In 2003, Hasbro made another attempt at Padmé in her white AOTC outfit.  There are basically 3 variants to this outfit, and two can be combined into one figure.  First, she is wearing the clean bodysuit with shawl (head covering in hand) when she attends Shmi Skywalker’s funeral on Tatooine.  While on board her yacht, she is is without the shawl, but then wears it one more time when she and Anakin enter the Geonosian Hive and falls into the factory.  During the arena scene, she is without the shawl again.  Up to this point, one figure with a removable shawl can achieve both looks.  But after her run in with the Nexu, her bodysuit is ripped and she has the claw wounds on her back.

The first figure of this outfit was attempted in 2002 with 02-02 Padmé Amidala (Arena Escape).  That figure captured the post-Nexu look.  Hasbro got the outfit and claw marks basically right, but the figure was just…awful.  Their second attempt was this figure, and Hasbro looked to get her pre-Nexu look.  This time, her bodysuit is complete, she doesn’t have the claw marks, and she comes with a shawl. Again, they got the look right, but the figure is just…awful.  Definitely a lot less awful than the previous release, but still…awful.

This one has better articulation and a better sculpt, while it lacks an action feature (spring loaded arm).  But sadly, it’s preposed (sort of) to be in a distressed situation.  To be fair, Padmé was most definitely in distress during the factory chase scene.  And the flowing shawl is intended to help give the figure a vibe that she is in motion.  She also comes with a rather alarming face sculpt.  It’s alarming in both the sense that she is alarmed, but also that it should be alarming to the collector looking at it.  This version has improved articulation (hinged knees), but it seems to beg you pose it in a running position.  Knees alone do not normally allow a figure to run.  Fortunately she comes with a stand.  (More on that in a minute).  Having the figure stay upright is a bit of a challenge.  Maybe my 17 year old figure is just a little bent out of shape, but I had a very difficult time getting it to stand up unassisted for the shots in this gallery.  I’m glad to be able to move on with my life.

Since the face and shawl preclude you from posing this figure in a neutral stance, it might as well be preposed.  Also, since the cape is not really removable (you probably could do it if you were super careful), neither this nor the previous release allow you to have a clean bodysuit/no shawl version of Padmé.  That was still elusive by this point in 2003.  It wasn’t until years later that we got satisfactory figures of both a pre- and post-Nexu Padmé.

As for the aforementioned stand, it allows you to do what Hasbro seemingly intended for you to do, which is make Padmé run.  The cool thing is that the stand isn’t just any piece of plastic with a foot peg.  It’s actually a piece of the droid foundry conveyor belt.  It also has the ability to clip onto several of the other accessory packs which connect to the Geonosis Arena Playset. 

That alone saves this figure from obsolescence.  It maintains an “other value” status to you, the collector.  The garbage figure is notable for the weird, screaming face sculpt, but is otherwise a 3/10.