Thursday, May 24, 2012

He May No Longer Have The Collectible Value, But The Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) Vintage Collection Figure Is Still Impressive!


The Good: Impressive coloring detail, Good accessories, Wonderful articulation, Great balance
The Bad: Collectible value has plummeted with the reissue, No binders.
The Basics: The Vintage Collection Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) is once again widely available and would have been perfect with only one additional accessory!


I’ll admit it, it was greed that made me pick up the Vintage Collection Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) action figure. Flat out greed on my part led me to shell out $9.50 for the figure when I managed to find it on the shelf of a major retailer just a few days ago. How is there any greed involved in this?! A few days ago, I was surfing for an inexpensive Star Wars action figure to buy to flesh out an online order I was placing. When I did that, I was absolutely astounded to see that the Vintage Collection Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) figure was selling for over $50. I had seen the figure in stores months ago and rejected buying it; I did not need yet another Han Solo, certainly not in his Bespin duds. So, seeing that it was over fifty bucks in both online stores and eBay, I quietly vowed to pick one up, should the opportunity arise again for me to find one cheap. Well, wasn’t I lucky when the next time I went out looking, there one was?!

As it turns out, in a completely coincidental way, the Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) figure is part of an assortment of Vintage Collection action figures that appear to be being reissued (one of my favorites, Bom Vimdin, reviewed here!, is also part of this reissue assortment. As a result, figures like the Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) figures are rightfully plummeting down into reasonable price ranges as they may now be easily found in the primary market once again. In fact, the only difference I can find in the original and reissue releases is that the new release has the Darth Maul offer sticker on the front of the card (right over Han’s crotch).

For those unfamiliar with the Han Solo, as he appeared on Bespin, this was his penultimate pre-Carbonite costume from The Empire Strikes Back (reviewed here!). With an open navy blue jacket, brown pants and a smile to die for, Han Solo worked on the Millennium Falcon in this outfit and wore it up until he was tortured by Darth Vader’s forces on Cloud City.

The 4" Vintage Collection Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) was completely recast from the prior Bespin Han Solo figures and he is pretty damn cool (but not $50 cool!).

Basics

The Vintage Collection Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) figure stands 3 13/16" tall to the top of his wavy-haired head. The figure is obviously human with the general look of Harrison Ford as Han Solo. This figure is cast in entirely soft plastic, but looks and holds up remarkably well. This rendition of the Bespin Han Solo features a pretty standard Han Solo head, a molded-on jacket that is textured enough to look and feel like it is over his slightly loose shirt below, and the appropriate boots with the pants tucked into them. Notable details on this version of the Bespin Han Solo include the holster for his blaster that looks remarkable and holds his blaster perfectly and his fingers which are distinct and include both knuckles and fingernails! The real masterwork of molding, though, is in this Han Solo’s belt. The belt is molded to include every buckle, every pouch and every rivet and it looks amazing!

Part of what makes the belt look so realistic is the coloring detail. The Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) is colored remarkably well, as good as it can be for a character who is wearing so many solid colors. Despite the monotonal skin coloring on the head and hands, the hair has highlights and the eyes are expertly colored with brown dots with tiny black pupils! The rest of the figure is appropriately monotonal with highlights. The jacket, shirt and boots are solid colors. The brown pants, however, feature the racing stripe on the side, as is appropriate. The lips on this figure are uncolored and mine even had a slight smudge of brown paint (presumably from the eyes). All in all, though, this figure looks exceptionally good.

Accessories

The Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) is the Rebel smuggler and comes with his welding tool, goggles and a blaster pistol. This version of the Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) features separate goggles, presumably because he wore this outfit while repairing the Millennium Falcon. The 1/8” tall band features translucent lenses and fits snugly over the Han Solo (Bespin Outfit)'s face. The neat thing about these is that they enhance the figure without obscuring the sculpted details of the character.

This Han Solo figure also features a welding tool, which might be identical to the one found in the Vintage Collection Hoth Han Solo figure (which I do not have). Actually, it’s a bit shorter, but I don’t know if the Echo base one has a piece that separates. Anyway, this welding tool is a 3/4" tall device that is cast in silver and black plastic and matches well the rest of the Han Solo figure. He can hold this in either of his hands.

The Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) also comes with a pretty standard version of Han Solo’s blaster pistol. It is a 3/4" long plastic gun with dual scopes that fits perfectly in the holster on Han’s right thigh or in his right hand. It does not fit organicallt into his left hand. However, this is an exceptionally detailed accessory with black, gunmetal and brown accents for the various parts. It is actually amazing how much detail Hasbro can squeeze into an accessory as small as this!

In fact, all one could really ask from Hasbro that would have been more from this figure would have been the binders Han was placed in when the Empire captured him. That was an accessory included in (and lost by many fans from) the Power Of The Jedi Han Solo Bespin Capture figure (reviewed here!). Having the binders would have made this indisputably the ultimate Bespin Han.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) is exceptional for that. This Bespin Han Solo figure has pretty amazing balance, not tipping over despite being put in very complex poses. In addition, the holes in the bottom of his feet allow him to stand tall on any number of playsets in outlandish poses or attach to pegs on vehicles, including the latest Millennium Falcon toy!

The Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) also has almost lifelike articulation. He has hinged ball and socket joints at the ankles, knees, groin socket, elbows and shoulders, as well as a ball and socket joint which allows a great range of motion for the head! The wrists and waist are the only simple swivel joints. This is the best-articulated Bespin Han Solo yet!

Collectibility

The Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) is part of the Vintage Collection line that was released in 2010 and he has resurfaced now as a vastly more common figure than he was in the initial release. Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) is Vintage Collection figure VC50 and is pretty much the ultimate Bespin Han. Even so, this seems like he would end up, like most Han Solo figures, as a poor investment for fans and collectors.

Overview

Despite the lack of binders, the Vintage Collection Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) action figure is actually worth picking up, now that it can be easily found again!

For other Vintage Collection figures of characters from The Empire Strikes Back, please check out my reviews of:
VCP03 Boba Fett
VC01 Dengar
VC05 AT-AT Commander
VC10 4-LOM
VC11 (Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot
VC61 Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) Mail-In

9/10

For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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