Princess Leia (Jabba’s Prisoner)

November 22, 2009 | By More


slaveleia_topslaveleia_seated1Back in 1997, when the first “Slave Girl” or “Dancing Girl” Leia came out, it was a figure that I thought would never get made. However, this year’s “Legacy” series from Hasbro has brought another new version of this figure.

Obviously, this version of Leia is popular with the fanboys. It’s tough as nails Princess Leia, but showing a lot, and I do mean lot, of skin. The image has spawned various jokes and cultural references from “Friends” to being re-issued on posters. In short, Leia in her metal bikini is THE pinup for the male Star Wars fan.

As an aside, you have to wonder between this outfit for Leia and “Fireside Padme” what is really going on in George Lucas’s head. Or maybe, he just understands what is going to make a splash with his fan base.

slaveleia_poseAppearance:

This particular version of Leia was made for one purpose in particular. With the extra set of included legs, it is finally possible to pose her in front Jabba for a diorama of Luke’s grand entrance into Jabba’s palace. And in that regard, she looks pretty good.

The extra legs are a solid piece that plugs in at her waist line.  From what I can tell, I think they are actually based on a movie frame. There is a pillow sculpted under her. In general, the sculpt of the sitting legs is pretty good.

However, the paint on the extra legs is not so go. the lines around the legs on mine are sloppy at best. The skin color also is a bit thin in a couple of places and lets the darker red molded plastic show through.

The main part of the body looks pretty good. However, I have to wonder how screen acurate it is. Carrie Fisher was cast in the role of Princess Leia because she was a good actress, not because she was a binki model. If you really watch the scenes of her in ROTJ in this outfit, you will realize her body is more to a realistic size and proportion that this figure is. For example, the bust on this figure seems to be a bit, ahem, larger than the real life version.

slaveleia_front_nsThat said, I think this figure is more a accurate depiction of the character than the on screen likeness. She seems to be slightly styled to give her some extra sex appeal to meet what her fans want to believe she looked like rather than her actual looks. You can see this in the picture on the front of the card, as well. Yes, it’s Princess Leia, but one that has been airbrushed be the one of fanboy dreams.

Which brings me to the head of this figure. What happened? It seems the world is destined to not have a figure that actually looks like Ms. Fisher. While not an unattractive face, it’s just not her. An I don’t remember her lips being quite that dark of red.

The posable legs have a separate bikini piece to cover the soft goods attachment.  This piece doesn’t quite match up to the torso. It’s close but not quite. It looks like an extra piece in the final figure, and the flesh painted spots on it don’t pull off the intended effect. Obviously, with the cloth skirt in place this looks much better, but I think in general it makes her look a  little wider in the hips than she should be.

slaveleia_backThe legs themselves are okay, but not great. The articulation requires the legs to be a bit thicker than they should be. Also, the way the hips were done for this figure make the, uh, posterior a bit bigger than it should be. (I’ll let you make your jokes, just insert them here. )

The legs have another issue. This time it’s a paint issue. The small rotating piece for the ankle joint in her foot is molded in flesh tone. When she is standing straight, it’s not highly noticable. But, if you have her in a pose where her ankle is moved, the piece sticks out like a sore ankle.

The main issue I have with this new version of Leia is the articulation. Similar to Gargan, multi axis joints in the middle of bare limbs never look that great. If you look at the bottom of the bikini top joint from the front, it doesn’t look that bad.  However, that same joint, when viewed  from the back, where there’s not a clever way to cover it up, looks like a fat roll that is oddly out of place on such a slender figure.

slaveleia_multiI know everybody wants articulation. Even I complain about figures that can’t sit all the time. However, I think it should be practical articulation. For this figure I’d have been just as pleased if they’d used a cut joint for the elbows and chest. It would have allowed them to camouflage those joints to enhance the final sculpt, instead of detracting from it.

While the added articulation is nice, I don’t think it does much to advance the appearance of this figure over her Deluxe Cannon predecessor.

Fun:

With all the extra articulation this figure is obviously intended to be an “Action” figure. So if you want a gold bikini clad Leia to pose in a variety of battle poses against an army of Jabba’s ragtag guards, this is probably your figure.

slaveleia_seated2However, since I don’t see her being high on any kids list of must have figures, let’s keep in mind her purpose. This “Slave Girl” Leia was brought out because the ‘bro knew collectors would want her sitting. Posed with the accessory siting legs will be how I imagine 9 out of 10 collectors will display her. The picture at the top of this page is an example of this. Diorama displayers will want her to fill that gap in their Jabba’s palace scenes.

I do have one peave in this regard. The chain around her neck is too short. Where the Deluxe version had a working longer length of chain, this version has a shorter R2-cut-it-free length of sculpted chain. It’s not the end of the world, but it looks odd in the when she’s sitting next to Jabba.

In addition to the extra legs, there are two other accessories. A glass and a stick. I don’t recall Leia drinking from a glass at any time in Jabba’s palace. For that matter I don’t remember her drinking from a glass in any of the films. The glass has an ornate painted base with a clearish top. It’s okay, but I have no clue what I’ll do with it.

slaveleia_carded

The stick is one of those force pike things or some such weapon that Jabba’s guards favored. The detailing is pretty generic. I almost wonder if this is an older sculpted item from 2 of 3 years ago. It reminds me of the sculpting on the Firespeeder Pilots accessories. I’ve never understood what the function of these weapons are. Again, no clue what I’ll do with it.

I almost forgot. She’s also got a Build A Droid piece. Mine came with a lightish blue astro mech body. More Jawa display fodder.

Overall:

If  you are a kid, I’d pass on this figure. If you want a good looking standing version of Slave Leia, I’d look for the cannon version online. However, you want a fighting or sitting Leia for your displays, pick her up. (See picture below.)

For me, it was the sitting version that sold me and generally, I’m happy with her in that regard. The only big let down, for me, is the face.

Engineernerd Score: Sitting 93/100 Standing 87/100

slaveleia_featureslaveleia_bottom

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Comments (6)

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  1. Errex says:

    Great pictures!.

    I must say I really like this version of Leia, even with the too obvious joints. As for the face, well, it is a fact that Carrie Fisher’s likeness is one that can not be captured in plastic accurately in this scale. Even larger versions on statues and such don’t quite capture all the nuances of her face, so I’m just glad I got a pretty, if a tad generic face.

  2. Engineernerd says:

    Thanks, these are some of my favorite pictures so far.

    I would think after 30 yrs they would be able to get a good likeness for her and Mr. Ford. Yes, she is pretty, though.

  3. Engineernerd says:

    Yes, even in plastic form a metal clad Princess Leia can be a distraction:

    http://www.dcrblogs.com/2009/12/05/what-have-you-done-for-you-lately/#comment-29749

    Thanks for the link DCR!

  4. zedhatch says:

    Personally I think she is a vast improvement from the POTF version. I never got the 2nd one but this one more than makes up for the first.

  5. ham says:

    Although you don’t see her use the prop in the actual film, there are several production stills of Fisher wielding a pike on the deck of Jabba’s barge. It’s a different design, though, with a rounded tip– the one included with the Deluxe figure is a better match. The square-edged pike shown here looks more like the one Han used to disable Boba Fett.

    As for the goblet, there’s at least one photo out there that shows Jabba holding one like it while he slobbers over Leia.

  6. Engineernerd says:

    Thanks for the info, Ham!