Princess Leia (Bespin Outfit) - TVC - Basic (VC111)

Celebrate the legendary Star Wars saga that changed the universe forever! This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. Iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are captured with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Star Wars saga. May the Force be with you!

Celebrate 35 years of Star Wars in 2012 as we recreate a "lost" packaging line look that was created, contemplated... and put aside in favor of Kenner's classic black-and-silver Star Wars design. For the first time ever, we're bringing this line look out of the Kenner archives and treating you to a glimpse of what might have been. The same creative team who designed the black-and-silver look also developed this design as one of several options to be considered for the line. In this lost line look, they created high-tech imagery incorporating a signature Star Wars vehicle and an epic space theme. What might have been, what was and what is: It all captures our imaginations, just as the Star Wars saga captures out imaginations today, tomorrow and always!

What Star Wars collector isn’t excited about an all-new Princess Leia action figure? That excitement typically turns to joy, especially when it’s a version of the character from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. In 1980, Kenner released The Empire Strikes Back Princess Leia Organa (Bespin Gown) figure, and it was the first version of the character from the new basic figure line based on that film. Even back then, Kenner had to tweak the figure to correct a significant issue with its authenticity. Inevitably, the first “turtle neck” version wasn’t accurate to the costume in the film, so they revised the figure and changed it to feature a “crew neck” instead. Hasbro achieved the ornate design of the gown by utilizing pink vinyl with an orange/red silkscreened pattern on the outer side. Unlike the earliest Star Wars figures like Darth Vader and Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, Princess Leia (Bespin Gown) utilized the vinyl cape technology before soft goods became a staple. In 1980, this figure looked fantastic. And now, in the modern era, the nostalgia of it looks incredible. Hasbro knew they had to update this figure at some point, but it took a while before they released her as a basic figure. Although the first iteration came in 1997 during The Power Of The Force "2" era, Hasbro didn't release its first basic carded single-figure version until 2004. Kenner/Hasbro released the first neo-classic version of this character iteration in the widely popular Princess Leia Collection two-packs in 1997. Instead of vinyl, Hasbro gave Princess Leia a soft-goods gown. The lace was beautiful, but not accurate at all. The Princess Leia figures in this collection were “dolled up” because they wore heavy makeup and had exaggerated features, such as extra-large eyes. Still, they were “good enough” for the time, until Hasbro was able to revisit most of them at a later date.

Hasbro released the next version of Princess Leia (Bespin Outfit) in 2004’s The Original Trilogy Collection as Princess Leia (OTC #18) figure. As stated above, this was this character's first basic figure version. Released as “Princess Leia,” Hasbro gave this action figure a much more accurate scale and ensured excellent aesthetics by abandoning soft goods and instead sculpting a molded gown. The final result looked spot on, but the figure lacked articulation. But honestly, that was the least of the figure’s problems. Besides being a “statue,” it was nearly possible to find samples in the wild with decent paint jobs. Most lacked in some way or another, with many bleeding and misapplied applications. Some even looked like the figure had growing facial hair! Thankfully, Hasbro updated the paint job, tightened it tremendously, and released it in 2007’s TAC Betrayal At Bespin Battle Packs set. While vastly improved, Princess Leia was far from definitive until now. The Vintage Collection has been excellent for updating long-awaited action figures for our “final” collection, and now Princess Leia (Bespin Outfit) is next. Part of 2012’s The Vintage Collection, Princess Leia (Bespin Outfit) is the answer to most of our prayers. It debuted in 2012’s TVC Carbonite Chamber Collector’s Pack, released as that year’s SDSCC exclusive in the variant packaging. Unofficially dubbed the “Lost” line look, Princess Leia has two distinct carded options, which pay incredible tribute to this classic Star Wars action figure. Now the “Lost” line look version and the version from the classic The Vintage Collection line look are available at retail! An excellent case assortment and a great cast of action figures make up wave 15 of The Vintage Collection! Princess Leia (Bespin Outfit) isn’t perfect, but it’s close.

This long-awaited release is, however, so very welcomed that we’re willing to overlook the one or two things about it that we don’t like. However, we’ll mention it all here for a thorough review. First and foremost, we’re thrilled to see a very excellent use of soft goods. The outer white gown is a bit too shiny but well-fitted and has a lovely drape. We were concerned about the ornate pattern on the back side, as the prototype shown at the 2012 NY Toy Fair did not include it. However, collectors can rest easy knowing that Hasbro applied a gorgeous design to the soft goods on the final figure. Princess Leia (Bespin Outfit) has a fair head sculpt, but some proportions are inaccurate, and the overall likeness isn't perfect. The upper portions of the face appear slightly too rounded. We have seen Princess Leia with more chiseled features in the past, so this is a minor disappointment. But Hasbro nailed the hairstyle perfectly, perhaps making the portrait work for us. The collar and soft-goods gown are both removable. Princess Leia also comes with a maroon/burgundy soft-goods skirt, which matches the rest of the costume well. Hasbro has addressed the character's under-articulation issues with 22 points of articulation, thereby remedying all previous concerns. This figure has one pair of mismatched joints in the ankles, but it isn’t noticeable, which makes us very happy. Hasbro executed this figure's primary tooling and accessories well. Princess Leia (Bespin Outfit) is an action figure that collectors have been waiting for Hasbro to update properly so that we can assess it as a figure with definitive status. We don’t like to throw around the word “definitive” carelessly. The figure is close enough for us, but perhaps a few more tweaks would quickly upgrade the figure to that classification. Even if Hasbro doesn’t make any future updates, Princess Leia (Bespin Outfit) will remain “definitive enough” for most of the collector base. We’re sure of that.