With this VC316 Leia, thus begins the #MakeTheMains campaign, and it’s only the start. In case you missed it, during the Cantina HasLab launch livestream, Hasbro pipelined 100% NEW figures for Episode IV Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Ben Kenobi.  Repeat, 100% new:

The Chewbacca is a partial tool with new legs and portrait.  We will be discussing these momentous reveals at a later time because I think they have been somewhat lost in wake of the Cantina launch.  But we’re not here to discuss that. Today, we celebrate this equally 100% new Princess Leia Organa figure.

We’ll start with the last part first.  I’m scoring this figure a 9 out of 10.  That score is the result of a battle between pros and cons.  The biggest con is what has been discussed ever since this figure was first revealed.  It’s the plastic skirt, but for some this is also a pro.  It’s a battle of aesthetics versus function.  If a character is involved in action scenes, I err on the side of function.  If the character is more set dressing, I err on the side of aesthetics.  THE Princess (and there is no other) is definitely involved in some action pieces.  I found myself frustrated during the photography because I could tell that the figure wanted to strike some dynamic shooting poses, but the articulation is locked under a plastic coffin.  The obvious pro is that in standing poses, the figure looks aesthetically perfect.

The next problem I had is that I had to fight the arms a little but to achieve two handed weapon poses, but this was not the fault of the elbows.  The range of motion of the elbows is phenomenal.  The issue is that I had difficulty getting the angle of the grips on the two hands to align in a straight line.  When the left hand would grasp the barrel of either weapon, it had the affect of twisting the grip out of the right hand.  Hinged wrists would have mitigated this, but the thinner joints on female figures seem to preclude this (sometimes).  The two handed grip is ultimately achievable, but it takes some patience.  It’s also complicated by the fact that the hands are very rubbery, so any grip on the accessories is tenuous.  I typically like figure hands to be made out of a softer plastic so long as the accessories are made of hard plastic.  This usually aids in posing, but this case, Hasbro overshot the runway, and the hands are too soft.

Those two issues would have compelled me to drop the score down to an 8, but there are many pros that allowed me to give this a higher score.  As mentioned above, the range of motion of the arms is off the charts.  Leia can actually grip her hood which must make the new Admiral Motti jealous.  Speaking of the hood, what an utterly flawless execution of the hood up/hood down conundrum.  As you can see from the comparison shots, Hasbro typically handled these looks for Leia with separate releases.  Not so here.  With this VC316 Leia, we get both.  You can either plug the “hood down” piece into the back of the figure, or put the “hood up” piece over the head.  That “hood up” piece thankfully covers the hole in the back used for the “hood down” piece.  The hood is made of a very soft plastic, so it clings perfectly to Leia’s iconic hair buns.  This could not have been executed better.

Sometimes on releases with plastic lower skirts, getting the figure to stand flat on its feet is impossible, and the figure ultimately ends up leaning on that skirt (again, see the comparison shots).  Not so here.  This Leia stands on its feet with ease. This is the best likeness we’ve ever had for an A New Hope based Leia.  It very much captures the youthful, chubby-cheeked, 20 year old Ms. Fisher, while conveying an appropriately concerned expression.  For standing poses, this is the perfect Episode IV Leia.  That is why I called it definitive.  I didn’t want to have this figure saying it “needs tweaking” which is the text that goes with the “close” designation.  We simply need a separate release with a soft good lower skit to unleash the lower body articulation for scenes that require more dynamic poses.  I hope Hasbro brings us that at some point.  I’d also take a smiling version to recreate the post-victory celebration on Yavin.