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The beautiful Princess Leia Organa is a symbol of diplomacy, strength, and hope within the Rebel Alliance. While serving as the youngest member of the Imperial Senate, Princess Leia secretly leads the struggling Rebellion in their mission to overthrow the Galactic Empire. Even after being captured and forced to witness the destruction of her homeworld, Leia continues to place her dedication to the Alliance above her own personal needs and safety.
Princess Leia was one of the commanding members of Echo Base on the frozen planet Hoth. When the Imperials attacked Hoth, Leia took the initiative and acted in a number of command roles, ordering the evacuation of the base. Leia's access to her own escape transport was cut off, but she managed to escape in Han Solo's Millennium Falcon. Evading Imperial pursuit, the Falcon landed in an asteroid field so that its crew could repair the vessel. But Darth Vader captured Han Solo, and Leia was forced to watch as the Dark Lord froze him in carbonite and handed him over to the bounty hunter, Boba Fett. Leia escaped Cloud City with the aid of its administrator, Lando Calrissian.
Leia eventually traced the carbonite encased Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine, where Boba Fett delivered him to collect on the bounty offered by the great crime lord. Leia participated in Luke's plan to free the captured Solo from the clutches of the vile gangster, disguising herself as Boushh, an Ubese bounty hunter, and infiltrating the palace to free Solo from his carbonite imprisonment. Jabba and his minions uncovered the plot to free Han Solo, and with Leia's true identity revealed, Jabba ordered the princess to be chained and clothed in a scant golden bikini. Leia bravely faced her captivity and Jabba's vile presence, secure in the knowledge that soon enough Luke would arrive, and the full plan for Han's rescue could unfold. Leia repaid the gangster by throttling the Hutt with the very chain that bound her, strangling Jabba and ending his cruel reign.
The
first license Sideshow Collectibles attained from Lucasfilm, Ltd.
was for quarter scale figures. The first Premium Format figure was
released to an adoring crowd in 2005 and the line has been a mainstay
ever since. But it also started up collectors begging Sideshow for
all their favorite Star Wars characters to be realized in this format.
Due to their size, price and long production process, there is really
no way for Sideshow to keep up with the demanding requests, but they
have been doing a pretty fine job hitting on all the main characters
and most popular outfits. Princess Leia in her skimpy bikini (affectionately
known as Slave Leia) was a no-brainer and she finally went on pre-order
in 2008 with an April 2009 product release. She is a fine example
of what the awesome artisans at Sideshow can do. They are absolutely
an impressive team of painters and sculptors and the final results
are usually pretty incredible. Slave Leia is excellent. But we think
her portrait is not as good as it could be. It’s not terrible,
but her head unfortunately looks a little bit bulbous for her body
and her eyes are too big and round. But while these aspects of the
figure may need further tweaking, Sideshow absolutely mastered the
body and outfit perfectly. Slave Leia is a figure than doesn’t
utilize a great deal of multimedia, so Sideshow had to figure out
how to make her look as awesome as possible with basically focusing
only on the polystone.
But
they definitely succeeded. Despite not having a perfect likeness, her
hair looks amazing. The headpieces are exact and in the right place
and the ponytail that hangs down to her belts looks absolutely perfect.
She also has real metal hoop earrings in her ears that actually dangle
when you move the figure around. Slave Leia has beautiful skin tone
and the bronze (or gold) parts of her bikini have a stunning metallic
paint job that picks up the light in the room. Her contrasting silver
next chain looks a little too shiny and we wished Sideshow would have
weathered it a bit more before release, but it still look incredible.
The only soft-goods you’ll find on this piece is the “skirt” that
is in two pieces to cover her in the front and back. Her backside is
visible if you lift up the back portion, but the front has been painted
in a similar color to the fabric to simulate underwear (for obvious
reasons). In her hands is an expertly sculpted force pike with is so
realistic is it mind-blowing. Her boots are also screen accurate and
trimmed with the same gold as seen in her bikini. Slave Leia stands
in a slight action pose (like she is taking a step) on top of a well
crafted stand that looks like what would be the floor of the Jabba’s
sail barge. This is a piece that really impresses.
For
what Sideshow may have lacked in Leia’s sculpt, they made up
for tenfold in the exclusive Salacious Crumb figure. Crumb sits on
his own stand which has been decorate with one of Jabba’s ornate
pillows. The whole “system” comes in three pieces: the
stand, Salacious Crumb and his tail. Once assembled, Salacious Crumb
is the absolute perfect “accessory” for Slave Leia. With
a paint job that is unmatched in any other Premium Format figure to
date, we believe that getting the non-exclusive version of this figure
would definitely be the wrong decision. Salacious Crumb has all the
right colors and speckled dots that a monkey-lizard should have. And
his eyes and beak have the perfect sheen that brings life to this quarter
scale version of him. But be warned. This is one delicate figure and
we were extremely nervous handling him for the photo shoot. He has
way too many points and parts sticking out away from his body and they
are all thin and spindly. We suggest finding a place to display him
and then leave it alone. All Star Wars characters that can be tied
to the whole Jabba sequence in Return
Of The Jedi remain popular with collectors. And Slave Leia
will probably be the most poplar outfit ever for our favorite heroine.
Sideshow offers a definitive collectible version of her via this Premium
Format figure. It is an excellent work of art and we know it will serve
as a prominently displayed piece in your Star Wars collection.
Collector Notes
Slave Leia
Status: The Slave Leia Premium Format figure captures every detail of the Princess of Alderaan in perhaps her most iconic costume. The figure is constructed of hand-cast polystone, hand-painted and hand-finished to exacting standards. Leia stands approximately 16.5 inches high, dressed in a replica of the alluring gold bikini costume, complete with a real fabric skirt, ready to fight for her freedom. The Slave Leia Premium Format figure is a stunning addition to any collection, sure to be the centerpiece of your display.
Announcement: The Slave Leia Premium Format Figure was revealed on October 30, 2008.
Pre-order Information: The Slave Leia Premium Format Figure went up for pre-order on October 30, 2008.
Articulation: N/A
Assembly: 3 parts
Assembly Details: Slave Leia figure, force pike blade (separate attachment), environmental base
Sideshow Exclusive: Additional Salacious B. Crumb 1:4 scale figure for complementing display! (Salacious Crumb, removable tail and display base)
Date Stamp: 2009
UPC: 747720209268
Retail: $274.99 USD
Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on
listings.