Han Solo TFA (Archive) — Star Wars The Black Series

Overview

Han Solo at the Archive Collection captures the canonical The Force Awakens configuration — Han Solo once again in the centre of the action after years as a famed smuggler, captain of the Millennium Falcon, and hero of the Rebel Alliance. Released October 2022 single-carded as part of the Wave 7 Archive Collection. Mainline non-exclusive at $24.99. 19 joints. Two accessories: a blaster and a removable plastic sleeveless jacket. The figure is a rework of the 2016 Black Series Han Solo (figure id=3623) with a significantly upgraded photo-real portrait and added gray hair.

The Portrait Upgrade: Night and Day

The paint application on the figure and the updated portrait compared to the 2016 release is night and day — it looks much better than previously. This is the structural reason the Archive Han Solo TFA exists — it’s not just an availability-restoration re-pack. Hasbro actively reworked the portrait with photo-real face printing and aged the character correctly with gray hair, delivering one of the most meaningful character-upgrade Archive releases across the sub-line.

The 2016 source body’s pre-photo-real portrait is one of the weaker Harrison Ford likenesses in the original Phase 3 Black Series catalogue. The Archive variant’s photo-real implementation captures the older Han Solo’s canonical The Force Awakens visual — the weathered face, the gray hair, the lived-in appearance — in a way the 2016 release couldn’t achieve through hand-applied face paint.

If you already own the 2016 figure, this is a genuine upgrade worth considering. That’s not something we say often about Archive Collection re-packs.

The Removable Jacket

Hasbro gave Han Solo a removable plastic jacket where the sleeves are molded and painted onto the arms and are not part of the jacket. Specific costume-engineering note worth flagging — the jacket is the characteristic The Force Awakens Han Solo costume element, and Hasbro tooled it as a separate removable component rather than integrating it with the body sculpt.

The sleeves-on-arms construction is structurally distinctive: rather than full-sleeve-fabric jacket, Hasbro molded the jacket body as the removable component while permanently attaching painted sleeve appearances onto the arms. The result is a canonical jacket-on display configuration that reads correctly at standard viewing distance, and a jacket-off configuration revealing the canonical Han Solo shirt appearance underneath.

Han Solo’s belt and holster is its own separate piece, but it’s not meant to be taken off the figure. Standard hip-mounted-holster attachment — the holster reads as an integrated costume element rather than a modular equipment component.

The Two-Accessory Loadout and Weapon Grip

Han Solo is able to hold the blaster well in both hands, and it fits especially well into the right hand where Han Solo’s index finger can be placed onto the blaster’s trigger. Standard right-hand-preferred weapon-grip engineering — the trigger-finger engagement in the right hand delivers appropriate canonical gunslinger weapon-grip reading.

Han stands well on display without falling over, thanks to stiff ankle joints. Specific stability engineering commendation — the stiff ankle joints support reliable standing stability in solo-display configurations without the figure requiring support props or display stands.

Articulation

19 joints. Ball-jointed top neck, swivel-jointed lower neck, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, ball-jointed wrists, ball-jointed waist, ball-jointed hips, swivel-jointed thighs, swivel-joints above knees, swivel joints below knees, ball-jointed ankles. Above the 17-joint Phase 4 baseline thanks to dual-axis neck and dual-axis knee engineering.

Distribution and the Wave 7 Cluster

Standard mainline Archive Collection release at $24.99 through wide retail channels — released October 2022 as part of Wave 7 alongside Grand Moff Tarkin (Archive), Chewbacca (Archive P4), and Princess Leia Boushh (Archive). The Wave 7 cluster covers later-Saga and sequel-era characters alongside Imperial command — the Han Solo TFA and Chewbacca pair delivers the canonical Millennium Falcon co-pilot duo in a single wave.

For collectors building canonical The Force Awakens hero-team displays, Han Solo TFA pairs with Chewbacca (Archive P4) (also Wave 7) for the canonical co-pilot pair, and with Princess Leia Boushh (Archive) for the broader Wave 7 original-trilogy hero-team. For Hoth-era Han display configurations, the Han Solo Hoth (Archive) covers the canonical The Empire Strikes Back costume variant.

Han Solo Across the Archive Collection

Han Solo has three distinct Archive/Repack configurations across the catalogue — a 2019 Repack (the original Black Series OT Han Solo), the 2021 Wave 3 Han Solo Hoth (Archive) covering the The Empire Strikes Back Hoth costume, and this 2022 Wave 7 TFA Archive covering the The Force Awakens older-Han configuration. The three releases cover three different canonical Han Solo eras and costume contexts — no direct duplication.

Other Han Solo Figures

Han Solo has one of the broadest character-class release catalogues in the entire Hasbro Star Wars figure history. Other notable releases include the Droid Factory 2-Pack #3 (figure id=7), the Sandstorm variant (figure id=20), the Shield Generator Assault 4-Pack (figure id=75), the Torture Rack variant (figure id=86), the McQuarrie Concept Series (figure id=121), the Stormtrooper Disguise variant (figure id=123), and the 2016 TFA Black Series source body (figure id=3623). The Archive release joins this character-class catalogue as the dedicated 2022 Wave 7 TFA Archive Collection rework with photo-real portrait and gray hair.

Secondary Market

Single-carded Archive Collection release with dedicated Archive cardback packaging, October 2022. Available through wide retail channels at MSRP and the secondary market. Verify both accessories (blaster and removable jacket) are included when acquiring on the secondary market.

Verdict

Han Solo TFA (Archive) at the 2022 Wave 7 Archive Collection is one of the clearest examples of a genuine Archive Collection upgrade rather than a straight re-pack — the photo-real portrait with added gray hair delivers a night-and-day improvement over the 2016 source body’s pre-photo-real face paint, making this an active upgrade recommendation even for collectors who already own the 2016 release, the removable plastic sleeveless jacket with molded-sleeve arms supports canonical jacket-on and jacket-off display states, the stiff ankle joints support reliable standing stability, the right-hand trigger-finger blaster grip reads correctly for canonical gunslinger display, and the 19-joint articulation sits above the Phase 4 baseline.

The molded-on sleeve construction means the jacket doesn’t deliver full-sleeve removal flexibility — sleeves are permanently on the arms with only the jacket body being removable. The belt and holster are separate pieces but aren’t designed to be removed.

Buy this figure even if you own the 2016 source release — the photo-real portrait upgrade with gray hair is a meaningful visual improvement that makes this one of the most justifiable Archive Collection duplicates in the sub-line. Also essential if you build canonical The Force Awakens hero-team displays, if you build the canonical Millennium Falcon co-pilot duo alongside Wave 7 Chewbacca, or if you collect the Archive Collection as a complete set.

The legendary smuggler, captain, and hero in his The Force Awakens configuration. The figure with the night-and-day photo-real portrait upgrade, the gray hair addition, the removable plastic jacket with molded sleeves, and the stiff ankle stability engineering. The Han Solo that pairs with Wave 7 Chewbacca for canonical Millennium Falcon co-pilot assembly. Mainline distribution, October 2022, Wave 7.

---

Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Phase 4 Archive Collection. Related: Chewbacca (Archive P4) P4-ARC-07 | Grand Moff Tarkin (Archive) P4-ARC-06 | Princess Leia Boushh (Archive) P4-ARC-05 | Han Solo Hoth (Archive) P3-ARC-HSH.