Original Review by Chris: 10/18/14

When this figure was released, it was a roller coaster of emotions.  First I was angry because it wasn’t a standard Bespin outfit Han Solo that was in desperate need of update at the time.  Even though the Bespin outfit was the primary wardrobe for Han Solo in Episode V, we were forced to use 2000’s dated Power of the Jedi version (and we would continue to wait until 2011 for a definitive version).  This figure served as a cruel tease.  It was frustratingly close to the version we needed and wanted, but was highly specific to the kerfuffle Lando caused Solo on Cloud City.  Solo’s shirt is untucked like he went to the dentist, he is disarmed and his hair is mussed.  The figure cannot serve double duty as a standard “Bepsin Han”.

Despite the disappointment that this figure is so close yet so far away, I couldn’t help finding the release exciting for lack of a better word.  Every time I would see this figure hanging on the pegs with the massive torture rack accessory almost entirely filling out the oversized bubble it would give me a hint of the butterflies I would feel during the vintage era when I would see new figures hanging on the pegs.  I compulsively bought more of this figure than I needed.  Sane people only need one of this figure.  When you think that the Power of the Jedi Amanaman figure had to be relegated to the more expensive “deluxe” line merely due to the size of the figure, it’s astounding to think we got this torture rack accessory in the basic figure lineup.  It’s even more impressive when you consider the floating power chords and the fact that the device is “articulated” capable of lowering Solo to his torment. 

As is a 30th Anniversary Collection theme, the accessory is the star of the figure.  The figure itself is pretty bad in some respects to the point of being comical.  In retrospect I’m glad this wasn’t a standard Bespin Han as it would be far inferior to the definitive version we received in the Vintage Collection.  The upper and lower bodies are hilariously mismatched.  It looks like the result of one of those mix-n-match books where you can combine parts from different body types into a whole person.  It looks like Brian Dennehy’s torso on Tony Randall’s legs.  The figure’s contour sharply turns inward at the waist.  This is due to the use of the VOTC Han Solo lower body.  Hasbro was still working through some of their innovations in 2004 when those legs were tooled.  In order to make the holster belt a realistic looking separate piece, Hasbro had to narrow the waist of the figure to make room for it.  Today, Hasbro has figured out how to make such elements thinner so that the anatomy of the figure itself doesn’t have to be altered to accommodate them.  Because this Solo was disarmed in the scene for which this figure is intended, the weapon belt on the figure is removed revealing how unnaturally narrow the hips are.  Combined with a torso that is also a tick too barrel chested and you get some pretty silly looking results.

My tagline for the 30th Anniversary Collection was always “great figures, terrible head sculpts”.  This figure’s head sculpt isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t bring Harrison Ford to mind when looking at it.  Hasbro was attempting the pained grimace of someone under duress, but it honestly looks like someone who might be angry.  What I find amazing is that I think the head sculpt is a dead ringer for a seventies era William Devane.  With some sculpting clay and paint I could start my long awaited Payback customs.  Now I need to find a James Coburn head.  Apart from the torture device, the figure is probably a 5, but that’s not how you’re going to display it.  The weakness of the figure become masked when strapped to the accessory and the combination of the two elevate it all the way to an 8 out of 10.

Updated Review by Bret: 10/8/19

The figure is pretty awful, but as Chris says, the head sculpt isn’t bad.  It’s not great, but it works for this set.  When you have the figure strapped into the torture device accessory, it hides a lot of the major flaws in the body sculpt, rendering them essentially moot.  The device itself is really what you’re buying here, and it’s pretty great.  It’s a wonder this was ever made.  A machine used to torture one of the hero characters.  Good stuff for the kids!  But more to the point, an acknowledgment that it was the collector that was once king, and that status coincided with Golden Age of Star Wars figures from 2007-2012.

While it seems unlikely we’ll ever see an accessory of this size included in a basic figure pack, it’s interesting that Hasbro is offering a “premium” version of the Sith Trooper for TVC in 2019, where the same figure is packed in a larger bubble to accommodate additional weaponry.  Perhaps something like that might allow us to see larger accessories, if we’re willing to pay the price.

The device is worth the price of admission, and as stated, it conceals the flaws in the figure.  It’s a home run for a collector.