Sabé (Queen’s Decoy) - POTJ - Basic

As one of the royal handmaidens, Sabé assists Queen Amidala with her elaborate wardrobe, hairstyles, and make-up. The handmaidens act as bodyguards to the Queen and are chosen for their intelligence, courage, and loyalty. Sabé is the Queen’s most valued handmaiden, and has been trained to act as the Queen’s decoy in times of danger.

In the Power Of The Jedi line, Hasbro proved to collectors that they had the ability to make great Queen Amidala figures, as well as figures based on her decoy. Sabé (Queen’s Decoy) was born out of Hasbro’s desire to create all of the various outfits of Queen Amidala from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, even if it technically wasn’t Padmé Amidala herself. Just as the climax to Episode I was about to explode, Amidala plead with the Gungan people to assist them in their fight from freedom on the planet of Naboo. Sabe did all the talking and when it seemed that she was getting nowhere with Boss Nass, Padmé spoke up to plead her case further. The Gungans agreed to help the struggling band of Naboo royalty and the Battle of Naboo forever became history in the Star Wars books. Sabé’s decoy skills came in handy in the Theed Palace as well. She fooled the Neimoidians and the “real” Queen Amidala was able to gain the upper hand on their take back of the palace. Sabe played Queen Amidala multiple times in The Phantom Menace, but perhaps we saw her most aggressively in this outfit in particular in the film. She sports a large blaster and her primary goal is to draw attention away from Padmé so she can complete her mission. It was a very clever setup if you think about it.

Sabé (Queen’s Decoy) is actually another excellent action figure in the Power Of The Jedi line. The articulation of this action figure is far from where most collectors would like to see it, but once again Hasbro designs an excellent figure with perfect proportions and authenticity that should please most everyone interested in collecting. Hasbro could have taken the easy way out and reuse the same face sculpt for all of the Queen Amidala type action figures, but what makes Sabé (Queen’s Decoy) neat is that she actually has a distinctly different likeness that the one given to Queen Amidala (Theed Invasion). The reason why this works incredibly well and so poignantly is because two different characters are represented by these action figures, and Hasbro ensured that this came through clearly on the sculpts. You look at Sabé (Queen’s Decoy) and you actually feel that the face looks differently than the portrait of Queen Amidala (Theed Invasion). At this scale, we find this a tremendous success and are impressed by how well the differences are. Yet at the same time, a cursory glance may allow you to think that they look identical. That’s exactly how a decoy should work. This action figure is an absolute success in this regard.

Sabé (Queen’s Decoy) comes with six points of articulation. However, the only real meaningful articulation you get from it reside in the head and shoulders (and hips). The lower legs are essentially statuesque. Although she comes with swivel hips, the long skirt that covers them prevents any normal range of movement. The figure is still a success in our opinion despite this. Her arms are limited too. They come in closely to her body, since they are meant to be brandishing the included blaster, but are functional enough to looks normal at ease. Her head doesn’t move that freely either, thanks to her long ponytail. But again, all of these limiting factors don’t prevent us from appreciating the excellent sculpt and beautiful paint job of this action figure. We don’t think we could expect a better likeness of this character in 3.75” scale. Hasbro has truly worked hard to make this action figure as screen specific as possible. The Phantom Menace may have had its share of faults and not all of the characters may have resonated with fans, but Hasbro is making all of these characters look excellent in the action figure line. We can’t wait to see who is next in the line of Padmé’s wardrobe changes. Although this isn’t Amidala, it’s still counts as one of the Queen’s looks, and we think the look is flawless.