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Hey, everywookiee! It’s DrunkWooky back with another action figure review! Today, I took a look at the new 5 inch Galaxy of Adventures Han Solo from Hasbro.
I’m a fan of the new 5″ iteration of the Galaxy of Adventures line. If you’re looking for photo-realism, intricate paint and deco, with scores of accessories, this might not be your cup of tea. However, at around $10.99 each (normal retail), with a spring-loaded action feature included, I think these figures are a lot of fun and add some great variety to any collection. What’s more, it looks like Hasbro is continuing to expand the line at least into 2020 at a steady pace.
Right now The Galaxy of Adventures 5 inch Han Solo can be found at the following retailers:
I’ve discussed the rocky history of the GOA line over here. I think it’s landed in a pretty good spot at this time, though.
Packaging
The new rectangular window box packaging is a nice improvement over the cheap plastic tubes that the former 3.75″, five point of articulation, line was stuffed into. You get a nice full view of the figure and accessory, a cartoonish illustration that matches the deco of the figure and a splash text box that announces Han’s “Sling & Blast Attack” action feature. Although these figures are about half the price of a Black Series figure, the packaging is pretty high quality and collector friendly. Cut or carefully remove the single piece of tape along the top flap and you’re into the figure tray. Once you’re there, you’ll need to remove a second piece of tape from over Han’s DL-44 Blaster, but still a pretty low stress unboxing process.
Sculpt
There’s no doubt that this line isn’t even attempting photo-realism or anything like that. These are stylized and more abstract representations of the characters with a cartoon tilt. The dimensions are, accordingly, accentuated with certain proportions exaggerated over others. So, while this figure does not look exactly like the original trilogy Han, the style definitely feels like Han.
Don’t let the cartoon-style fool you, though. There are fine details to be found here. Check out that smirk on Han’s face above Harrison Ford’s chin scar and Adam’s apple. There are cargo pockets on Han’s signature vest, all the important and recognizable buckles, straps, and accessories on Han’s belt, and a tousled hair-do which says Mid-70’s space smuggler. There are also fine wrinkles where the fabric of Han’s white shirt is bunching. Hasbro didn’t skimp on the detail by hiding behind the style of the line. If anything, it used that style to guide the sculpt of the details. His hands are sculpted to properly hold his blaster, and that’s always appreciated.
Paint
The paint that’s on this figure is sparse but well applied. The majority of the parts constituting this Han figure are merely cast in the color plastic intended for that piece. i.e. blue legs, brown belt, pink head. The pain that is present is mostly well-applied. There are flashes or brushed steel on the metal parts of Han’s belt, a brown blaster handle, pink lips, brown hair, etc. There are some areas where the layer of paint could have been thicker or applied more carefully. Take a careful look at the red dotted stripe on Han’s pant legs. The red doesn’t quite meet the edge of the raised blocks. The same can be said of the brown leg strap on Han’s holster.
As always, the face is of paramount importance. Luckily, this is where the figure shines. The eyes are applied in that dotted photo-realistic type of paint application Hasbro is using over on the Black Series line and the eyebrows, hair and lips are all crisp, clean, unsmudged and well applied.
Articulation
I counted 17 points of articulation and that’s quite a bit to pack into this little scoundrel. He has a single ball joint at the top of the neck, a ball and swivel joint on each shoulder, a single swivel joint on each elbow, a rotating peg at the base of the wrist (no swivel action there), a rotating waist, single ball jointed hips, a single swivel knee on each leg and a ball and swivel ankle on each foot.
His neck provides him 360 degree rotation and a fair amount of up and down pivot which grants some attitude. Han’s arms provide adequate articulation if not a full arm bend.
When I got down to the legs, I did run into a couple problems. While Han’s waist does rotate, it doesn’t title like Chewbacca’s. This gives him a little bit of a balance issue when trying to get Han into some classic squatted gun-slinging poses. The right knee on my figure was also rather tight. I had to give him a hot water bath to loosen it up, but even then articulating that joint put some heavy duty stress on the peg which was showing signs of bending in the joint. This is because the figure is made of a softer plastic than some of the other lines. This is probably one joint out of thousands of perfectly smooth and working joints, but it is something to look out for.
Accessories/Action Feature
Han comes with his DL-44 blaster and a spring-loaded gun-slinging action feature. Like Chewbacca’s Wookiee slam feature, this one is basically a pull back and release affair. Unlike Chewie’s action feature, this effect is only in Han’s right arm. Whereas Chewie’s arms are locked together in motion when rotated clock-wise and capable of separate posing when rotated counter-clockwise, only Han’s right arm snaps back into place. Like Chewie, if you want to change the pose he snaps back into, you simply rotate his arm counter-clockwise through a deathly loud clicking sound. Check out the demo on our instagram embedded above!
Price/Value
Retail priced at $10.99, I say this figure is a lot of fun and well worth the money. If you have a kid, they’ll love it. But even for adult collectors, this figure’s style and action feature will send you back to your younger days.
In spite of his flaws in paint application and construction on the knee joint, I’m proud to display this guy up with my Kenner, Black Series, and Hot Toys Han and Chewie figures!
You can find the Galaxy of Adventures Han Solo at the following fine e-tailers:
Thanks for reading, everywookiee!
