HAN SOLO with Chewbacca
Power of the Jedi 25th Anniversary Figures
Item No.: Asst. 84485 No. 84669
Number: n/a
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Includes: Blaster, base, Chewie figure
Action Feature: Working holster
Retail: $14.99
Availability: Early 2002
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: Blasting their way out of trouble, Han Solo and Chewbacca face adversity with only a blaster and a bowcaster. Their deep bond of friendship and respect has helped them narrowly escape danger throughout the galaxy. With courage and recklessness, the two heroes of the Rebellion battle for their lives against the evil Empire. (Taken from the figure's box.)

Image: Adam's shelves.

Commentary: Two words: pure shit. I've refrained from obscenity for the bulk of this column but I really couldn't come up with a slightly more high-brow way to describe this Han Solo action figure. You must not buy this figure. If you have it, well, the damage is done. But don't buy one if you see it. Even for a dollar it's pretty much a waste. It's never been rereleased. Released around the same time as Attack of the Clones, this is how Hasbro decided to "celebrate" Star Wars at 25. The three two-packs cranked out range from meh to ugh, this is an "ugh." Chewbacca was acceptable, but Han Solo simply was not. While six points of articulation weren't anything to sing about, the actual sculpt is what kills this figure. But before we go to that, I'll just say the representation of the costume is acceptable, and possibly in another context, the pose wasn't worthy of demanding the death penalty for the sculptor-- but as it's sculpted, the figure can't do anything but stand in this position. Including any articulation on a figure like this is essentially an insult to the intelligence of anyone who picks this up and reads the words "action figure" on it-- it can't sit, it can't be posed to fit in anything, all you can do is kinda-sorta move the limbs a little or turn the head. It's worthless. Hasbro released numerous superior figures prior to this one, and of course, after it.

You might say "well Adam, that's not so bad, you've said nicer things about worse haven't you?" Yes, but here's where this figure becomes an abomination. Can you see a little tear around his neck? Yeah, every single figure has that. I've looked through at least a hundred of these trying to find one that didn't have part of the neck cut and essentially pre-damaged. Every packaged figure has a tear around his neck, making it look absolutely horrible. I have no idea how this happened-- it's so uniform on every figure Hasbro made that it almost seems like it was designed this way on purpose. It's horrible, it's not a joint, and there's no valid reason I can think of to have released a figure with this sort of defect. This isn't merely a bad design choice, it's a genuine insult and quite possibly the worst thing Hasbro or Kenner ever did on a figure. Sure, I agree with you that no knees on Scorch kinda sucks, but this figure is literally damaged goods.

Collector's Notes: The figure has never been rereleased, and as such, Hasbro never had the chance to "fix" the neck. It's not a good figure in the first place, but the fact that it's damaged goods really hurts. The going rate is presently below retail-- far below retail-- so if you want to buy it merely to spite me and this column, it won't cost you too much. But note the first two words of this particular entry: pure shit.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 740: May 15, 2008