Princess Leia (Slave Outfit) is going to be a love-hate figure; you'll either love the figure because of the hyper-articulation or you'll hate it because of the visible articulation points.

There's a lot of give and take when it comes to articulating a figure. Usually the price of articulation is aesthetics. Some people can live with visible articulation points, others can't. I'm in the former group who likes when a figure like Slave Leia can be posed in a neutral, upright standing pose one minute, and an iconic on-screen pose the next. I just like when my action figures are capable of taking on action poses.

If you're a collector who isn't willing to sacrifice aesthetics for articulation, I'm certain your point of contention for Slave Leia is going to be the double-hinged knees. I can see where these may be a visual nuisance, but to me I don't see an alternative. Yes, there's the removable waist option we saw in the four-inch line, but I was never a fan of that statuesque substitute. Again, I don't mind the articulation points, though I abhor the visible pins.

When I saw this figure's prototype at San Diego Comic-Con, I wasn't impressed. It looked bulky and awkward. I think the thick paint on the prototype was to blame for the bulky appearance because the flesh-tone casted plastic looks infinitely superior. I see the Carrie Fisher likeness in the head sculpt, however, the figure's head seems to jet forward too much. The ball-hinged articulation point on the neck that we've seen on other figures in the line has been omitted from Slave Leia and it's a shame because I think it would have helped normalized position of the head and reduce the protrusion. I'm assuming the neck position may have to do with the fit of the slaving collar, which if is the case, is unfortunate since the slaving collar is nothing to brag about.

Ah the slaving collar... I just don't understand why we got stuck with a plastic chain in the 6-inch line. It looks cheap. The 4-inch Power of the Jedi deluxe figure from 2001 had a real chain and this figure should have as well, especially since I'm seeing other toy manufacturers incorporating real chains in their products as recently as New York Comic Con, earlier this month. I would have been interested to see how Leia would have turned out with a "real hair" ponytail-- also on the Power of the Jedi deluxe figure--because I think it would have lent better to certain poses, but that's just my opinion. Then again, if the poorly-designed, fraying soft-goods skirt is any indication, maybe we're lucky we didn't get a "real hair" ponytail?

Besides R2-D2, I was rather critical of Hasbro's first wave of 6-inch Black Series figures. Ah the difference a wave makes. While not perfect, Slave Leia is another step in the right direction. Yes the skirt should have been hemmed like in the prototype to prevent fraying, the neck is a little awkward and the slaving collar should have incorporated a real chain, but I'm thrilled that the figure was designed in a way where I can pose the it in the character's iconic "sitting on Jabba's throne" pose! This is only Hasbro's fifth figure in the line and I expect some growing pains as they experiment with what does and doesn't work in a 6-inch scale. Remember how look it took us to get to where we are in the 3-3/4-inch line *ahem POTF2 muscle-bound Luke*?


View the photo archive entry for Hasbro's The Black Series 6-inch Princess Leia (Slave Outfit) figure.