Bargain Han Solo boots

AJ Hamler

Active Member
First, my apologies if someone else has posted about these. I did a forum search, and although I found some discussion about rain boots I couldn't find anything specific to these. With that in mind, I thought some of you might find this useful.

I need Han Solo boots. I've been looking around, and as much as I'd like to buy a pair of Todd's or a pair of real riding boots, that is so far out of my budget after doing my DL-44 build that I couldn't consider them. (Especially since I'm saving up for Todd's holster!) I'd considered rain/mud/stable boots, but everything I saw looked awful, and some of those were ridiculously expensive, too. I had also considered the Funtasma boots, but all the reviews talking about soles coming off scared me away. I hated the zipper on the Funtasma boots anyway, plus reviews also mentioned that the calves are small, which concerned me.

So yesterday I'm walking through Walmart looking for something else entirely, literally just walking from point A to point B in the store, when I happened across these:

Heartland Boot.jpg

I stopped dead and gave them a thorough examination. The shot above is from the Walmart website, but the boots really do look exactly like this. They are solid black -- no funky bright yellow soles or any other colors anywhere on the boot. No embossed logos or writing. The only embossing of the rubber are the lines that you see on the lower sides of the boot in the photo. The upper part of the toe has a kind of waffle pattern, but it's subtle. I was amazed at just how much these look like riding boots, even from just a couple feet away. The store I was in didn't have my size, so today I went to another store and found them. I wear a size 10-1/2 or 11, depending on the shoe, and these fit nearly perfectly -- better, even, than a few other shoes I own. They only come in whole sizes and in a medium width. I generally take a wide in all my shoes, but these are pretty comfy. (Well, they are rubber...) The size 11 boots I bought stand 16-1/2" high, and the calf is 17" in circumference. Can't speak for those specs in other sizes.

The boots have a steel shank in the sole, and the insole is cushioned with some comfortable material. The inside of the uppers may or may not have a mesh-like material bonded to the rubber. Then again, maybe that mesh appearance is molded into the inner surface as part of the manufacturing process, I really can't tell. The uppers are plenty stiff -- the boots stand up just like in the photo -- and are not floppy like other rain boots I've seen, and when they're on my feet they look just like riding boots, not rain boots. For rubber, they're pretty shiny, but not overly so -- the shine approximates leather.

I was curious as to the maker, but the only markings on the boot are the size, Made In USA and claims of waterproofness on the bottom; there were no tags on the pair I got, or on any of the others in the rack, for that matter. So I did a reverse search on the image and it looks like these are made by Heartland Footwear of Indiana. I went to their website, and sure enough found them here:

http://heartlandfootwearinc.com/general-purpose-industrial-boot/

On the Heartland site are a couple more images:

boot_sole-6.jpgHeartlandFootwear_IndustrialBoots7-e1406756076144.png

In the photo on the right, the embossed lines on the sides look very prominent, but they really aren't that noticeable on the real thing. Also, I suspect the vertical boot in the combined photo on the right was actually shot with the boot laying down -- probably at the same time they shot the photo of the treads on the left. The boots do tend to flatten when laid down, but when worn that bulge on the back pretty much disappears. Also, the treads seem more prominent in the above two photos, but the treads on the boots I got more closely resemble the treads on the photo at the top of this post.

Best part was that these boots cost only $20.

Anyway, I hope everyone finds this helpful. Again, if someone has posted this before elsewhere in the forum, sorry to repeat.

A.J.
 
Not to take anything away from those, which for sure are a total bargain and look pretty serviceable, but when you say you can't afford riding boots - have you looked at rubber riding boots? That's what I picked up for my ANH Han; less than $50 delivered off Amazon. Not as nice as leather for sure, but the details and dimensions were pretty much spot on, and they polish up pretty well too.
 
Just to chime in on the above comment, I also got some very inexpensive rubber riding boots that are practically perfect. I was doing a lot of searching around (amazon etc.) when I happened upon a local equestrian online store that was having a sale, 35 euro delivered ($40 I suppose?). Plenty of stuff around if you search.

Having said all that this was a good find for an easily accessible & probably cheapest option
 
Not to take anything away from those, which for sure are a total bargain and look pretty serviceable, but when you say you can't afford riding boots - have you looked at rubber riding boots? That's what I picked up for my ANH Han; less than $50 delivered off Amazon. Not as nice as leather for sure, but the details and dimensions were pretty much spot on, and they polish up pretty well too.

Are these the ones your talking about?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002HODMPW?fpl=fresh&pc_redir=T1&redirect=true&tag=viglink24699-20
 
I checked out the boots Timmythekid noted on Amazon and elsewhere, but found mostly womens boots. I did find some on Amazon for men (the ones in the link that doctorDWwho included from his post just before this one), and they really do look awesome -- I'd get those in a heartbeat. Trouble is, in looking at the details in the comments on the boots it appears that the calf is only 15-1/4", which rules them out for me. I need at least 16" or 16-1/4" to get them on, and a bit more to get them on over pant legs.

A.J.
 
Those look great, Solos blaster. However, they look a little short and a bit bulky for a Han Solo impression. On the other hand, they look almost exactly like 19th-century U.S. Army artillery boots. In addition to goofing around in SF impressions, I'm also a Civil War artillery reenactor, and have been looking for some inexpensive boots to replace the worn-out brogans I'm wearing now.

Thanks for the tip.

A.J.

P.S. That's me on the far right...

Zoar 1 lo-res.jpg
 
I'll have to look up the link, (it may have been rebel legion, rebelscum, maybe here, I can't remember), that these are popular Han Solo boots and I believe the consensus was that they do come up to the proper length, just below the knee.
 
Have you seen these?
http://www.sovietboots.com/men-boot...ding-boots-.html#/size-rus_41_us_9_eu_42_uk_8

May still be out of your price range, but for the price it can't be beat for real riding boots.

Does anyone know how accurate to size these are? I measure out to be 11.5 on a branock foot measuring tool. I was thinking about order 11's to be safe.
To my knowledge European sizes are usually a bit larger than US, am I wrong?

If anyone could chime in, that'd be great.

Anyone have some photos of these boots with their costume?
 

Sorry I missed the post. Ummm..maybe? They look like them. It's been a few years and at the time I just needed to grab something quick for the costume, intending to replace them down the road. But yeah, if not those, definitely something very similar. Further clue that you're on the right track might be in the "Customers who bought this also bought..." section for those boots :lol
 
Have you seen these?
http://www.sovietboots.com/men-boot...ding-boots-.html#/size-rus_41_us_9_eu_42_uk_8

May still be out of your price range, but for the price it can't be beat for real riding boots.

...they look a little short and a bit bulky for a Han Solo impression.

I agree, I think the http://www.sovietboots.com/home/10-officer-chrome-box-calf-riding-leather-boots.html are a closer match. As they look taller and look to fit closer to the leg. Not a perfect match but I think closer to the look you want for Han's boots.

I was able to pick up a pair of the rubber tact riding boots for my Luke Return of the Jedi costume. I got them from a Petsmart or Petco in San Diego back around 2002 that had a tack department. The best part is that they were clearance for $7.
 
I agree, I think the http://www.sovietboots.com/home/10-officer-chrome-box-calf-riding-leather-boots.html are a closer match. As they look taller and look to fit closer to the leg. Not a perfect match but I think closer to the look you want for Han's boots.

I was able to pick up a pair of the rubber tact riding boots for my Luke Return of the Jedi costume. I got them from a Petsmart or Petco in San Diego back around 2002 that had a tack department. The best part is that they were clearance for $7.

Has anyone ordered from that site before? I'm really interested in a pair of their boots.

Let me know? I'm ready to order.
 
Yo yo yo,

Anyone buy boots from the site and have some photos? Currently on the source for some Han boots that won't break the bank completely.

Holler!
 
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