OK,so,we see Han get paid at Yavin for his part in the rescue of Princess Leia. However, in ESB he says the bouny hunter they ran into on Ord Mantell (Skorr) persuaded him to pay back Jabba ..... So, my question is,where did all his money go? Were the arms on his flight jacket between ANH and ESB more than his debt to Jabba?

Does the EU explain this, or did he blow it all on Chewbacca's Life Day present?

Ps - not trolling, just thought this post would be an entertaining diversion from the multitude or "rate my ABXYZ, TIE" posts.

Maybe he couldn't get clearance from Alliance High Command to leave and go pay back his debts because they were afraid he would be captured and give up valuable intel to the Empire.

I mean the Empire would no doubt have the Falcon on their list of ships to be on the look out for (i.e. "The markings match a freighter that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley"), so it would be very dangerous for Han to leave. Don't know why they couldn't send someone else though.

Plus, would it really look good politically for a hero of the Rebellion to be giving a bunch of money to a Hutt?

I've often wondered why Han didn't pay back Jabba after A New Hope as well, I guess because then it would have hurt the plot for Empire and Jedi.

He and Chewy celebrated with a lot of cocaine. A LOT .

In the dramatized series, they didn't have money to give him at Yavin, just raw materials like metals (hence why they were in boxes).

Just always assumed it wasn't enough to pay off Jabba completely. Just got him an extension.

I simply thought that after the battle of Yavin, the rebellion was always on the move with the Empire hot on their heels, preventing anyone from taking some free time to take care of personal matters. Han, having a thing for the Princess, probably told himself "I just need to finish that one thing and then get back to Jabba" (which transformed into many things).

Then a price was put on his head... that's how I view it, anyway.

Another guess... the check got lost in the mail.

IIRC this was a storyline in the old Star Wars comics - he lost it en route to paying Jabba off. It was either confiscated by Imperial customs or stolen by bounty hunters who were tracking him down, something along those lines - either way he was caught in possession of the money and had to leave it behind to escape with his life...

I seem to recall a novel or comic mentioning that Han returned his reward, which the Rebellion then used to purchase a squadron of X-wings to address their losses from the battle.

From Wookieepedia:

Solo and Skywalker were both awarded medals of honor for their efforts, and Solo was handsomely rewarded with 20,000 Alliance Credits and a stash of valuables. The day after the Battle of Yavin, he shot down an Imperial cruiser that was searching for the Death Star, much to the chagrin of his superiors. The chests of treasure the Rebels had given him were stolen from him almost immediately after leaving Yavin by the space pirate Crimson Jack (who, ironically, had ties to the Hutt crime lord), leaving Solo still unable to pay off Jabba. With the help of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, Solo managed to defeat the pirate. Following the debacle, Solo gave the recovered money back to the Alliance.

Broke and fearing Jabba's retribution, Solo and Chewbacca discovered an ancient cache of treasure hidden in one of Yavin 4's temples. He took the treasure to an Ithorian named Sprool on Dennogra , who in turn delivered the money to Jabba. It was, however, too little and too late. Jabba kept the money and refused to call off the bounty. Han Solo was still a hunted man with a price on his head. He, however, used money earned from selling more of the treasure to purchase new T-65 X-Wings for the Rebellion.

In the Marvel comics, Han had a run-in with a space pirate named Crimson Jack who ran around in a refitted Star Destroyed. Jack and his crew seized the reward money. Eventually, Han escaped from Jack, killing the pirate and destroying his ship.

Later, Han saved Jabba's life on some hostile planet (this was the non-canon humanoid Jabba Marvel used as the character had yet to be seen) and Jabba agreed to waive the bounty in grudging gratitude for Han's assistance.

Some issues later -- as Marvel's Empire adaptation was looming and they knew they needed Han to have a price on his head again -- Jabba's men discovered the wreckage of Crimson Jack's ship. Turns out Jabba was a major investor in Jack's operation, and on learning that Solo was largely responsible for the loss of that investment, Jabba promptly reinstated the bounty at a much higher price than before.

Interesting excerpt Rekkon. Also remember guys, the Rebellion was considered an illegitimate pirate group mostly all the way up until they took Coruscant. This meant their "Alliance Credits" had zero value except to those who figured they would win, so they were often called "promissory credits" as the Alliance promised they would honour them, but if they went out the door it would be worthless.

Due to that, most places put a value on alliance credits somewhere close to 25 alliance to 1 imperial credit.

There's a really old EU story where it's stolen from him, but essentially by ESB Jabba doesn't care about the money, he wants to make an example of Solo.

I never saw any reasons for any convoluted explanations. After a new hope he decided to remain with the rebellion, so either the stuff he was paid with was given back, or it was still sitting in his hold come empire when he finally realized that jabba wasn't going to just go away and that he HAD to deal with him.

From Wookieepedia:

Solo and Skywalker were both awarded medals of honor for their efforts, and Solo was handsomely rewarded with 20,000 Alliance Credits and a stash of valuables. The day after the Battle of Yavin, he shot down an Imperial cruiser that was searching for the Death Star, much to the chagrin of his superiors. The chests of treasure the Rebels had given him were stolen from him almost immediately after leaving Yavin by the space pirate Crimson Jack (who, ironically, had ties to the Hutt crime lord), leaving Solo still unable to pay off Jabba. With the help of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, Solo managed to defeat the pirate. Following the debacle, Solo gave the recovered money back to the Alliance.

Broke and fearing Jabba's retribution, Solo and Chewbacca discovered an ancient cache of treasure hidden in one of Yavin 4's temples. He took the treasure to an Ithorian named Sprool on Dennogra , who in turn delivered the money to Jabba. It was, however, too little and too late. Jabba kept the money and refused to call off the bounty. Han Solo was still a hunted man with a price on his head. He, however, used money earned from selling more of the treasure to purchase new T-65 X-Wings for the Rebellion.

Hmmm... Treasure found in a jungle temple...I think I saw that episode! It was a little South American golden idol, wasn't it!? Only Han was wearing a hat then...

Confirmed - per the dramatized series, a Lucasfilms sanctioned PBS radio program released in 1981 retold the A New Hope story via radio with more backstory. Han was not paid in credits, but 'precious metals' used for weaponeering and ship repair. Presumably, he returned those after returning to Lukes aid. But the alliance didn't have the cash to pay him and he took what he could get to get out of Yavin before the Death Star arrived.

I thought he blew it all on X-wing miniatures like the rest of us?

Ten thousand?! We could almost buy our own ship for that!

He and Chewy celebrated with a lot of cocaine. A LOT .

Hookers and blow.

Hey, it don't matter when it's Arcturian, man!

Sorry, wrong 'verse...

In the Marvel comics, Han had a run-in with a space pirate named Crimson Jack who ran around in a refitted Star Destroyed. Jack and his crew seized the reward money. Eventually, Han escaped from Jack, killing the pirate and destroying his ship.

Later, Han saved Jabba's life on some hostile planet (this was the non-canon humanoid Jabba Marvel used as the character had yet to be seen) and Jabba agreed to waive the bounty in grudging gratitude for Han's assistance.

Some issues later -- as Marvel's Empire adaptation was looming and they knew they needed Han to have a price on his head again -- Jabba's men discovered the wreckage of Crimson Jack's ship. Turns out Jabba was a major investor in Jack's operation, and on learning that Solo was largely responsible for the loss of that investment, Jabba promptly reinstated the bounty at a much higher price than before.

How the f#%& does a pirate get his hands on a Star Destroyer, have the funds to run, have the men to crew it, pay the men to crew it, and be small enough to stay off the radar of the Imperial Navy who would likely want their Star Destroyer back or at least destroyed.

Because comics.

Then it would be a 'Star Destoyed'

I'm on the view that jabba doesnt except Mon Mothma dollars.

Hey, it don't matter when it's Arcturian, man!

Sorry, wrong 'verse...

Not necessarily. Someone here put some Weyland-Yutani emblems on a few of the cargo containers on their Rebel Transport.