Monday, February 4, 2013

Less Than The Other, But On Par . . . The Vintage Collection Slave Leia Figure!


The Good: Wonderful coloring detail, Good accessories, Amazing articulation
The Bad: Cannot hold chalice.
The Basics: The Vintage Collection Princess Leia (Slave Outfit) makes a less cool version of the popular character than one of the prior sculpts, but still does remarkably well!


One of the most highly sought-after Princess Leia figures of any toy line is the Slave Leia. Go figure; you put a beautiful woman in a metal bikini and collectors will want an action figure of her! In the Vintage Collection Star Wars toy line, I actually encountered the later variant, the Sandstorm Outfit before I snagged the Slave Outfit Princess Leia. These two figures are essentially identical, though the Sandstorm Outfit Princess Leia (reviewed here!) has her slave outfit covered by a cloth cloak and an additional hood wrap, while the Slave Outfit has Leia very exposed and in possession of a chalice accessory (which she cannot hold).

For those unfamiliar with the Slave Outfit Princess Leia, she is the captured version of Leia from Return Of The Jedi (reviewed here!). The Slave Outfit Princess Leia is Princess Leia after she was captured by Jabba The Hutt while rescuing Han Solo.

The 4" Slave Outfit Princess Leia shows a lot of skin and is one of the harder Vintage Collection figures to find as a result!

Basics

The Slave Outfit Princess Leia figure stands 3 1/4" tall to the top of her head. She is a mixture of soft plastic elements and cloth components for her loincloth skirts.

This toy is a good sculpt, but it runs into the fundamental problem that Slave Leia figures have; how to create an articulated figure for a character who is barely clothed without making it look ridiculous. Hasbro went for articulation on this figure, as opposed to worrying about the look of all the joints. As a result, this Leia features the iconic slightly-green metal bikini and maroon skirts, with a lot of very exposed joints. The face and hair of the figure look very much like Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia and the toymakers were careful enough to include such details as the character’s earrings!

Outside the uniformed skin tones, the figure looks well-colored, with aspects like the clips in her hair being appropriately colored a brass color. Leia has a chain hanging from around her neck that may keep her bound to other Star Wars action figures!

Accessories

The Slave Outfit Princess Leia is one of the most accented Slave Leia’s ever to hit the market. As such, she comes with two accessories: a force pike and a chalice. Princess Leia (Slave Outfit) features a force pike. The 3 7/8” staff features a paddle at one end and the finest tip on the other Hasbro has yet made for the accessory. Colored copper and gunmetal, the force pike fits in either or both of Leia’s hands and matches the shockingly “clean” look of the rest of the figure.

She also comes with a chalice, a black and clear plastic cup roughly 5/8” tall. It is too wide in diameter to fit in either of her hands.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and the Slave Outfit Princess Leia is good in that regard. First, the figure has great balance. Flatfooted, the Slave Outfit Princess Leia is absolutely solid, and because of the lower half articulation of the figure, she has decent posing options. The holes in the bottom of her feet allow her to stand tall on any number of playsets in outlandish poses or sit fairly well. All her articulation does not allow her to do is lay sideways, like she does before Jabba!

The Slave Outfit Princess Leia holds up exceptionally well in the articulation department. It has hinged ball and socket joints at the ankles, knees, elbows and shoulders, as well as a ball and socket joint which allows a great range of motion for the head and another for the bustline. Even the figure’s ponytail does not inhibit the poseability of the figure’s head! The wrists and groin socket both have simple swivel joints that provide the figure with more than enough posing options to make the figure worthwhile!

Collectibility

The Slave Outfit Princess Leia is part of the Vintage Collection line that was released in 2011 and it remains one of the harder ones to find at the moment. The Slave Outfit Princess Leia is Vintage Collection figure VC64 and given how most Slave Leia figures have risen in value, this looks like a pretty obvious choice for fans to buy, though surprisingly this one has not appreciated much in value at all. I suspect that has to do with the superior (in many ways) Legacy Collection version of the figure, which had a bottom half that could be swapped out to allow her to take the laying sideways pose she was well-known for. In the long run, though, this seems a pretty safe bet on the investment front if one can find one now to buy while the price remains depressed.

Overview

The Princess Leia (Slave Outfit) action figure is good, objectively, but it is not an incredible figure for those who want the best of both worlds – articulation and good looking toys!

For other Princess Leia figures, please check out my reviews of:
12” Sideshow Collectibles Princess Leia As Boushh Doll
Vintage Collection VC111 Bespin Princess Leia
Legacy Collection BD17 Slave Leia
Original Trilogy Collection Bespin Princess Leia
Power Of The Jedi Deluxe Princess Leia With Sail Barge Cannon
Power Of The Jedi Bespin Escape Princess Leia
Power Of The Force Princess Leia In Ewok Celebration Gown
Power Of The Force Hoth Princess Leia
Shadows Of The Empire Princess Leia as Boushh

7.5/10

For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my Star Wars Action Figure Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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