I was planning to hate this because it’s based on the VC02 - Hoth Leia which has a bothersome flaw.  In what I assume is an effort to mimic the puffy thermal pants worn on Hoth, Hasbro made Princess Leia look overly “hippy.”  This does not jive with Carrie Fisher who was exceedingly petite.  The wide hips are still present here, based on the re-use of the torso and upper legs from VC02 (along with the arms).  I fully acknowledge this, and it will keep this figure from stretching into the 9 or 10 score stratosphere, but dang, this works really well overall.

Part of the reason for the excellent functionality comes from one of areas that are newly tooled.  When transitioning from the Hoth gear to the “Bespin Escape” costume (with a brief intermediary stint in the Bespin Gown), Leia eschews the Hoth snow boots for some white dress boots.  This required Hasbro to tool new lower legs.  Unlike VC02, this one has ankle articulation, and because of the boots, that joint comes a little higher up than usual ankle joints.  It has outstanding range of motion.  The feet flex upward more than most figures.  This facilitates dynamic action poses which can be achieved with ease, and the figure balances easily.  This is something that always wins me over.

Another newly tooled part is the head to recreate the braided loops Leia wears on Bespin.  The packaging causes these loops to be almost fused to the back of the head.  In fact, freeing them removed a little paint from the head of my sample.  I submerged the figure in hot water for a few second and was able to shape them in a way that approximates the movie appearance.  I’m not sure the head sculpt bears a high degree of likeness to Carrie Fisher circa Episode V.  The face is a little full, like she appears in Episode IV.  But the face, combined with the Photo Real paint applications, gives a youthful and pretty appearance, which is suitable for THE Princess.

Unfortunately, aside form some new hands, the arms are straight out of 2010.  They are passable with ball jointed shoulders and elbows with swivel wrists, but they are “2010 super articulated.”  Hasbro has made great strides in improving the range of motion of ball joints during the intervening decade, but in 2010, they often didn’t bend to even ninety degrees, as is the case here.  As a result, the two-handed-weapon-grips (THWG) are not as natural as I would like.  If the arm articulation was modern, and the figure was further retooled to give the hips a thinner appearance, it could have pushed ten out of ten status, but coulda, woulda, shoulda.  They didn’t, so it’s an 8 out of 10.

Lastly, the cards have never figured in the rating here at Bantha Skull, and they never will.  If they did, the Phase I Black Series 3.75” figures would all start at minus 8 for a score.  Having said that, I would be remiss if I didn’t address how disappointing the card imagery is.  I assume an action pose was preferred, but it results in an overly dark card with minimal shelf appeal.