PRINCESS LEIA with Sail Barge CannonPower of the Jedi Deluxe Figures
Item No.: Asst. 84475 No. 84653
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Giant missile firing barge weapon, staff, rockets
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $9.99
Availability: December 2001
Appearances: Return of the Jedi
Bio: Jabba the Hutt planned to throw Han Solo to the Sarlacc in the Great Pit of Carkoon. But Princess Leia killed Jabba by choking him with the chains holding her prisoner, then rigged the Sail Barge's laser cannon to fire into the ship, destroying it and the crime lord in a huge blast! (Taken from the figure's cardback.)
Commentary: Greatness is relative, as this Princess Leia figure proves. With only six points of articulation (neck, arms, legs, waist) she doesn't do a lot to impress, but she's clearly superior to the pretty great 1997 release. This one is notable for having a rooted ponytail, real cloth parts of her costume, an actual metal chain, and most important of all, she's actually shorter than the other characters now. The overall sculpt is a little less beefy than before, and her head is angled in such a way that she's basically only good at being posed for combat on the Sail Barge. Which is handy, as she includes both the giant cannon and a force pike.
She can be posed on this large gun accessory, but she doesn't look all that in to it. Actually, she looks pretty bored-- one hand is off to the side, and one's touching what I guess aims the gun. This is by no means a bad figure, but it's likely to be rendered to the old figure graveyard pretty soon. I assume this figure is going to be remembered for its Sail Barge Cannon, which will likely be the biggest piece of the barge we ever get out of Hasbro.
Collector's Notes: The same Leia figure, without the barge gun, was released at least two more times. One was as a Target exclusive cup-with-figure set, which was pretty tough to get in some markets. The other was as a basic Original Trilogy Collection carded figure, which looks pretty awesome. The figures are basically the same on all three. In Summer 1997, Kenner released the first version of this figure. Later in 2009, Hasbro will release the next one.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 1,039: June 8, 2009
My only problem with the figure is the spot where the hips meet the legs. It really distracts from an otherwise great figure. Also, this figure shows that non-jointed ankles really help female sculpts. Leia from the Shadows of the Empire comic pack would have really benefitted from similar ankles.
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