Han Solo In Carbonite - 12 Inch Figure Environments

Sideshow has really come up with some clever things to help pad their unbelievable 12” figure line. We got great Creature Packs with Jabba the Hutt and then we got an awesome stand alone Dejarik Holochess table (even before had an Episode IV Han Solo figure). But probably was nothing more impressive (or more expected) than the Han Solo In Carbonite 12” figure environment. It works well with so many already released figures. You can set it next to Jabba the Hutt, or you can display it alone with the Leia as Boushh or Bib Fortuna 12” figures. Whatever way you decide, you can bet that it is going to look pretty phenomenal in any setting in your 12” collection. While it is a beautiful piece, we feel it is way overpriced. We quickly determined that the $199.99 sticker is inflated for what you get in the box. For something of this price, extra accessories needed to be included to make it a value for consumers. It is definitely a novelty piece too, because this figure cannot be posed. There is no articulation, no soft-goods and no “action” at all. It is 100% polystone and it is what it is. And even a price tag of $149.99 would probably still be too expensive. And it’s heartbreaking to make such a big stink about the price, but we immediately got buyer’s remorse after realizing how much “stuff” we got inside for the price. But that doesn’t mean that this isn’t one beautifully executed collectible because it is.

The Han Solo In Carbonite 12" Figure Environment is stunning and has a near perfect likeness to the movie prop. While the control panels on each side of the block are beautifully sculpted and painted, they don’t light up and since Sideshow includes so many light-up features in their products, we find this extremely disappointing. We ask what is it going to take to get a carbonite block collectible that lights up? We would ask them to skip providing electronics in the lightsabers and focus on giving them to the figure environments instead. As mentioned earlier, this is truly too expensive for what it is. And we must be honest, when Sideshow says that they use high quality polystone, we really do expect them to use high quality polystone. This piece is as light as a feather and we find this disappointing. It has a hollow feel to it and one wrong move could spell disaster as we fear it is too fragile for handling. Sideshow has not been consistent with the weight of their polystone products so we are not entirely sure what is going on, but we do know that this piece feels “cheap”. But while it is easy to pick it apart in this manner, there is no denying how great it looks. Thanks to great engineering and flawless precision, the Han Solo In Carbonite piece attaches to the base perfectly via a pin and magnet system. The results are extremely successful and the carbonite block stays right in its place.

But don't expect to hang the entire thing on your wall because there is nothing but a nice back skin of velvet on its posterior. We suppose that you could find a very small nail and attach it solo (no pun intended) on the wall. But it looks very good on the environments backdrop or “stand”. The piece is extraordinarily beautiful and we very rarely complain about the cost of items, but this one just isn't worth the price. We need one of everything, so it was an inevitable purchase for our collection. We think that is Sideshow Collectibles researched the source materials a little bit harder, they would have been able to come with some great add-ons like tables or pottery (or even a taxidermic tauntaun head)! Anything else included would have been an amazing enhancement to this set. While it appears that we have torn this collectible apart, we want you to know that it is still a very cool piece. Sideshow did take little things into consideration to make this thing very authentic. For example, this piece is in exact and perfect scale. When you pose Princess Leia (in her Boushh disguise), she is the perfect height to reach up and touch the control panel. While this may seem insignificant, we appreciate Sideshow making a mental note of this for the collectible. So the jury is out on this piece. We like it, but it is definitely too much money. And while it’s a perfect replica for the carbonite block, it may just be a piece that you’ll enjoy in pictures and not in your collections.