Review: Star Wars Black Series Han Solo Holocomm Collection Exclusive
- Mephitsu
- 7 hours ago
- 6 min read
“Jabba put a price on your head so large, every bounty hunter will be looking for you.”
The Star Wars Black Series Holocomm series was a new subline, launched in 2023 and running through 2024. As is the case with most sublines within the wider collection, it took existing figures and reused them, but with a translucent blue decor and packed in a light-up LED stand. The line was predominantly made up of retailer exclusives across the likes of Amazon, the Fan Channel retailers, and through both Walmart and Target in the US.
The original RRP on the Holocomm figures here in the UK was between £29.99 and £34.99, depending on exclusivity, driven higher than a standard figure due to the electronic stand. I originally passed on any of the Holocomm releases, but many are now seeing deep discounts at retailers and having found the Han Solo release at sub £10, it was an opportunity to see what these figures are all about.
The Holocomm figures are still part of the Phase 4 packaging, with most arriving before the change from the slanted side to the squared-off box. The base colouring remains matt black, with the Black Series logo in its usual header position. There is a single colour scheme applied, a hologram blue which is used as a solid band on the box to confirm it is a Holocomm Collection release, and embellished with a light bulb icon to present the light-up feature. The blue is also used on the character name, simply Han Solo, and on the artwork on the slanted side, which shows Han projected as a hologram with transmission lines and an Aurebesh text in red at the top that translates as ‘Wanted’ and a bounty of 20,000 credits. The back of the box shows the figure and stand projector as well as call out features highlighting the ‘hologram effect’, ‘light up’ base and the ‘bounty chip’. The background text is not character-specific and talks about the ‘transmitted details of your next bounty’ and the ‘light up holopucks’ feature. The figure and parts are held on the usual inner tray that is sat into a blue backing card within the box.
The Han Solo figure is cast entirely in a translucent blue with no colour variation. There are natural areas of light and darkness, depending on the depth of the plastic, with the figure darkest around the overlapped joints. The joints are not overly distracting, considering their construction is visible, although using an older pinned body hasn’t helped. Han’s vest/jacket and the gunslinger belt remain a softer plastic piece, but is coloured in exactly the same way.
The figure is a direct re-use of the 2018 Han Solo Bespin release, a figure six years old by the time it was reproduced in this Holocomm format.
The headsculpt is a relatively good likeness to Harrison Ford, but much of the detail is lost across the translucent blue plastic. While holograms 'in universe’ are blue-hued, like the Force Ghosts, they retain levels of depth and detail to their clothing and particularly facial features. This 6-inch replication has lost some of that by simply utilising a figure cast in a single tone of blue translucent plastic.
Han still comes with his blaster, which he can holster on his belt or wield in his right hand. And articulation remains as it was on the original figure with 16 points of articulation, including pinned, double-jointed knees. That does mean Han is relatively flexible and can be posed in firing positions or gesturing as only Han Solo can. For display with the included projector, that poseability is less critical as Han will need to be presented in a more neutral stance.
The projector is a grey piece, designed to replicate the Bounty Pucks as introduced in The Mandalorian. The base houses the access to the batteries via a single screw-secured panel. You need three AAA batteries, which are not included. The top panel is clear with a circular pattern of inverted Trapezoid lined ‘vents’. The LEDs can be seen under this with five around the outside and a sixth in the centre.
The final piece of the base is the bounty tag, a triangular, ridge-lined, clear piece imprinted with the same Aurebesh ‘Wanted’ text and bounty of 20,000 credits. At the narrowest end, it has a peg that slots into a socket on the puck. The fit here is not brilliant; the peg needed to be deeper to hold it more securely in place.
The base of the projector has two peg holes for the figure’s feet. These are offset, and if you use both, the figure is presented angled to the side and not facing ahead and lined up with the bounty price. Like the other peg, these feel too short and don’t hold the feet brilliantly, particularly when you only engage and use one.
With everything in place, you can now activate the LED function. These lights are activated by a push switch on the side, with one press turning it on and a second press turning it off. The lighting is not fixed, and there is a rotation to the pattern as they fire up, followed by a level of intermittent flashing to try and simulate the flickering hologram behaviour. While the outer lights are white, the inner light is blue.
The brightness of the lights is an immediate issue, and while the figure's feet and legs are well lit, the lighting strength fails to really penetrate the upper body and head. So while it does its best to mimic a projected image, the lack of light on the top third leaves it looking a bit odd. The light also does not stay on permanently; a single press lasts for 30 seconds, and a held press puts the light on for 30 minutes. There is no external power option like a USB, so anyone thinking a collection of these linked to a single switch is out of luck.
When this line first launched, and based on the name Holocomm Collection, my brain was looking at these as being recreations of scenes across Star Wars where characters appeared as a Hologram project. In essence, that still works for characters like Darth Vader, The Mandalorian, and even Ezra Bridger. But the big hologram presences like The Emperor, Darth Maul (Robed from the TPM or from Solo), and Supreme Leader Snoke were obvious misses. I now understand better that this line actually is, contrary to its name, a Bounty Puck series building on the introduction of these devices in The Mandalorian. That being said, the picked characters still feel odd, and while this figure of Han Solo was under a Bounty courtesy of Jabba, would anyone ever raise a bounty for Darth Vader and were pucks even a thing at the time of The Acolyte?
I think this is a line that on paper sounded like it had potential, but it has missed the mark and its two biggest opportunities by giving us Bounty Puck style figures that, in a way, are actually 1:1 scale props and not true black series figures, and not holo-projected figures from key scenes like when Palpatine communicates Order 66 or when Leia sends her message via R2-D2 in A New Hope.
Had I laid out £35 for this figure, I’d be disappointed. For less than £10, it is a curiosity that will be displayed outside the figure collection and alongside a couple of props like my Boba Fett helmet. Unless there is a reset and rethinking of the line, I suspect the 11 figures that make up the line are all we will see and Hasbro will move on to the next subline, leaving the Holocomm series as tried and done alongside the likes of the Carbonized figures, the Credit Collection, and the Centrepiece displays.
Keep Track of all the Star Wars Black Series figures from Hasbro at our comprehensive
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...