Thursday, February 27, 2025

Action Figure Review: Princess Leia Organa (A New Hope) from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase IV by Hasbro

 


   Just last week I reviewed the new Star Wars: The Black Series version of Luke Skywalker in his classic A New Hope/ farm boy outfit and today I'm checking out the other half of the Skywalker twins: Princess Leia Organa. Like with Luke, the Hasbro Black Series Phase III version of Leia was also released in 2016, utilized soft goods, and hasn't aged well. In fact, it wasn't all that good to begin with. Like with my Phase III Tatooine Luke, I sold that Leia sometime last year as soon as I hear this one was coming. I only purchased two Black Series figures last year, but these two are two iconic and I want the best versions of the classic Original Trilogy characters from each film on my shelf (now we need an updated A New Hope Han!). I actually found Luke at retail but I ordered Princess Leia. I've since seen them both at a couple different GameStop locations, so they're out there for the hunting. I was just looking at my previous review and realized that I published it just 24 days before the passing of Carrie Fisher in late December of 2016. It's crazy to think about that. Since then, Hasbro's Princess Leia figures have really improved as they've been using the face printing technique since then. I'm shocked it's taken eight years to fully revisit this version of Leia (they did offer a repaint of the 2016 figure with the face printing for the 40th anniversary). Ready to check out this much improved version of Princess Leia Organa? Then join me after the break...




The Facts:

Height: 5 1/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, double hinged knees, swivel thighs,  ball jointed hips, ball jointed waist, swivel/hinge shoulders w/ lateral "butterfly" joints, swivel/ hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck, and a barbell jointed head.

Accessories: Two swappable hoods, E-11 blaster rifle, and Defender sporting blaster.

Non-Scalper Price: $25 dollars






The Positives:

* There's no doubt that this is a better looking figure than the 2016 version of Princess Leia Organa in her classic white senatorial robe. The two biggest changes between this figure and previous are the portrait and the use of a sculpted robe rather than soft goods. Let's talk about the sculpted robe first. While soft goods can look really good on 1/12th scale figures, it's not always the best choice, especially if the company isn't accustomed to working with them. That was a weakness of the previous figure, so here Hasbro sculpted the robes as part of the torso and as two overlays over the legs and it works. It makes the fit of the dress look so much nicer. The sculpted folds and creases and the way the dress kind of bunches over her belt is excellent and looks accurate to most images of the actual costume and how it fit Carrie Fisher.





* The portrait is really quite good. Hasbro went for a sterner expression for Leia, which wouldn't have been my first choice, but it's recognizable as Carrie Fisher. The face printing is good and the makeup  is very subtle on the figure itself. It's been said numerous times that the cast of the Original Trilogy have difficult likenesses to capture for some reason, but this is an admirable job. The eyes are excellent.









* Leia's hair looks fantastic as well. It's very nice and incredibly well detailed with all of the different buns wrapped up together. 











* Leia's hood is hanging down in the back. It's sculpted, too, and is actually a removable piece. It fits around Leia's throat like a collar (just pop her head off), so it stays neatly in place and keeps the neck of her robe in place. 







* You can swap out the hanging hood for one that's molded to fit over her head, form fitted to the contours of her unique hairdo. It looks great and it would be incredibly difficult for fabric to drape like this in this scale. 







* Like with the Luke Skywalker redo I reviewed last week, the articulation on this figure is very different than the Phase III Leia. I'm pretty confident that there's no reuse here from that figure. Instead of the double jointed elbows with a bicep swivel (which definitely would have looked rough with Leia's sleeves), she swivel/hinge joints that move pretty well and flow with her billowy sleeves. Her knees are double hinged joints, but they're mostly hidden under the dress. She also has a balljointed waist that is kind of concealed by the draping top of her robe.




* I really want to give Hasbro some credit about how they handled the bottom of Leia's robe. The front and back halves of the robe below the waist are separate pieces that overlap. At a glance, it's one solid piece. Move her legs, though, and it opens up a bit, looking like an intentional cut in the fabric rather than two hanging pieces of plastic. I'm impressed by the engineering; simple, but very effective. 








* Leia comes with the E-11 (Stormtrooper) blaster for when she needs to take charge and find an escape route in the detention center hallway. This is nothing new, but I'd be upset if it were missing. Wouldn't you? 






* She also comes with her Defender sporting blaster that she uses onboard the Tantive IV. I think this one is actually a bit more petite and correctly sized than the version that came with the 2016 figure. 






* Leia's boots look fantastic! They're simple, sure, but Hasbro has recreated them well. I'm pretty confident these are not the same sculpt as the 2016 figure.

The Negatives:

* I have been known to be wrong from time to time, but I'm pretty confident that Leia's legs are bare under this outfit. Most figures of this costume have done that as have promo images, drawn images, and I'm pretty sure you can see her bare legs through the costume in the detention center. I wonder why Hasbro went with white legs, like she has a bodysuit on?


   This is a huge improvement over the previous Black Series take on Princess Leia from A New Hope that manages to correct pretty much everything the previous figure got wrong. The swappable hoods is a really nice touch and the design of the lower part of Leia's robe is clever and works quite well, preserving the look of her outfit and her iconic silhouette in this outfit. You know everyone will be wanting to pose her with R2-D2. She's a Great and a 1/2 figure and my only wish is that Hasbro had included an alternate portrait. They really need to start doing that more in the Black Series.



   If you love Princess Leia Organa check out some of my other Leia reviews on here including the Black Series classic Princess Leia Organa (2016), Princess Leia (Slave Outfit),  Princess Leia Organa (Endor), Princess Leia Organa (Boushh), Princess Leia (Bespin Escape), Princess Leia Organa (Hoth), Princess Leia Organa (Yavin 4), Princess Leia Organa (comic), and General Leia Organa as well as the micro Leia from the Micro Machines Classic Characters 2nd edition pack, the Leia as Boushh from the Bounty Hunters pack, and Leia from the Ice Planet Hoth Playset, as well as the background Leias from the C-3PO and Jabba the Hutt mini heads and the Star Wars: Micro Force Princess Leia Organa from the 2018 Advent Calendar.

For more Star Wars: The Black Series Phase IV reviews check out the following:

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4 comments:

  1. CarniviusFebruary 28, 2025 at 3:06 AM

    I'm not even a Star Wars fan but I do love Carrie Fisher and tempted to get this just for her. And this figure actually does look like her (I had a peek at the 2016 figure review you linked and ugh, who that?!)

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    Replies
    1. Barbecue17March 7, 2025 at 7:42 PM

      Yeah, it's crazy to look at how far the likenesses on mass market figures have come since 2016. I think 2017 was when Hasbro started using the face printing on some figures (maybe the Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 Legends?), and things have radically improved from there. The last Jedi figures looked wildly better than the Rogue One and TFA figures.

      Delete
  2. TetsMarch 6, 2025 at 5:10 AM

    My guess about the leg colouring would be plastic/paint costs. Probably saved them some money by using the boot colour for the legs, especially since very few will remember/look at the leg above the boot anyway.

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    Replies
    1. Barbecue17March 7, 2025 at 7:44 PM

      Probably true. It's a shame, though, as Hasbro has really been very accurate on all of their other releases and they've almost always presented Leia with bare legs. I really was wondering if they were basing this on some promo image or anything but I couldn't find anything.

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