Princess Leia Organa - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (30)

Added: November 21st 2016
Category: Black Series [Phase III], The
Reviewer: Paul Harrison
Score:

Name: Princess Leia Organa
Collection: The Black Series [Phase III]
Number: 30
Scale: 6"
Source: A New Hope
Availability: November 2016
License: Hasbro

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Princess Leia Organa was one of the Rebel Alliance's greatest leaders, fearless on the battlefield and dedicated to ending the tyranny of the Empire.

Since we know Hasbro is reading these reviews, we’re going to try to sound a little more refined with this one. Because we’re telling you upfront we’re not too happy with it. Sigh. Hasbro DOESN’T LOVE Princess Leia. At least not evidenced by the release of The Black Series [Phase III] 6” figure this isn’t the case. Listen. We know it’s hard for Hasbro to do human portraits right. They seem to EXCEL when it comes to the actual sculpting, but then things fall apart royally when they try to paint the darn things. With Princess Leia Organa however, we think both the sculpting AND the deco are equally blameworthy. But there is also an overbearing frustration that overcomes us when we analyze this figure. Forget about the head sculpt for a few moments. This IS the perfect Princess Leia Organa figure in an any scale from the neck down. Hasbro nailed her height, her proportions, and of course the articulation. They even receive our own seal of approval when it comes to the type of soft-goods utilized as well as their drape. We COULDN’T be happier with those final results. This Princess Leia Organa 6” figure makes us envious that super-articulated 3.75” collectors don’t have something this good in their preferred scale. (As an aside, the super-articulated 3.75” Sergeant Jyn Erso blew away the 6” version, maybe a super-articulated 3.75” Princess Leia Organa will blow away this 6” release.) Our point is that on paper this Princess Leia Organa figure should be nearly flawless. But between the horrid paint operations and questionable face sculpt, there just won’t be enough collectors out there to let this release slide by without criticism.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the action figure, can we talk about the scandal surrounding it first? Remember back at Celebration Europe? Do you remember how a near final production figure of Princess Leia Organa was shown in the display case? Almost immediately, the figure was assailed by the Star Wars collecting community. “The return of Monkey Face Leia!” “She makes Monkey Face Leia look pretty!” “Why is Hasbro making Julie T. Wallace from The Fifth Element in the Star Wars line?” These were just some of the more gentler comments made about how this figure looked. Within moments, Princess Leia Organa was pulled from the case without explanation and Hasbro said that it wasn’t final, and that more attention was going to be given to the eyes and lips and that the hood would be tacked down. Shortly thereafter, Hasbro replaced the production figure with a hand-painted prototype and assured us that the final figure released to fans would look more like the painted version. But in all honesty, we knew for sure that there were problems with the sculpt, because better paint operations didn’t heal the wounds on this head sculpt. The problem is that licensees tend to try and recreate Carrie Fisher’s rounder and cherubic face that was just natural since she was so young back then. But trying to replicate that into a sculpt just doesn’t work out too well. This head sculpt of Princess Leia Organa looks much too chubby, round and it works against looking like the beautiful princess we know all too well. They should have gone with a thinner face shape. We believe it would have done wonders for this sculpt.

Once Hasbro caught wind that the collecting community wasn’t convinced by the newly hand-painted redo of Princess Leia Organa, it became uncommon knowledge that she was going to get pulled from the case, a story that JTA broke back a few months ago. Case assortments began getting solicited without her, but then something changed. Whether it wasn’t feasible to slot her out of the line in order to make enhancements to the figure, or that the figure was just too far into production to make these changes, Princess Leia Organa ultimately got released as scheduled. And guess what? While some updates to the paint job have been made, this version looks very similar to the original figure that was shown at Celebration Europe. Perhaps the eyebrows have been refined, or maybe the eyes have been slightly revised, but there aren’t enough updates to make Princess Leia Organa look like she should. And that breaks our hearts. If you can overlook the head sculpt (which you shouldn’t have to overlook if you want our honest opinion), the body of Princess Leia Organa is just amazing. As we’ve mentioned earlier, the silhouette of her body is perfect. The articulation is wonderful. Double hinge-jointed elbows and knees do wonders for posing. And the swivel thighs and ball-jointed torso really aid the collector in maximizing the best range of motion possible. We’re thrilled with everything but the head sculpt, but it’s almost impossible to overlook the head sculpt. Princess Leia Organa comes with her signature long-barreled blaster in addition to an intercepted E-11 blaster from the Galactic Empire. Ultimately a disappointment, Hasbro has a great base sculpt (below the neck) on which to make a better Princess Leia Organa in the future.

Collector Notes

Princess Leia Organa

Status: Princess Leia Organa is an all-new figure.

Articulation Count: 30 points (19 areas of articulation)

Articulation Details: ball-socket head (1), hinge-jointed neck (1), ball-jointed left shoulder (2), ball-jointed right shoulder (2), swivel left bicep (1), swivel right bicep (1), double hinge-jointed left elbow (2), double hinge-jointed right elbow (2), ball-jointed left wrist (2), ball-jointed right wrist (2), ball-jointed torso (2), ball-socket left hip (1), ball-socket right hip (1), swivel left thigh (1), swivel right thigh (1), double hinge-jointed left knee (2), double hinge-jointed right knee (2), ball-jointed/"rocker" left ankle (2), ball-jointed/"rocker" right ankle (2)

Accessory Count: 4

Accessory Details: blaster, E-11 blaster, removable belt, soft-goods gown

Date Stamp: N/A

Assortment Number: B9803/B3834

UPC: 630509482658

Retail: $19.99 USD

Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on Click here to check the market value on eBay! listings.

The Black Series [Phase III] Wave 9 (Wave 18)

Princess Leia Organa (30)

AT-AT Driver (31)

Obi-Wan Kenobi (32)

Sabine Wren (33)

Darth Revan (34)

Snowtrooper (35)



This review comes from Jedi Temple Archives
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