Star Wars The Black Series Episode IV Han Solo & Chewbacca review

You already know who Han and Chewie are. You hopefully read their adventures in the EU before or after seeing the bowel movements of Disney canon. You definitely bet that 80s babies wished they were like them in their memes, far clunkier than the Millennium Falcon. What else can be said about these two pilots at this rate? We already know that they had plenty of Black Series before, though this is the first time Chewie gets a new expression IIRC, while Han is back to his ANH outfit that we last saw since the Power of the Force subline. Let's see if hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for these two figures!

Here we have Han Solo in hand, and in the iconic outfit he wore in A New Hope. We already know what to expect from this smuggler's attire: a white shirt, a black vest, navy blue pants with a red stripe that is sometimes replaced with a yellow one. The holster is another trait of Han, complementing the belt he wears. The general proportions are standard for this line, though 1) his neck appears to be a bit longer than normal, and 2) his wrists appear to be skinny. Whether these were the only ways we could get the better neck range or have the wrists exposed somewhat to make them accurate is up for debate. I do appreciate how rugged the shirt is, down to the uneven collar. I'm not sure if painting these parts would help make the figure feel more premium, but at least the color break-up is a bit more appreciative than the quality seen on recent Marvel Legends.

His head sculpt looks like how Harrison Ford appeared back in 1977, though the eyes do make him appear unamused with those hokey religions and ancient weapons. Either that or the lame movie Disney made of him that flopped hard. The new additions for his articulation consist of a double neck joint that only works best from looking down, while it could barely tilt sideways or lean back; the forearms can rotate at the exposed section of the wrists, with ball joints allowing the hands to wiggle around somewhat instead of utilizing hinges for moving them in and out or up and down. The entire torso is on a ball joint instead of being on the diaphragm. The boots can now rotate despite there being rotation at the knee joint. The rest of the joints are the same for the shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles from what we previously got, and the same goes for the blaster details and storage.

For a comparison with a prior version of himself, here we have him with his Return of the Jedi 40th anniversary counterpart, made available in a nostalgic retro blister card to commemorate the movie's release. No parts appear to be the same between both figures, not even the belts or weapons. The vests could be the same, though there is a chance that they are also new rather than reused. It's always appreciated when Hasbro makes new sculpts for figures, even when there isn't much of a need to do so. That being said, I think the new Han has a bit of a longer neck than the ROTJ version, which he naturally should.

As for Chewbacca, getting the Archive version of the character is already an affordable option, and there was a version made for Return of the Jedi that was inexplicably sold either as a retro card OR in a plastic-free box. What a weird choice, with the added insult of attempting to be eco-friendly despite messing collectors over. Chewbacca, full of fur from head to toe, should at least have a proper wash like what McFarlane gave to his old Donkey toy from the first Shrek toyline ever made, and while the darker spots around the thighs, upper body, and back of his head are appreciative, it makes the rest of the fur look more like an amateur deco I'd normally see on even cheaper toys than what the Black Series market aims for. I appreciate making the strap for his bag secure by gluing it in place, though maybe Chewbacca could be a tad bulkier to make his body frame a little more imposing. Sure, he wasn't a monstrous freak like the Wampa or Rancor were, but it would have been appreciated to make him look less like a cosplayer than the actual film costume looked.

His head sculpt is the best part of the figure, with a friendlier expression showing a bit of his teeth and not having him in an angry expression if you want him to be in a vanilla display. That being said, I find it should be a hair smaller than it currently is, because I look at the figure and wonder if it's either skinnier than it should be or if he has a bigger head than normal. The articulation works about the same, though the wrists have less wiggle room due to the molded fur, and the same goes for the ankles. He can hold his bowcaster, and it is a new sculpt this time around, with a different method of attaching the front piece than what we previously had. Superglue may be needed to keep it secure.

For a comparison with the original version, I don't think one is better than the other. I guess the color is more consistent with the original, though the newer figure is shorter (or at least seems to be in my review setup. At least the proportions could be seen as a bit more refined, but the head looks a bit oversized. Maybe if the fur below the chin was molded on the torso so the head could be more separate, it would have worked a bit better.

And here we have the main heroes of A New Hope, albeit without the droid duo or Obi-Wan. I think the scale between the quartet is great, but I swear Chewie's head should be a bit smaller. Honestly, Han is fine as he is, since he at least is a new chance to get a version of Han we don't buy as often. Meanwhile, Chewbacca feels like a weird sculpt that may take some getting used to if the proportions were better and the colors looked better. I'm sorry if this review felt brief, but these two feel been-there-done-that in a way.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Han Solo)

⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Chewbacca)