I know there have been a few posts lamenting this, but I really want to take a closer look at the elephant in the room: the lack of Han Solo figures from the Original Trilogy.
So far, Luke has seen 6 OT releases (Farmboy, Stormtrooper disguise, Bespin DX07, Jedi, Jedi Deluxe/Endor, and now Hoth snowspeeder Pilot). Similarly, Leia has seen 4 OT releases (ANH Princess, Hoth, Bespin dress, and Endor). While there are still some other options available (Boushh Leia, Bespin Escape Leia, Yavin Ceremony Luke, Bespin Luke rerelease, etc), these two characters have had all their OT movie appearances covered.
However, Han has still only had his ANH appearances (regular outfit + Stormtrooper disguise variant). So, why this huge discrepancy? It can’t be marketability. Han Solo is easily just as popular as Luke and Leia, and remains many people’s favorite character. Moreover, Harrison Ford is the most well known and celebrated actor of those movies. Why haven’t we seen Bespin Han released alongside these ESB Leia versions? Or Endor Han with the trenchcoat along with those versions of Luke and Leia? There hasn’t been an OT Han release in years, and it just doesn’t seem to make sense to withhold all of them.
I remember seeing a post somewhere a couple years back that Howard Chan (Hot Toys founder) was pissed after Harrison Ford destroyed a ANH Han figure on a late night show. I think Harrison was just playing up his grumpy persona, and it obviously wasn’t a slight against Hot Toys specifically. Is it possible that Howard is holding a grudge and blacklisted Harrison-based figures? Would they deny themselves easy money over something like this?
Does anyone have any insight or insider information on this? I would be curious to know if there are any legitimate reasons.