Figure of the Day: Day 334: Leia Organa (General)

LEIA ORGANA General
Power of the Jedi Collection 1
Item No.: Asst. 84445 No. 84642
Number: n/a
Includes: Blasters
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $6.99
Availability: Fall 2000
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: A princess on her homeworld of Alderaan, Leia Organa is a strong-willed woman of action. After Alderaan was destroyed by the first Death Star, she became a full-time member of the Rebel Alliance. She is dedicated to putting an end to the Empire's reign of tyrrany. (Taken from the figure's Force File.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' Toy Shelves.

Commentary: For whatever reason, Hasbro and Kenner haven't exactly gone out of their way to make figures from parts of Return of the Jedi that weren't in the first 30 minutes. It took years to get out a decent carded Scout Trooper, Ewoks have been largely ignored, and you can forget about a lot of pilots and vehicles-- of course, Hasbro has since made up for a lot of this with unusual releases like General Leia Organa, a figure that's the third stage of evolution for a figure that started life in 1997. Originally, this figure started life as a pack-in to a Speeder Bike. Then, in 1998, Kenner retooled it to be a Toys "R" Us exclusive packed with a collector's coin. In 2000, Hasbro took that 1998 body, put the Hoth Leia head on it, took away the poncho, and blammo-- new figure. It more or less works, but it retained the enormous "crotch piece" for the lower waist that looks really, really awkward and wasn't a problem when it was covered by the poncho. With 6 points of articulation, the figure isn't anything special-- but hey, it's a costume that hasn't been available on an individual card before this release, so kudos to the toymakers for realizing that you can sell the same figure if you add or remove an accessory. It's worth getting for your Endor Bunker dioramas.

Collector's Notes: This figure was a "kitbashed" release and one of three figures made as an initiative to make Power of the Jedi more trilogy-focused than prequel-focused in a hurry as Hasbro decided that, after about a year of Episode I, that the line had to be shelved. The others were the Mon Calamari Officer and K-3PO, both excellent figures in their own right. General Leia can be had for about $5 or so, and goes along well with General Solo, General Madine, and General Calrissian. Boy, they sure have a lot of generals in the Rebellion, don't they?

Day 334: April 5, 2007