Kitbashed Blaster: How Han Solo’s Iconic Weapon Was Made

Our most expensive Star Wars® purchase yet, Han Solo’s blaster was featured in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi™ and is from the collection of James Schoppe, the Art Director for the film. The base of the clumsy weapon is a German Mauser C96 pistol and the accouterments are, what many call, kitbashed: a process used to create a new scale model by taking pieces out of commercial kits. By the time people started to catch on to the kitbash trend and were well aware that Han’s blaster was modeled off the real C96, the availability of this firearm in the antique gun market became very hard to come by. What directors could get their hands on was a Japanese model cap gun from the same time period. Directors used this new model to create blasters in future Star Wars® films.