Like many people my age, I grew up a Star Wars kid. Those films were my entre to toy collecting and film fandom as a child and brought me back to toy collecting as an adult. I eventually moved on from Star Wars figure collecting to different 6-inch scale articulated figures, but my love of Star Wars could not be completely killed by disappointing prequels.
I knew that the 6-inch Black Series from Hasbro had a strong probability of pulling me back into Star Wars collecting. The initial prototype pics I saw online were not that exciting, but I fell in love seeing series 1 on the pegs at SDCC. These figures look fantastic on the pegs. Any of the released Black Series figures were contenders for figure of the year in my book as they were all great fun to play with and featured amazing sculpts, sharp paints, and useful accessories.
Why does Han top the list? I think nostalgia tips the scale on this one. Again, like many a Star Wars fan, Han is my favorite character, and I have a lot of great memories of playing with that original Han figure from Kenner in my room or in my backyard sandbox, on car trips, and at friends homes. This figure brings all that back to me and it’s great fun to play with, pose, and photograph. It’s a figure that hasn’t left my desk since I opened it — the very definition of hand candy.
As an adult collector, I really appreciate extra accessories and a variety of display options. Han has that covered with extra hands and a swappable Stormtrooper belt, allowing you to recreate a few different looks from Episode IV. The sculpt looks movie accurate and the articulation allows for great poseability, but is well integrated so it doesn’t ruin the flow of the figure or make Han look too gangly. The likeness is also really good and though it’s not perfect, as a guy who has bought many a figure based on Harrison Ford, I realize that he’s a tough likeness to nail. This Han may be a little too good as I’m not sure I need another one in this scale!
Awesome pics as usual Matt. Han was one of my favorite figures of the year too.
What’s the control room dio from in the first picture?
I will love to post him next to the incoming Figma Indiana Jones…