Padmé Amidala (Attack Of The Clones) - S.H. Figuarts

S.H. Figuarts is a new standard figure series that incorporates the Bandai action figure "Art" under the theme "Pursuing Character Expression through Humanoid Action."

Note: Our Padmé Amidala (Attack Of The Clones) arrived damaged. We will reshoot the gallery when we receive our replacement.

File under: looks better in person than in photos. We almost didn’t recognize her when we started generating our photo gallery. Sometimes action figures have this characteristic. They look infinitely better in person than they do in pictures. When it comes to Padmé Amidala (Attack Of The Clones) from the S.H. Figuarts line, this most certainly applies. Padmé Amidala (Attack Of The Clones) has been on the shortlist of many collectors, and now she's finally here. We have seen a pattern with S.H.Figuarts and someone there has some affinity for Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. After the Sequel Trilogy characters, they rank as the most frequently produced. Although universally panned as the worst George Lucas Star Wars movie in the first six films, there is something endearing about the characters, how they look and how they interact with others, which makes them favorites as action figures for collectors. Padmé Amidala (Attack Of The Clones) is no exception. For us, she stands out as a highlight in the S.H. Figuarts line. We won’t go so far to say that she is perfect, but she looks pretty darn good. And aside from some tweaking on her alternate head sculpt (perhaps a better expression would have remedied things), we think she will stand out as affine collectible throughout the years.

Released as a Tamashii Nations web exclusive, Padmé Amidala (Attack Of The Clones) never saw general release. This is a shame because she has not met demand. Female action figures are typically a hot commodity (there are certainly exceptions), and this female lead in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones, stole the show in a story that seemingly would have worked against her character somewhat. The figure itself is beautiful. They’ve sculpted a stunning silhouette of her sexy athletic build. There aren’t too many midriffs that look this attractive, and S.H. Figuarts delivered a stunning interpretation of Natalie Portman’s physique. It is a work of art. She is curvy, lean, muscular and athletic. And the articulation system given to her allows all of these wonderful traits full maximization. The color of her outfit looks a bit yellowed. But we reminded ourselves that this is that tattered version of Padmé Amidala (Attack Of The Clones) after her violent encounter with the Nexu. Perhaps the red Geonosis dust had some time to collect on her pristinely white uniform. Whatever the case, Padmé Amidala (Attack Of The Clones)’s uniform has a rustic and weathered appearance. The battle-damage to her outfit is perfect too. (Too bad there is no blood from the scratches.)

Padmé Amidala (Attack Of The Clones) is accessorized lightly, although most collectors wouldn’t consider an additional portrait “light.” Beyond this, however, she only comes with a droid blaster and two sets of interchangeable hands. Because of her small frame, we had extra difficulty in switching her hand attachments. And when we added the droid blaster to one of the hands, it split in two. (Some have explained this was the engineering of the weapon; that it’s intended to split into two parts, but we beg to differ. After our droid blaster’s grip split from the rest of the gun, it could barely stay together after that. It is almost as if a glue seal is broken. We can’t confirm whether or not this blaster is intended to break apart into two pieces or not, but the takeaway here is that both the figure and her accessories are extremely fragile. Please be gentle with her. The “photorealistic” technology looks pretty great overall, but S.H. Figuarts could have cleaned up some areas on her face a bit to prevent an effect created by it. You’ll notice at certain angles that there is a collection of deco around her mouth and chin which gives her a five o’clock shadow effect. And sometimes her eyes look ever so slightly off center. Still, this is a solid effort. With some tweaking, she could easily be perfect.