Review of Han Solo Stormtrooper & Bossk
Star Wars Black action figures

Introduction

The Star Wars Black 6" series of action figures continues to crank along, although this latest wave was a little short on new characters. Thankfully, the next wave is rushing out to greet you right on the heels of this current set.

This wave of four consists of two repacks - Chewbacca and the TIE Pilot - with two new characters: Bossk and Han Solo in his Stormtrooper disguise. And while Han is technically 'new', he's really an old head sculpt on an existing body.

As usual, these run $20 or so at most retailers, and are available both online and at large brick and mortar retailers.  I haven't heard of them popping up at Walgreen yet, but it's quite possible.

Packaging - ****
I've made it clear just how much I like these boxes in the past, and I think they are a terrific solution for collectors. They allow you to completely remove the figure and accessories without any damage, and return the figure later for storage or sale. No twisties, no ties, no tape!

They are also attractive, with some nice personalization, particularly with the character portrait in the upper right corner. More info on the rest of the wave on back would be nice, but it's a minor quibble.

Sculpting - Bossk ****; Han ***
Hasbro continues their streak with these figures, doing a bang up job with the aliens and troopers, and not so much with the human likenesses.

While Bossk isn't a perfect match to his on screen likeness, it's damn close, particularly for a $20 figure. The skin texture and tiny teeth look fantastic, and I love the piggy nose and lizard eyes. His suit sports tons of small detail work, with every little rib, button, buckle and strap sculpted and defined. He's quickly becoming my favorite of the series to date.

The Trooper outfit on Han looks just like you'd expect - we've seen this before.  The Han head sculpt, while reasonable, is nothing exceptional. It's him, in that usual cartoony way most toy Han's look like him. If you have the previous Han from early in this series, you've already seen this portrait, and I'm 99% sure they simply re-used it without any alterations. They did a great job with the helmet though, getting it close to proper scale and yet allowing it to fit over his head. With the helmet off, his head doesn't appear overly tiny either, a tough trick to pull off.

The hands on Han work well with the blaster or the helmet, holding it off to the side. Bossk's hands are tricky, since he has a shortage of digits, but they've designed them to work with his blaster or in several gesturing poses. Both figures stand great on their own of course, and both are just over 6" tall, with Han at about 6 1/4" and Bossk almost 6 1/2".

Paint - ***1/2
The paint is quite clean, particularly on both head sculpts. Smaller details like Han's eyes and eyebrows, or Bossk's teeth and eyes, are quite well done.

Bossk has the most detailed paint work on his costume, where all those expertly sculpted details have an appropriate paint operation to go with them. On close examination, there's a blip here or a minor edge problem there, but overall the work is quite good, particularly in this scale.

It's also worth noting that the white of Han's armor is very consistent and clean. Hopefully, it will stay that way over time, but we all know the dangers with white plastic and yellowing. My only real nit is that the lower pins in his elbows and knees that pass through the all black material are white, like the upper pins. I can let it go with the elbows, since they should be white on the outside of the arm and only black on the inside, but the knees should have been a solid black pin. It looks out of place, and is clearly a cost cutting measure.

Articulation - Bossk ***1/2; Han ***
Bossk has a ton of very useful joints, although a couple are more restricted than usual. His neck will not tilt or lean very much due to the restrictive suit, and the elbows are a bit difficult to work with, thanks to the overall character design. But the rest of the articulation works great, especially in the waist, knees, hips and ankles, allowing you to get some great poses. They are all nice and tight too, ensuring he can keep the pose long term.

There's also a surprise joint - his jaw! Yes, the mouth does move up and down, although not a lot. It works best when he's facing straight ahead, since there's more clearance in that position between the jaw and the collar.

Han should actually do better here, since he doesn't have the restrictions mentioned with Bossk. His neck works terrific, with lots of lean and tilt to add personality to any pose. The suit does not restrict any of the main joints, although I suppose you could argue the ab-crunch and waist are a little harder to work with.

I'm grading him down though because the legs were particularly hard to work with this time. Some of the joints, like the thigh and the ankle, were very tight, so much so it was difficult to pose him. The knees seemed a bit weak too, as though you could tear the joint with too much pressure. While I was still able to get plenty of good poses, I felt that the quality of the joints themselves was working against me.

Accessories - Bossk ***; Han ***1/2
Bossk comes with one - his deadly blaster. There's a strap that allows him to wear it over his shoulders, or he can grasp it in his hands.

Han has two in his blaster and the removable helmet. Both look great, and fit perfectly. I'm surprised how good he looks both in the helmet and out, as I was expecting an internal scale issue with one look or the other.

Han's blaster can fit in his hands or in the soft holster that's attached to his belt in back.  The fit is good either way.

Fun Factor - ****
I might have my nits, but these are excellent toys. While this scale makes creating ships and dioramas cost prohibitive for Hasbro, the larger size makes for a perfect action figure for play. And now you can have the Star Wars Universe face off against the World of Warcraft or House Lannister!

Value - Han **; Bossk **1/2
No surprise here - they're $20, like Marvel Legends, Game of Thrones, World of Warcraft, and a wide variety of other 'collector' series currently out in this scale. You are getting some nice quality overall though, making them a solid average value on the current market.

I will say that paying full price for Han might be a tough one for many collectors, since they've merely re-used the head from one release and the body from another. It would cost you $40 to do the same though, so there's some advantage to going this route. I dropped him a half star below average to reflect the heavy re-use at the same price, a situation that could have been improved with the addition of another accessory. How about some handcuffs for Chewie?

Things to Watch Out For -
I did mention that the knees (and elbows, to some degree) on Han seemed a little weak, with a softer rubber being used once again.  I didn't have any trouble freeing them up, but you'll still want to keep it in mind when working with the figure.

Then there's that helmet. It does fit nicely over the head, but make sure it's lined up properly when you're taking it off or putting it on to avoid rub marks on the nose, chin or hair.

Overall - Han ***; Bossk ****
When it comes to Star Wars toys and collectibles it's no secret that my favorites always involve the aliens. Bossk didn't get a ton of screen time, but he's still one of my personal favs, and any day I get a figure of him, it's a very good day. It helps that Hasbro has done a terrific job with the likeness and details, and the overall quality is solid.  He's now my favorite in the series, and I don't expect that to change any time soon.

Han is well done, with a good effort all the way around. Once we get Luke in his disguise, they'll make a good team with Chewbacca. It's undeniable that he's the ultimate re-use, but he's still a valid figure to release and a nice addition to the shelf.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ****
Sculpting - Bossk ****; Han ***
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - Bossk ***1/2; Han ***
Accessories - Bossk ***; Han ***1/2
Fun Factor - ****
Value - Han **; Bossk **1/2
Overall - Han ***; Bossk ****

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has the singles for $20.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Star Wars Black reviews included Yoda, the TIE Pilot, and the Sargent Clonetrooper, Luke and Vader, and Chewbacca and Sandtrooper. I've also covered the Biker Scout and Speederbike, the Clonetrooper and Anakin Skywalker. Before that there was Bespin Luke, the Stormtrooper and Obi-Wan, Slave Leia and Boba Fett, Han Solo and Greedo, and Darth Maul and the Sandtrooper, as well as X-Wing Pilot Luke and R2-D2.

And if you're a fan of the Bossk, you should check out the exceptional sixth scale version from Sideshow.

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