Princess Leia Organa - TBS [SW40] - Six Inch Figures

We’ve used “Hasbro LOVES Princess Leia!” as a long-running joke, but it’s panning out to actually be very, very true. After a disastrous first release, collectors basically wanted their money back with 2016’s TBS [P3] Princess Leia Organa (30) 6” figure. With a puffy face, terrible paint operations and an expression that did anything but showcase the princess’ beauty, Hasbro realized that this first version of Princess Leia Organa wasn’t up to snuff. Back in August of 2016, Jedi Temple Archives intercepted a rumor that Princess Leia Organa was going to sustain some type of change to make her look better, up to an including a newly tooled head sculpt. And during the 2017 NY Toy Fair Hasbro presentation, that very rumor came true. So, here we are. To help change things up further, The Black Series line is going through another running change, but just for a little while and for good cause. It’s the 40th anniversary of Star Wars. Hasbro is shelving the black and red boxes in favor of vintage Kenner inspired packing, and for the first time ever the 6” figures are coming on replica card backs instead of compact boxes. The reception is mixed. Current 6” fans are seemingly as perplexed and many 3.75” collectors. And in the very short time since this line has been revealed, we’re seeing groups of people that are very into this celebratory packaging; and then there are others that have no interest in it whatsoever. Suckers for anything in vintage Kenner inspired packaging are probably in danger of falling for these figures even if they don't collect this scale. And Princess Leia Organa may become one of the more popular ones since she is new in the fact that this version comes with a different portrait. She looks really good too.

Now that we have a very nice looking Princess Leia Organa head sculpt, we’re happy to report that this figure is probably as good as it’s going to get (which is actually a good thing here). Hasbro still goes way too lightly on deco when it comes to decorating faces, so if you can deal with the simplistic application of her eyes/eyebrows and lips, there really isn’t anything else to complain about with the figure itself. As you know, the body of Princess Leia Organa is just amazing. Not only is the silhouette of her body nearly screen perfect, the posture and stature is flawless as well. In our opinion, Hasbro also tweaked the soft-goods hood which lays perfectly on her head just as it did in the film when she hid the plans of the Death Star inside of R2-D2. The articulation system is wonderful. Double hinge-jointed elbows and knees do wonders for posing; and there are soft-goods to hide the awkward looking joints. You basically get incredible functionality while the aesthetics are preserved thanks to this combination. Everything is in its place here. Also, the swivel thighs and ball-jointed torso really aid the collector in maximizing the best range of motion possible. She looks great holding her signature blaster, or utilizing a stolen Stormtrooper E-11 rifle too. There is a great deal of stuff to appreciate here and Hasbro did an excellent job from head to toe to ensure this updated version of Leia is significantly better. What’s more, Hasbro has a great base sculpt (below the neck) with which they can continue to make other female characters with tweaking, redesigning and new approaches. Heck, they could even make new Princess Leia Organa figures in the future by starting with this sculpt.

To celebrate 40 years of Star Wars, Hasbro announced a 40th Anniversary Legacy Pack which includes a vintage Kenner inspired carded Darth Vader, and a replica Kenner display stand which had spots for all of the 12-Backs released in 1978. Now we’re getting a larger-sized version of this display stand and all 12 characters in 6” form to recreate this cherished vintage Kenner item. Princess Leia Organa is part of this collection of 12 figures. We appreciate Hasbro acknowledging the vintage Kenner era. We suppose you could call this a neo-classic version of The Vintage Collection, or The Vintage Collection "reinvented." Again, it is something that is appreciated, but the new packaging looks a little skewed. The good news is that the cardboard is significantly thicker and sturdier and should hold up well over time (as well as provide ample support for the bubbled figure). Call us anal-retentive, The “S” in WARS on the card front looks very bizarre and droops down too sharply. It’s curves aren’t too smooth either. Still, enough of the pieces are in place to make the attempt admirable. But we’d be lying if we didn’t tell you that 3.75” action figures would look a whole heck of a lot better on smaller cards. But if you're not into packaging, you probably won't care anyhow. 2017 will be an interesting year for the 40 year celebration of Star Wars. So far, it doesn’t seem like a major event, but Hasbro stated during their Toy Fair presentation that any good story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Apparently the showings at Toy Fair are only the beginning. We personally hope that collectors who have felt alienated for years now by Hasbro will have something waiting for them in the middle or the end of this 40th anniversary celebration. In the meantime, try to enjoy these new takes of The Black Series figures. They honestly looks better than they ever had in this type of packaging.