Thursday, February 25, 2010

Kenner 12" Star Wars Large Size Han Solo

This is Kenner's 12" Han Solo from 1979. Just look at this scoundrel! I'm not sure if this guy was rare back in 1979 but I only saw him for sale ONE time. We were on vacation visiting friends in Minnesota in 1979 and were at the Target store in Coon Rapids. They had this guy for sale along with a few other figures I had never seen in my hometown. That was the first and only time I saw this Han Solo on a toy shelf until years and years later at a comic book convention... and the price on him, at that point, was many times over what his price was on the Target shelf in Coon Rapids. I couldn't afford to add him to my collection, at that point.


There was a time before ebay and other online auction sites when vintage toys seemed much more rare than they actually were. To find something like this 12" Han Solo, you had to stumble across one in a store that sold vintage items or find one in one of the national toy classifieds (these were like monthly newspapers that would come in the mail). So, it was REALLY hard to find something like this "back in the day."

In 1992, my wife and I traveled to Orlando, Florida for our honeymoon. It was a blast! We enjoyed all the theme parks and did a little shopping, as well. We found a small comic book, toy, and collectible store that had quite a few neat things. Among the treasures, was this 12" Han you see in the photos. Being the gem that she is, my wife offered to make the Han Solo my wedding present as we hadn't exchanged gifts, at that point. Since 1992 was pre-ebay days, he was quite a bit more expensive than a loose, complete 12" Han can be had for these days. However, it was quite a find to actually encounter a complete figure. There was one problem, however. Han's white shirt had a chocolate-looking stain about the size of a quarter (Man, I hope it was chocolate). Being anxious to see if the stain would come out, I bought a small box of detergent and worked the stain out in the hotel room sink. The stain came out completely and I hung the small shirt up to dry on a clothesline that could be pulled across the front of the shower.

To this day, one of my wife's most vivid memories of our honeymoon was the day her complete Geek-of-a-husband washed his dolly clothes in the hotel sink and hung them up to dry. I guess it was a kind of eye-opening event for her that I will never live down.


Kenner did a nice job with this figure. The likeness to Harrison Ford is there but not overstated. Han's clothes are a bit simple compared to a more contemporary version of this figure would be but they do the job and convey the look of the character quite well. An interesting side note: Kenner reused this body and head sculpt for their Indiana Jones 12" figure. However, if you look closely, Han's eyes are painted brown while Indy's were painted blue.


Like Kenner's 12" Luke Skywalker, Han's articulation is somewhat limited: cut neck, cut shoulders, and cut joints at the hip that allow the legs to move forward and backward. If I'm not mistaken, he also has limited "clicky" articulation at the knees...like a Barbie.

A complete Han Solo includes his two black boots, black pants, white shirt, black vinyl vest, plastic belt with holster, Han's pistol blaster, and a medal like the one he received at the end of Star Wars ( I won't call it A New Hope... I won't).

"Never tell me the odds!"

8 comments:

  1. Hahah you washed your dolly's shirt on your honeymoon!

    I bought a Mr. Freeze on my first date with my wife. I guess when you know you have a winner, you are free to be yourself!

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  2. OH man I know you told me the "washing the Han shirt" story before, but that makes me laugh every time. Still such a great story.

    I had totally forgotten about Bubba's Mr. Freeze story as well, from this point forward Bubba should be banned from making fun of "dollies", LOL.

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  3. I'll bet Bubba has a closet-full of dollys that are going to take over Toyriffic once he gets in touch with his "Dolly-side."

    That's true, Bubba! Nice to have a better-half that "understands"...somewhat. :)

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  4. My wife went to Hardees every day until she had gotten me the entire California Raisin man collection. This wasn't on our honeymoon but is was within the first year of our marriage.

    We are some lucky men.

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  5. How about this one. I got married on Dec.21,1985. Our honeymoon wasn't starting until the 26th. So here I am walking down the aisles of Venture(remember them),the first day into my marriage pushing a cart doing Christmas shopping. I'm hurting bad (hungover) but I can"t let the new wife know this. Now I'm standing there or should I say leaning on the cart when I look up and there's this huge sign saying CLEARANCE SALE-ALL STAR WAR TOYS 90% OFF. I looked at that and thought I was still under the spell of the previous night. Boy did I get sober quick! I started grabbing toys left and right, filling the whole cart up. Thus the start of my collection. My only regret was not getting another cart. My new wife was in another aisle at the time and when she saw what I did she thought I had gone insane! How do you explain buying 350.00 of Star War toys on your first day of marriage! 25 years later and she still thinks I'm insane so If I am, this is the only way to be crazy. Dan

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  6. This Han Solo looks pretty much like a Ken doll with a blaster... ah and with Harrison Ford's face... but still it is pretty cool

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  7. Hi - my name is Paul. I found this link when i googled Kenner Han Solo action figure.
    I have this figure in an unopened box with product number 39170 on the side. The box is still sealed with a price label from Target of $8.99.
    Basically i am looking for any advice as to where i can sell this item for best possible price. The other items i have are Jawa Product number 39350, Ben (Obi Wan) Kenobi 39340,Luke Skywalker 38080. All items are in sealed Kenner boxes along with a 2005 Star Wars action figure price guide.
    Ive looked at Ebay and there are no items of this standard and age on there so if anyone can offer any advice it will be greatly received.
    My email is paulrogers65@hotmail.co.uk

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