Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,133: Queen Amidala (The Retro Collection)

QUEEN AMIDALA with Better Articulation than the 2000 Figure
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure Target 6-Pack
Item No.: No. G0370
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Battle Droid, Jar Jar Binks, Qui-Gon Jinn, Darth Maul, and Obi-Wan Kenobi
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: March 2024
Appearances: The Phantom Menace

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection is inspired by 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from the galaxy far, far away! (Stolen from the marketing copy. Packaging has no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: I had low expectations for Queen Amidala and turned out to be quite impressed. This is probably the most marketed image of the character from the movie's time in theaters 25 years ago, and while we got dolls and toys at Taco Bell, we did not get an action figure until the following year. That Power of the Jedi Queen Amidala (Theed Invasion) [FOTD #3] was more or less a salt shaker with arms, but it was a nice sculpt and a decent looking figure. She couldn't sit, which meant there wasn't a great figure to sit in the throne in the Royal Starship... until now!

Unlike many, many incarnations of the figure, this Queen Amidala can actually sit. The designer of this figure - and if the same person did the others, well, oops - seemed to study the specific elements of actual old figures and incorporate some of them. For example, her left hand can't actually hold anything - much like a lot of Kenner-era Leia figures. The right hand could, but no accessory is included. The legs swing forward really well, and the tabard bends a little - now that's something I don't think Kenner would have done, but the sculpted detail on the leg interiors is something I really dig. You can see rolling fabric, just like the legs on the original mail-away Anakin Skywalker action figure. The eyes and make-up look great, and all of the details are not necessarily beautiful, but mutated. This figure's tabard is all gold, while the previous one was mostly red, and the movie costume was red with gold detailing. Getting it a little bit wrong is trademark Kenner, so I think it worked nicely here.

Sculpted details are pretty good - as usual, the body is a little botoxed with smoothed-out pleats and wrinkles, plus a narrower footprint that can fit in some vehicles. The arms are bowed out a tiny bit in a way I don't quite love, but that's not unusual with modern retro-style figures. The most unusual design element is that she has a collar around her neck, above her shoulders, attached to her tabard. It's sort of like a reverse cape, and is quite clever. I can't name any old figures I've had with quite this sort of bib, though, although figures have had belts or actual cloth aprons. I assume if Kenner did this in the 1970s, it might have been made sort of like a vinyl cape, perhaps Bespin Gown Leia's as it had a printed pattern on it. This solution looks a lot better, and gives the figure a lot more to do than just stand there like a chess piece.

Amidala doesn't quite have the posture of an old-school Kenner figure, nor does she have any sort of real "motion" in her pose like some figures, but she does a better job getting closer to it than a lot of other new guys. Kenner would never have had the hair hanging down the back, or the necktie, but I like thinking that maybe they would have done it this way eventually. She's lighter on sculpted detail with softened sculpted detail compared to a real vintage Kenner figure, but you know what? She's good. If she were an individually sold release I'd recommend picking her up at twelve bucks, and she's my new favorite figure from this set so far. I'd say that I like this figure so much I'd love to see them do a few more, but I can't imagine they'd do an Anakin or C-3PO or Darth Sidious at this point. I can dream, though.

Collector's Notes: I got my set from Target. It was in a pile of stuff on the "Collectibles" shelves without any real indication as to where it should have been.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,133: May 14, 2024