Ever since my first viewing of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977, I’ve loved the clean design of the Imperial Stormtrooper. Something about the uniquely complex curves of the helmet (which I could never master when trying to draw as a kid, but that’s another story), blended with the simplicity of the stark monochrome aesthetic. Along the way, I’ve really come to appreciate the concept of specialist stormtroopers with additional armour features (starting with the sandtrooper, but also including variants like AT-AT drivers), and it’s therefore no surprise that I really like the Mimban troopers from Solo: A Star Wars Story, with their cape, additional helmet forehead plate, and heavy field weathering. It’s a shame they weren’t more visible in the movie itself, but there have been a number of products featuring Mimban trooper imagery one way or another.

The Force Link 2.0 Stormtrooper (Mimban) 3.75″ figure is a simple sculpt, with a relatively fixed 2-handed weapons-ready pose, but I do generally like the overall execution. Could have done with maybe a little more in the way of paint apps on the helmet, and it is noteworthy that his heavy cape does drag his center of gravity back a bit, meaning he prefers to use a figure stand for stability. Still, this toy gets two thumbs up, and I’m glad to have it.

One day I’ll hunt down the Vintage Collection version of this figure as well… maybe even get around to working up a full costume of this stormtrooper variation.

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This trio of action figures from Solo: A Star Wars Story (Tobias Beckett, Rio Durant, and Val), are essential to make up the full set of “hero” characters from the movie – or at least to be able to rustle together a Vandor-1 heist gang.

As I’ve probably lamented before, there were quite a few gaps in the Solo line-up in terms of what made it to New Zealand retailers. These guys were amongst them. I was fortunate, therefore, to stumble across them all reasonably priced, at a duty free store in Thailand while en route to a conference for work.

A few more gaps to fill yet in our Solo: A Star Wars Story figure collection, but with the addition of this motley crew, we’re getting a lot closer.

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In our hunt to complete our Solo: A Star Wars Story action figure collection, we picked up this cool Han Solo and Chewbacca (Mimban… aka “muddy”) 2-pack via eBay. The packaging looks, aptly, like it has been dragged through the mud a little, so we scored it nice and cheap.

The 2-pack depicts, obviously, the pivotal scene where Han and Chewie meet for the very first time. The figures have interesting paint apps… i.e., they look like they are covered in mud, meaning they are likely more appealing to the completist rather than someone just looking for figures of hero & villain characters. Although not strictly part of the relevant movie scenes, the set also includes an “assembly-required” weapon accessory, that is styled to match the other military hardware seen during the Mimban segments of the movie.

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In our ongoing effort to complete our Solo: A Star Wars Story action figure line-up, we’ve been having a bit of a look through eBay to see if any deals can be had. Some of the figures and multi-packs from this line have hit discount retailers in the US, meaning they can be quite cheap to come by even if they weren’t available in NZ. This Rebolt and Corellian Hound figure 2-pack is a key example.

Although the Corellian gangster Rebolt was a bit of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him character, the Corellian Hounds were a fun movie creature, and I’m glad we got a decent action figure version. This 2-pack comes with an assembly-required transport cage for the hound, and the beast itself has nice detailing and an articulated jaw. Happy to have this background character and the space-canine that chased Han and Qi’ra in our collection!

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As much as I really like the sculpts on most of the main line of action figures from Solo: A Star Wars Story, some really key characters or characters in specific outfits were not available as single-packed options.

This “Mission on Vandor-1” action figure 4-pack from the Solo took a bit of hunting – in fact, I was only able to get it while traveling to a conference in Switzerland… I make it a habit to hunt out any local comic and toy stores when I happen to be overseas for business/education trips.

The 4-pack includes a Han in his cold-weather Vandor gear, Qi’ra in her jacket and pants that she wears in the latter half of the movie, another Range Trooper, and Warwick Davis’ character Weazel. Great detail on Han’s jacket and belt, and our collection feels a bit more complete having a Crimson Dawn version of Qi’ra as well as the Corellian teenager version that was released as a single Force Link 2.0 figure.

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With it unlikely that we’ll see many more action figures from Solo: A Star Wars Story coming out, we’ve been making it a bit of a collecting objective to hunt down all of the characters from that movie. Next on the list, to accompany the first wave Lando Calrissian figure, is his co-pilot droid L3-37.

This figure has some complex sculpting of finer details – the only downside to this toy is the lack of foot peg holes, which makes her a little unsteady on her feet when displayed standing up. Nevertheless, she’s a great toy and a necessary addition to our Solo collection.

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The detailing and costume accessories on Hasbro’s 3.75″ Force Link 2.0 Quay Tolsite action figure (from Solo: A Star Wars Story) qualify it as one of the best sculpts from the line. The chest and facial tubing, as well as the handheld keychain accessory really add depth to the toy.

We didn’t see Tolsite on the shelves of local toy or department stores, unfortunately, but I happened to be travelling to a conference recently, and my route home took me through Thailand – this harder-to-find character was in one of the airport duty free stores, at regular (non-scalper) action figure prices. I could not resist!

We’re still on the hunt for a few figures from the Solo movie (we’re tracking them over on the SWNZ Forums), but this guy is a great addition to our collection.

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A recent toy sale at branches of The Warehouse in New Zealand had Solo: A Star Wars Story figures reduced to $5 each, in addition to a buy-one-get-one-half-price promotion at the same time. Buying a couple of figures, therefore, cut the toy price to an average of $3.75 each! Even better, the figures on the shelves included some waves that had not previously been seen locally before.

We were very happy therefore, to be able to add Moloch, from the flashback scenes at the start of the movie, to our growing collection of Solo characters. This action figure has articulated wrists, a removable face mask, and a couple of accessories that includes a blaster that fits neatly into his belt holster.

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Instead of trying to keep up with collecting all the adorable Pop! Vinyl Star Wars figures, we tend to focus on specific characters. My primary focus is female Star Wars characters, so this adorable Qi’ra Pop! Vinyl figure was on my wish list. While browsing the Star Wars toys at our local store, a staff member noticed and mentioned they had some new Star Wars items out the back that had just arrived. She quickly returned with a box of Solo: A Star Wars Story Pop! Vinyl figures – I grabbed the Qi’ra figure as soon as I saw her.

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