A 6-inch scaled Princess Leia from Star Wars: A New Hope. The last main character to show up in figure form. Well, except old Obi-Wan Kenobi, who is getting a mass-market release at the same time. And I guess some would say C-3PO is another character in need of a Black Series figure, who is also seeing release at the same time. Hey, wait a second …
But I’m good with that. The initial fears of “What if the line doesn’t last long enough to give us all of the main characters?? They should be releasing them all at once, as fast as possible!!” are long since past, the line is doing well and looks to have longevity. That feeling is also reinforced by the fact that, at least for me, everything else from here on out is gravy. Lando is coming, so that hits all of my main wants for the original trilogy, anything and everything they make after that is wanted but not as needed. Still needed, but not … oh, you know what the hell I mean. I NEED every character, I just don’t NEED them. Feel me? Now let’s talk about Leia.
The package is the same design that debuted for The Force Awakens. While change is good, the box and colors really work for this line. It’s very basic with it’s minimal text and black/white graphic, but the figure contrasted against the red inside the black just works. It focuses on the figure itself and at the end of the day that’s what is most important. That’s also a lot more words than I usually type for the part of the purchase that goes in the recycling bin.
And out of the package I was totally expecting to hate the dress. Which I do. Kind of.
I say “kind of” because I’m good with the way it lays for the most part. Just like in the movie, it drapes and hides most of Leia’s form. The arms could lay a bit more naturally but, really, it’s not bad at all. It’s the hood I hate. With a fiery passion. It just does not get out of the way, it pops up in an unnatural way, and while it is passable when up over Leia’s head, I don’t care to pose her that way. I think at some point I’m going to sharpen the ol’ Exact-o and do some stitch cutting.
Dress aside, the focal point right out of the package is the head, and I’m happy to say that you can tell there was a little more effort put into this. The cheeks have a rose tint to them. The lips, while plain, are painted nicely. But most of all, the eyes aren’t just a circle with a line over them. You can see a hint of brown with a pupil — more detail than usual. And the sculpt itself is nice, especially the hair, which sometimes has a tendency to be exaggerated.
In pictures excessive shadows tend to make Leia look older, but it’s not as noticeable in person.
Now, we know that cloth covered figures tend to get an articulation scheme that we collector’s would prefer, with beautiful double joints and swivels in the appropriate places, and Leia is no different. Behold the double elbow with a bicep swivel! On a female figure!
I would show the figure with the dress completely removed, but I haven’t figured out if the belt is somehow attached, and then the collar is sewn tightly around the neck. But pulling it up as far as possible you see double knees and actual boots sculpts.
HA! I usually get you with crotch shots, now I get you with a female figure posed in such a way that it makes you uncomfortable. And it shouldn’t because it’s just a toy and its mechanics. Robo wins again! Don’t worry though, I felt weird taking the pics in the first place. Robo loses again!
You can see the range of movement of the joints, which is awesome, in my video review.
Out of the package, my Leia’s arms wouldn’t go down by her sides completely. After some fiddling I realized that while they might not be upside down I was able to get them to sit closer to the body by twisting and turning to flip the should over. I also show that in the video. It’s essentially flipping the shoulder over though.
For accessories, Leia comes with the small pistol from the first of the movie. It’s a nice sculpt with minimal paint. Best of all, though, it fits her.
She also comes with a Stormtrooper blaster. It’s made of a stiffer plastic than we’ve been seeing with a lot of the weapons lately, so that’s nice.
But the biggie is how well she fits into the display. Here is the new Leia with Slave Leia, which while being technically correct in scale height and proportion always seemed a little small and skinny.
New Leia is slightly larger. Now comparing to Boushh Leia, who is way too big, the new figure is smaller.
Which is just about perfect when you put her next to Luke.
And Han, too. I say “perfect” when I mean that it looks more natural. Yes, Carrie Fisher may be smaller than this, we’ve all seen the pics, but on the shelf alongside other Black Series figures, this just looks great.
Even next to Chewbacca!
So all in all, I’m happy with this figure, especially for it being a mass market release. The scale is good, the paint is an improvement over most other figures released this year, and the articulation is top notch. Sure, the dress is cloth and can be awkward at times, but even it is acceptable this time around. Except for the hood. Burn in hell, hood.
The Amazon listing for Her Worshipfullness is currently unavailable, but keep an eye for it to pop back up.
