On your mark, get set, terrible! 

Here we have a prime reason as to why you should hate the 5POA line.  This is a very good 5POA (or is it?) figure.  However, there’s simply no reason for this figure to have been made, at least from a collecting standpoint.  The only reason I own this figure is so that I could write this review and advise you not to buy it.  In my opinion, the budget line is only good for supplementing the collector line with background figures that under the current business model, are not likely to be made in TVC in the foreseeable future. 

Here’s the thing:  this really is a nice looking figure.  It’s got a detailed sculpt and the paint applications are fairly well done.  The figure has 7POA with the added swivels at the boots, which can assist with giving a sturdier standing pose.  Of course, standing is a basic requirement of any figure, so this gratuitously-added articulation serves no purpose.  The figure comes with a nicely sculpted and painted blaster, which Leia holds assuredly in her hand.  The real star here is the face sculpt which, along with the near perfect paint applications, gives us a very beautiful portrait, if not necessarily the spitting image of Carrie Fisher.  With the closeup of the face, you can see that the eyed are particularly well done, as is the skin of the face and the hair (with slight bleeding issues).  The one flaw is the lips, which are painted in a very slight smile, while the sculpt is a very slight frown.  I feel this is a common miss by figures in the line.  It’s amazing at first glance, until you take a closer look and realize that it’s off, and then it kind of ruins it.  But overall, it’s nicely done. 

The uniform has some detail to the fabrics, showing some padding, folds, and quilted lines.  The vest is sculpted on, which I don’t like.  Other 5POA figures have separately sculpted jackets and vests, and it really gives an improved feeling of depth to the figure, even if the piece isn’t necessarily removable.  The figure is fairly uniform in its coloring, which unfortunately provides no contrast to all the fabric details unless you look closely.  It otherwise looks like it was carved out of a bar of ivory soap. 

The Force Link 2.0 feature seems to have been poorly utilized here.  For whatever reason, the figure generates lines from both ESB and ROTJ.  I still haven’t figured out the secret recipe to why figures are programmed to say certain lines, or why others are omitted.  It is what it is.  The feature just works better with vehicles than figures.

So what’s the verdict?  You say I just spent all this time basically praising the figure, so it has to be a decent grade, no?  Well, here’s the problem.  Since we already have a vastly superior product in TVC, there’s simply no reason for this figure to have been produced, let alone bought by collectors.  Well, there are two reasons:  (1) You have to photograph and review the figure for your website, or (2) you are a terrible collector.  Obviously, the TVC version is super-articulated (minus ankles!).  All else being equal, that’s enough to skip this budget version.  But it doesn’t end there.  The TVC version from 8 years ago has an outfit sculpt that is at least as good, if not better than this figure.  The paint wash, you could argue, goes a bit overboard to the point where it almost looks dirty, it still nicely accentuates the outfit details in a way that is utterly absent in the budget version.  The boots are painted in a way to give them more depth.  The vest is a separately sculpted (and removable) piece, giving the figure a much more realistic appearance.  The slightly more neutral stance and the solid grip on the blaster may be the only things about this budget figure that are an improvement over the TVC version. 

That brings us to the headsculpt.  I praised the sculpt and paint applications on this figure’s head, but mentioned the likeness to Carrie Fisher is off.  Personally, it just isn’t as good as the portrait on the TVC version.  This one is rounder and younger looking, and might be more well suited as the basis for a Leia from ANH.  I could see how one might feel otherwise, but unfortunately if you did, you would not be able to swap heads.  I tried, and did so at great risk to the health of my groin.  Headswapping is not possible without additional customization to the neck ball/post and/or the head itself.  Frankly, such actions should be outlawed by the Geneva Convention. 

Verdict = 3.  It’s a nice figure, but I deducted a point for the insulting nature of its very existence.  With a nearly definitive SA version of Hoth Leia already in existence, you should consider tracking down it down on the secondary market instead of buying this inferior version.  This leaves us asking Hasbro one simple question: