This is a 5POA set, so you already know the ground rules going into it. Unless you’re clamoring to pose a Boba Fett extending his BlasTech EE-3 rifle straight out as if he’s participating in some sort of endurance contest, you’re not going to find a pose that will allow you to sneak these figures into your collection.  But here’s the thing:  when these figures are standing at (civilian) attention, each looks better than its more recent super-articulated counterpart, and I don’t know what to make of that.

Let’s start off with one of the most glaring aesthetic negatives with these figures: the paint applications.  They are either sloppy or missing altogether.  In the case of the Han Solo figure, it’s the former.  The facial features are too sloppily applied.  The eyes are too large and are applied with questionable accuracy.  Additionally, Harrison Ford’s hazel eyes have become an almost iridescent blue.  This was the best example I could find in the store, and still the left pupil appears to be going rogue.  I will admit that the hair is neatly painted, so the issue almost entire revolves around the eyes, but unfortunately that is the one feature that must be accurate.  Once you get past the paint apps on the face, you’re left with a nicely sculpted figure.  It may seem like a step backwards, but having the holster sculpted into the leg gives a much cleaner look than the floating holsters found in the SA line.  Additionally, there aren’t as many folds in the fabric of the costume, but at this scale, it’s a case of less is more.  Finally I feel like the head sculpt is much more accurate to Harrison Ford than its Vintage Collection counterpart.  Unfortunately the limited articulation of the figure renders it obsolete for most modern action figure collections except that for a pistol, a straight-armed, one-handed aim is natural.  If that is how you’d pose your Bespin Han Solo, you could consider buying this figure. 

With the Fett, the issue isn’t the cleanliness of the paint applications, it’s the almost total lack of them except for the helmet.  Even previous 5POA versions of Boba Fett would have plenty of accent paint applications to the gauntlets, belt and jet pack.  With this release there are none.  It’s reminiscent of the vintage Kenner figure in that respect.  The chest armor has a tampo for the “wheat” symbol and silver wear accents, but the LED readout on the upper left of the figure’s chest is unpainted.  I feel like this is the first case in the modern line where the LED detail has gone unadorned.  The jetpack is without a single paint application as are both the blaster pistol and the blaster rifle accessories.  Honestly, the stark accenting of the figure is distracting to a degree.  Yet once again, the sculpt is fantastic in areas.  I feel like this is the best Fett helmet sculpt to date with decent range of motion, and the upper torso is perfect.  It is much better than the Evolutions Boba Fett which has been the go-to super-articulated Episode V sculpt since 2007. 

Still, the Fett figure has its issues beyond the limited articulation.  I don’t know if this is endemic of the entire production run, or if it’s just my sample, but the figure’s right foot is wonky, to put it mildly.  It’s turned inward and makes it difficult to stand the figure.  That is why in most of the pictures above, the figure is listing to port.  Or starboard.  I’m not sure which is which.  Sailing is stupid.  The figure also doesn’t interact well with the BlasTech EE-3 carbine.  It doesn’t seat well into the hand and is always in a somewhat twisted position.  Finally there is the flame throwing backpack contraption.  If you’ve read any of my reviews, you might have gathered that I have a low frustration tolerance.  Action figures should interact naturally and easily with their accessories.  This Fett figure and the flame thrower go together like fingers in a glove.  There was zero frustration experienced (which surely disappoints nomadscout as he proofreads this).  The figure’s hands curl around the flame thrower grips like they were made to go together.  That’s probably because they were made to go together.  At the risk of the losing my He-Man Play-Feature-Haters Club card, I kinda like this accessory.  It’s neat.  Also, we’ve been talking a lot about pliable plastics lately on the heels of Hasbro’s HASCON Star Wars panel.  The pouches on the belt are another example of this.  They easily move out of the way to allow the figure’s hip articulation to be engaged.  In this respect, it’s another upgrade over the Evolutions figure. 

One last interesting note is that four of Fett’s five Force Link phrases are not from the movies.  Adult Fett has exactly four lines of movie dialog (I believe), but they chose to ignore three of them.  I find it especially curious that “Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold” was omitted considering the contents of the set.  It begs the question: where did the other lines come from?  They are clearly in Temuera Morrison’s voice (or an expert impersonation) and the sound files for Force Link are provided by LFL.  So where did they come from?  Are they from some cartoon I never watched?  Possibly.  But I’m wondering if these phrases are from the yet to be released Battlefront II.  That would be neat.  UPDATE:  The non-movie lines come from 2015’s Battlefront.

So, how to score this?  Both figures fail in their meager 5POA missions in one way or another, but they also excel in other areas.  They are a bit manic depressive in that respect.  High highs and low lows.  I feel I need to acknowledge the fantastic sculpting in areas of the Fett figure, so I’m going to score this a 5 out of 10, but wouldn’t exactly recommend this for purchase unless you’re a “collect them all” type.  The bottom line is that this now has me wanting on a definitive, non-removable helmet, super-articulated, Episode V Boba Fett.