Queen Amidala (Coruscant) - EI - Basic

Queen Amidala, the young ruler of Naboo, will do anything possible to save her planet from the Trade Federation's diabolical attempt to consume her planet.

It was evident from the beginning that Hasbro decided on an entirely different approach for the Episode I line. After nearly a half f decade of pleading from overzealous Star Wars collectors, Hasbro finally picked up the “hint” we were leaving them to start focusing on realism when it came to 3.75” scaled action figures. The Episode I line was the typical hybrid of humans, aliens and droids, but for the first time since the vintage era collectors began to take solace in the notion that action figures would be coming to us looking a whole lot better. The Episode I basic figure line certainly isn’t without faults, but you’d be foolish if you didn’t take notice of how much better the sculpting and paint operations on the figures were. With scaled down and highly detailed features and reduced sized accessories accompanying the figure, the Episode I collection of figures was destined to please the large Star Wars collecting community that amassed more quickly than Hasbro had ever intended. Queen Amidala (Coruscant) was technically the first “disguised” version version of Padme Amidala released in the line. You could argue that Padme Naberrie was, but we’re talking strictly about makeup, high hairdos and ornate gowns meant to hide the true identity of the Queen of Naboo.

If you need proof to what we outlined above, Queen Amidala (Coruscant) may be the case in point to how far Hasbro had come in the basic figure line. Running concurrently with the final few waves of The Power Of Force “2” line, collectors could really see the differences between the Original Trilogy figures and those from Episode I. Queen Amidala (Coruscant) is a perfect miniature replica of the character we saw in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Her only issue is that she cannot sit. But as a display pieces she is beautiful and the likeness is stunning. Complete with white face makeup and the two signature red dots that adorn her cheeks, Queen Amidala (Coruscant) has exceeded expectations like no other figure to date. The costume is complex and beautifully decorated as well. Mostly made up of different shades of red, orange and gold, Queen Amidala (Coruscant) is a testament to the artistic integrity the toymakers at Hasbro possess. Although she comes without any accessories (she doesn’t need any after all), Hasbro has sculpted an outer robe shell that is removable. It’s not necessary to remove it, but if you do you’ll see the layer underneath of it. It’s also easy to replace on the figure.

Queen Amidala (Coruscant) doesn’t come with a great deal of articulation, but in our opinion she comes with what she needs. A swivel head is accompanied by swivel shoulders and a swivel waist. There is no lower body articulation, but she has a pretty solid center of gravity. The wide outer robe also helps balance her so she has relatively no issues standing at all. The big pack-in premium to the Episode I line is the CommTech chip. This chip, which utilizes voice actors, captures key film dialogue and allows action figures to “talk” and “interact” with each other. It also serves as an action figure display stand as it has a foot peg on it. This neat technology is actually pretty impressive because certain action figures are able to communicate with other characters from the same scenes. We think it was pretty neat these chips were able to “figure” this out. Sadly, collectors didn’t have much patience for this gimmick and the CommTech chips became separate collectors’ items rather than an important part of the action figure experience. Queen Amidala (Coruscant) is a figure that should capture your attention. She is colorful, bright, and stands out wonderfully in the action figure line. The Episode I line is really shaping up nicely.