’t hold back there at all. These figures deserve it.
We’re happy to see all-new figure in The Vintage Collection. The first wave of figures is brutal, and not healthy for the success of the line. Now we’re in wave 2, and although it is repacked heavily, there is enough newness and great repackaged figures to help pique interest a little bit more. Hasbro includes many repacked figures into this line. But they also need to go above and beyond for collectors supporting the line and add a ton of newness too. So, in essence, the line should grow to about 40 action figures a year, and we’d be fine if half of those are all-new figures, with the other half encompassing smart older figures in need of re-release, or newer super-articulated figures that never received the chance to appear in beautiful vintage Kenner packaging. As much as many of us want to see Original Trilogy characters added to The Vintage Collection, it’s great that Hasbro incorporates characters from Disney Star Wars. Rogue One and Solo both provided fans of the franchise a great cast of new characters that possess a strong tie to the Original Trilogy, and characters like Han Solo and Lando Calrissian from Solo: A Star Wars Story deliver this. They feel like they belong in The Vintage Collection. If you look at the characters already added to The Vintage Collection, you’ll discover that most are from Disney Star Wars at the moment. They went Sequel Trilogy heavy in the first wave, but at least Hasbro is focusing on the standalone films now which is a wise decision because the audience who buys this line are interested more in the Original Trilogy, Prequel Trilogy and the “A Star Wars Story” films. We hope that Han Solo receives a “photorealistic” paint job somewhere down the line should he get repacked at some point. But if he doesn’t receive a much-needed update, look for a figure sample with the best paint job possible. We wish you luck in accomplishing that.
Status: Han Solo is an all-new figure.
Articulation Count: 30 points (17 areas of articulation)
Articulation Details: ball-socket head (1), reverse ball-socket 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-jointed left hip (2), ball-jointed right hip (2), swivel left thigh (1), swivel right thigh (1), ball-jointed left knee (2), ball-jointed right knee (2), ball-jointed left ankle (2), ball-jointed right ankle (2)
Accessory Count: 3
Accessory Details: blaster pistol, removable jacket shell, removable holster/belt combination
Date Stamp: N/A
Assortment Number: E1639/E0370
UPC: 630509611799
Retail: $12.99 USD
Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on listings.
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