Hasbro Star Wars - The Princess Leia Collection: Princess Leia and R2-D2 Review

One of the reasons George Lucas' Star Wars saga has been so entrenched in our popular culture is the wide appeal its story and characters has across a wide spectrum of humanity.

Though most non-fans think only young boys and socially-challenged adult men "geek out" over the multi-media Empire built upon the six live-action Episodes, three Cartoon Network animated series, an animated feature, several live-action TV projects and a Death Star's worth of books, graphic novels, computer and role-playing games, it ain't necessarily so.  

Indeed, Star Wars has always had a multi-cultural, multi-generational and cross-gender appeal which is partly based on the universality of its roots as a "modern myth"  for our times, and partly because Lucas was smart enough to take archetypes such as the hero on a quest, the mysterious wise man, the rogue with the heart of gold and, of course, the damsel in distress and tweaked them for the sensibilities of the late 1970s.

Thus it's safe to say that even though guys have always been in the majority within the Star Wars collecting community, lots of girls and women of all ages like the Kenner/Hasbro Star Wars action figures and other toys, too.

Hasbro's erstwhile competitor, Kenner Toys of Columbus, Ohio knew that many girls were fans of Princess Leia Organa, the cosmopolitan, politically-well connected Senator from Alderaan who was as fast with a quick quip ("Would someone get this walking carpet out of my way?") as well as with a blaster pistol. Thus, in the early days of the Kenner/Star Wars partnership (1977-1985), the toymaker offered several 12-inch dolls bearing the likeness of the Princess as well as the "basic" figures all collectors - boys included - needed for a complete collection.

Some were intended for all collectors - they were usually faithful renditions of Leia as she appeared in A New Hope, while others, with more "girly-girl" accessories, were clearly marketed with girls in mind. (This technique would be repeated in 1999 and afterwards by Hasbro after the release of Episode I: The Phantom Menace; there were not only fanboy-friendly action figures of Leia's mother Padme Amidala, but also more "traditionally female-oriented" dolls of that character as well.)

The Princess Leia Collection

Although Hasbro could probably make a case that its four two-figure sets of The Princess Leia Collection aren't a blatant attempt to increase sales of the small figures to the discerning female Star Wars fan base, I'm pretty sure that the choice to create a gender-specific line was exactly that.

Now, while the four sets of the Princess Leia Collection do have some universal appeal, they do have some distinguishing features that make them, well, a bit more girl-oriented.

Princess Leia and R2-D2:

Moments before being captured by the evil Darth Vader, Princess Leia inserts secret plans for a new Imperial battle station into her loyal astromech droid, R2-D2.

Take, for instance, Princess Leia with R2-D2. Released in 1997 - shortly after the 20th Anniversary reissue of the modified Star Wars Trilogy: The Special Edition - this is one of the four "Princess Leia &...." two-figure sets depicting Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala's daughter as she appears in A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

As the name of this set clearly states, Princess Leia & R2-D2 comes with two 3.75-inch figures - the Princess as she appears throughout much of A New Hope, and R2-D2.

Essentially, Princess Leia's is a fairly-done figure by today's standards. The sculpt is a tad better than that of the original Kenner Princess Leia Organa figure from 1978 but not by much. The head looks a bit larger than it ought to be, and the facial detailing, while not as bad as that of a Hasbro variant mockingly known as "Monkey Face Leia," is not as nice as that of some later Power of the Force 2/Power of the Jedi figures of the Princess.

 Though the famous cinnamon bun hairstyle is nicely replicated, Leia's face doesn't resemble Carrie Fisher's that much, and the neck seems to be proportionally shorter than it should be, though this - and the crude articulation point at the neck socket - is covered up by the figure's main accessory, a white cloth dress based on costume designer John Mollo's Academy Award-winning designs.

The body (hidden beneath the cloth dress) is similar to Hasbro's 2002 figure of Padme Amidala - Arena Confrontation. I have not taken the figure out of its carded bubblepack, but pictures of the figure at Rebelscum.com do show what Leia looks like underneath the dress, and they show the Princess wearing a form-fitting jumpsuit with matching white boots and a sleeveless top.

They also reveal that Princess Leia has only the most basic of articulation points; in addition to the aforementioned head/neck socket joint, there are only hip and shoulder joints, which limits posing of this figure to rigid standing positions. You can't, for instance, recreate the iconic Leia-entrusts-the-Death Star-plans-to-R2 pose because Leia can't "kneel" in front of the astromech droid or bend her elbow in a natural way...she has no elbow to bend!

Also inexplicable is the lack of a blaster pistol; most "regular" Princess Leia figures come with one, and this figure's right - or gun - hand looks as though it was intended to grab on to a blaster.

Weapons and Accessories:

The white cloth dress isn't too shabby, though. It looks a bit larger than it should be, as if Leia had lost weight while being held as Vader's "guest" in the Death Star's Cell 2187, but it does cover up the figure's too-basic-for-my-taste features and seems to be made of a reflective material that clings a bit to Leia's feminine features. Adorned only by a plastic replica of a traditional Alderaanian Senatorial rank belt, it looks nice enough and reflects the simple-yet-timeless 1976 design by John Mollo.

The R2-D2 figure is the "better half" of this set, although Rebelscum.com IDs this as being the same figure as the carded version released by Hasbro in 1995. This variant is one of the few that I own with a retractable third leg, and it has a really nice sculpt-and-paint job that would have been perfect if Hasbro had given R2 - as it did to later variants - a bit of "weathering" and the red "radar" eye on the front of the silver and blue dome. Again, because I have not removed the figures from its packaging, I've not messed with R2-D2s dome or three legs, but the head can be moved in a 360-degree circle and he can be posed in either a two-legged "standing" mode or the "tilted with three legs deployed" travel mode.

The durability of the figures ranges from average to good depending on who the end user is. If you buy this for a child in the suggested age range of 4 and up, chances are that Leia's dress will get dirty and head and limbs removed unless the "youngling" is not into rough pretend play. Older kids - especially those into collecting - may have to sometimes dust the figures if they take them out of the package, or else Leia's dress will collect a patina of not-so-nice dust and dirt and will require gentle washing. If kept in the package, the figures - barring a fire, flood, or other major disaster - should last a lifetime.

My Viewpoint: From a serious collector's vantage point, the Princess Leia & R2-D2 is neither the epitome of the multi-figure sets available out there nor the worst of the lot. The R2 unit is nicely done, and though there are better figures of the Princess, this one is not as ugly or inaccurately rendered as the infamous Monkey Face Leia of the early 1990s. And though guy collectors - especially younger ones - might cringe at the "girly" touches, this is still a nice curio to get just for the fun of it.

As with all the Star Wars action figures, Hasbro recommends this toy for children 4 and up since the small parts pose a clear and present choking hazard, especially for children under 3 years.