Review: Han Solo in Carbonite key chain

I'd really love to have this, but having just bought a house, money is a bit too tight to consider making an order right now.

Maybe its after market price won't be terribly expensive.

Non-magnetic Stainless Steel, perhaps? We have a great amount of that where I work, and putting size into consideration, it sounds to be made of just that.

"If it's a liquid and warm enough, it can be cast."

E: Spelling.

I like it. It's a nice substantial piece of memorabilia. Would have been cool if they updated the hair though. I would assume they had to make a new mould anyway. That would have set it apart from the plastic version and added to the exclusivity.

Is it in the brand stores?

It's a shame that they couldn't be bothered to update it with Han's current hair piece.

@SithLord196 said:
"I'd really love to have this, but having just bought a house, money is a bit too tight to consider making an order right now.

Maybe its after market price won't be terribly expensive. "

Shame, because what better way to decorate a new house than with new Lego? After all, it wasn't new, but the first set I built when I moved into my apartment was 7194.

It's cool

It looks nice, but I don't like that it has a key chain (which you cannot take away) and that it is made in China...

It looks great. I am happy I picked one up

ha great review, glad i was weak and placed an order this morning!

This is great!

Always amuses me that Brickset's stance against "tat" goes out of the window when there's a freebie to review! As keyrings go it's nice. But it's not Lego.

Yes, please, give us an inaccurate metal version of the mold we've had for what, 8 years? please don't make us an updated mold, no sir!

@Japierc said:
"Heavy keychains suck.
That thing would pull your pants down if you had that on your keys in your pocket."

That made me choke on my rum

@xboxtravis7992 said:
" @RUL said:
"Super-ultra-exclusive key chain...made in China :D"

... there is a lot of political and human rights problems around China's government that I worry about, and that kind of political discussion does not belong in a Lego forum, so I'll just leave it at that. "

Not just China...but that's all i'll say about that. If I place an order with LEGO I'll accept whatever freebee they decide to give away including this one, but if I miss out no big deal for me.

Still a lame promo no matter how you slice it

I've got to say that this is on of those that you really do appreciate better in person. It's not the typical free gift but I do think it's worth getting.

@Snazzy101 said:
" @Snazzy_Bricks said:
"Yes, please, give us an inaccurate metal version of the mold we've had for what, 8 years? please don't make us an updated mold, no sir!"

Why? So you can then pitch a fit about it not matching the part it's based on? "

Sorry, I phrased that wrong. I meant that the mold the keychain is based on is inaccurate, not the keychain itself.

Glad to see all the new sets that would qualify for this are in stock.

Looks delicious... Did it come in purple tin foil :-)

@The_Brickster_ said:
"Well another honestly disappointing Star Wars promo, what happened to that great little line of minifigures with the display stands, or promo minifigures in general? The five they made look great together, and then that line was just stopped. Hopefully those will return soon."

The 5 minifigures with display stands I'm assuming you're talking about were for the 20th anniversary of Lego Star Wars. Obviously that's just a one year event so you can't expect new ones each year.

@The_Brickster_:
That was the 20th Anniversary line for the LEGO Star Wars theme. Besides all the other terrible things that have already happened (or will happen) this year, January 1st also spelled the end of any 20th Anniversary promos. And there were six minifigs. Obi-Wan was available as a polybag.

@Classique:
Whatever it's made of, it looks like they added a clear sealer

@FARLANDER:
Are you saying this will quickly become the most hacked keychain on the planet?!?!?!?

@Judgeguy:
It's considerably smaller than the plastic version. Where the plastic version can fit a whole Han Solo minifig inside, this is a solid block of metal (and looks like it might fit inside the plastic carbonite slab if those pesky handles weren't in the way). This has a D-ring formed in above his head for the keychain bits to attach to, where the plastic version has handles mounted to either end. And this comes in a fancy box. I mean, there's really no way you're going to look at these and get them mixed up, but changing the hairstyle just because you can would be like painting an exact replica of a dollar bill and giving George a spiked mohawk.

@Vanvonfull:
Unlikely. Besides the usual copyright date, there's a MO/YR date embossed into the back, which is most likely the date of manufacture. It's 07/20, which is over four months too late once you factor in the time required to deliver these to brick-n-mortar stores before the promo starts.

@cody6268:
This doesn't really look like the bare metal used for stuff like Hot Wheels cars. And I hang my keys off my keychain rather than the other way around. My keychain is a ship's anchor. I can put them in my pocket and hook one of the flukes over the top edge. It keeps them from bunching up in a wad of metal in the bottom of the pocket, which makes me chuckle every time I see someone land on their keys, or hip-check their keys into something large and immobile.

@xboxtravis7992:
In the movie Aliens, one of the Marines suggests an effective method. I mean, it'd pretty much start WWIII if anyone tried it, but...

But seriously, the Chinese thing. I once read that Chinese labor costs are 1/4 of those in the US, which is why Chinese manufacturing is profitable. But once those labor costs rise to 1/3 of the US equivalent, it's pretty much a wash. They peg their currency to the USD, which allows them to make sure that the wage gap is never closed. But that's how things work between China and the US. The LEGO Company once looked into moving large amounts of production to China (Clikits was a test subject), and what they ultimately determined was that Europe was still too big a chunk of their market. Transportation costs were significantly higher for them than they would be for a company in the US, and again it was cheaper to shift that sort of production to Hungary and the Czech Republic where the cost of living is considerably slower than in Denmark.

@brick_mason:
I drove to my local store after work and got the keychain, a second cannon, and a second robots. And a further bit of luck, I spotted the Gingerbread House on the shelves even though LEGO.com was still telling me it was out of stock there.

It’s small too....NOT the same size as the Lego piece

@cody6268 said:
"Zamac? AKA, the stuff most toy cars are made out of. It's mostly zinc, but also has aluminum in it as well.

Looks good, but well, it isn't exactly "LEGO" enough to me.

I don't get half the stuff that is made into keychains. A lot of it is just something they've slapped a keychain on it that shouldn't be. You see a lot of very small models of heavy equipment and farm machinery that has been made into keychains, usually with rolling wheels; and sometimes, even moving parts. The paint will chip/wear, and parts will break off. So, pretty dumb to have those on keychains. I collect those; but I usually get out the linesman's pliers and cut off the keychains. And then, there's the people taking Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars and making them into keychains and even jewlery. My keys are heavy enough without a 3-inch long, 3 ounce model car hanging off them. "

I learned something today. Thank you!

One of them buttons could have been used to turn on the LED light at the bottom to be useful even.

It looks really nice, I'd gladly use one as a keychain. But there are very few interesting SW sets right now at that price point... If 501st Legion was in stock it'd be a good time for army building, but heh... Might end up cheaper to buy one second hand.

Is that a broken chain link? I'd be attaching a second chain to keep from losing it.

I'm not a metal expert either, but it looks like pewter.

Can I get a key chain with one of those large Hul- figs in metal?

Does the displayed minifig scale to a „normal“ minifig?

@Nytmare:
It's a keychain. The chain part is pretty low-tech. It has five links, plus the keyring itself. Two of the links are circles, and two are loops with a half twist so they'll lie flat. All six of these rings are technically "broken" since none of them are welded, brazed, soldered, or formed in a complete circle. The five smaller rings are just formed from wire that's bent into shape, and the two ends are lined up with each other without actually connecting.

Yes, this does mean that the keychain can break free from the keyring if enough force is applied. I've had it happen to my anchor keychain several times, but I also know how to reclose the opened link when that happens. In my case, the offending link is made of a soft enough metal that it's fairly easy to damage (and fairly easy to fix). I'd replace it, but the keychain itself has a thick brass loop, which I don't want to damage.

For this keychain, the circular links are probably also the weakest point in the design. You'll have the same problem I did, which is that the keychain attaches to a fairly thick D-ring formed into the top of the carbonite block. If you want to replace it or upgrade it, I'd talk to a professional jeweler to see if there are better options.

Honestly, though, I don't know that's it's that big a concern. It's not like you've got a cinder block hanging from your keychain. The weight of it isn't enough that it's going to open up the links and just fall off. The problem I have with my anchor keychain is entirely related to the way I hook one of the flukes over the edge of my pocket when I'm not using the keys. If I sit down in my car before taking my keys out, I can still easily grab onto the anchor and pull them out. If I'm wearing jeans (it has to do with the shape of the top edge of the pocket), and I'm leaning forward a bit too much, the big keyring and the keys on it can get pinched by the top edge of my pocket and I can pull the keychain with enough force to pop open one of the links. If I take them out before getting in the car, or straighten my legs out a little bit, it's never a problem.

@Joefish said:
"Is it in the brand stores?"

Yes, I received one today.

An AFOL will spend long and hard for a LEGO trinket!

Alas more rubbish from LEGO, and again straying from what they do best.

For those of you having trouble accepting it is made in China perhaps you should just stop buying everything because when was the last time something like this was made elsewhere?

@brick_mason said:
"I went to the LEGO store today and bought a Razorcrest for my daughter's sixth birthday next month... "
I pity your daughter for when the time comes she opens her present, sees what's inside, gives you a "what the heck daddy?" look, and you go "aww, you don't like it? OK, then daddy will keep it."
;-)

My brother is getting the Boba Fett helmet for Christmas whether he wants it or not.

Perhaps it's pewter?

Have they run out of stock on keychains already? Not seeing it come up on the UK LEGO site.

@kolaxanthe said:
"Have they run out of stock on keychains already? Not seeing it come up on the UK LEGO site."
Nor on the Spain Lego Site....

Thanks for the review. Zinc-aluminium should be more expensive than steel, so I don't see the problem in that.
Mine will probably arrive this week. See if I can find out exactly what it is.

@Minifig_Jez:
You forgot the Gingerbread House, which is probably going to be retiring by the end of the year!

@kolaxanthe:
@FARLANDER:
Are you logged in? This is a VIP-only promo, I believe. It does have the logo imprinted on the back, so that would make sense.

@Wrecknbuild:
There's some sort of clear protective sealer applied to the whole block. You might be able to get some useful data by density, but if you want to actually test the material itself you'll have to damage it.

@fredbob392:
Sometimes. I mean, some GWPs end up being worth at least as much as the minimum spend. The Martian Manhunter polybag sold out insanely fast for a minifig with (I think) a $75 target. For something like that, you'd think they would have been a little better prepared. And there was some sort of walker polybag for SW: Clone Wars that sold out even faster, but at least that resurfaced at some point later on. And I don't think it had any exclusive elements.

Got mine today, pretty excited through the whole process. I purchased the Final Duel and a Stormtrooper key chain to bridge the difference for a hundred bucks. My 5 year old daughter and I have been eyeballing that set as soon as it came out and frankly I’m not sure it’ll make it as a X-Mas present. I think the keychain is pretty rad. I love the heft.
The only (extremely minuscule) problem I have with it is it’s ever-so-slightly smaller than a minifigure. Other than that, super stoked for the item.

Fingers crossed I can make it to X-Mas with the Final Duel. She shows me on the catalog basically every day.

I bought some Star Wars Lego that I did not need or necessarily want just to get this.

Oh well, those Stormtrooper and Tie Fighter Pilot busts will look nice on display.