Queen Amidala - LC - Basic (BD08)

The queen returns to Naboo to free the planet from the clutches of the ruthless Trade Federation. Amidala hopes to enlist the aid of the native Gungans to fight the Federation and its large battle droid army.

Sigh. We really, really wanted to like this figure. We really did. We waited nearly ten years to get a 3.75" action figure version of Ms. Amidala in her purple "Return to Naboo" gown and the final result leaves you wishing for more. (In fact, you will wish for a lot more.) You may be interested in learning (or being reminded) that we first got this outfit as part of 2000's EI Portrait Edition 12" figure. It's amazing how long it took for Hasbro to attack the basic figure version. Well, it's here and it just wasn't worth the wait. Hasbro, always looking to reuse parts whenever possible, created Amidala with an obviously low budget that just didn't work. We regret we have to give this figure thumbs down since we cannot look the other way with all of its issues. It actually upsets us that we have to express how much of a letdown this figure ended up turning out to be. It should have been more than awesome, but alas, it's not. We will start with the sculpt of the figure. You may be horrified to learn that underneath her dress is the bottom half of 2008's TLC Breha Organa but now the lower calf wrappings have been painted in purple. Because you already know that one of Breha Organa’s biggest disappointments was her legs, you can imagine that it does even less for Amidala. We don't know why it is so hard for Hasbro to design a Queen Amidala figure with separate legs and bendable knees (or something) instead of a solid immovable piece of plastic for the lower half of her frame! Soft-goods, even if they wouldn’t look that great would have faired better in this situation. And the pre-posed legs don’t aid in the figure’s balance as its center of gravity is very off. Our sample keeps falling to its right and even when we can get it to stand up, it leans to the side. This is annoying to say the least.

Another major issue with this figure is the face. Debate exists that Queen Amidala may have not had the white face paint on during Qui-Gon Jinn's funeral, so it's possible that this figure may be accurate. But in all honesty, the flesh tone looks wrong because she wore the make-up in nearly every scene in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace while wearing this outfit. (And the funeral scene is debatable still as far as we're concerned.). How Hasbro managed to neglect this detail is beyond us, but it is unacceptable. We ask again! "How could this be missed?" Why is a Queen Amidala figure that is manufactured now suffering with inferior technology and attention to detail lacking in accuracy? Mistakes are inevitable, but this is a bit more glaring than say including the wrong lightsaber hilt or something else for example. We hope that a running change is in the works to fix this from flesh tone to white; it will do wonders for the figure. (Editor's Note: A running change isn't happening!) Her molded skirt is too hoop-like (there is no nice drape at all) and with our sample, it is attached to the figure at a bizarre angle (which probably also facilitates the figure's terrible balance). As if things couldn't get worse, they actually do. The plastic elastic band that is used to keep her gun in place in her hand is wrapped so tightly it deforms her hand beyond recognition! And speaking of her hands, they are so chubby that they are completely out of scale with the rest of her arms (and body for that matter). We haven't seen hands this band since the POTF era (1995-2000). (And the hands on our sample have yet to return to their original form (whatever that may be). It is quite unfortunate when packaging affects the quality of a figure. We don't know why Hasbro just doesn't place accessories like guns and other things in the trays unattached and separate to the action figure. Those plastic bands just destroy action figures. Plus, the paint of the gun sticks to the paint on the hand which end up causing a terrible scratch that peels away the paint.

This was the first figure we personally acquired from the opening act (The Phantom Menace wave) of the red phase Legacy Collection and it is sadly off to a bad start. Like we said above, we didn't want to dislike this figure. It is such a terrible shame that it came out so poorly. We plead to Hasbro: Please make Queen Amidala like any other action figure. Include two separate swiveling hips with knee or ankle joints, fully articulated arms, swivel waist and include soft-goods whenever possible. The molded dresses are not really the ideal way to go and do not work any more in the collector micro-managed/focused universe. A bulky molded dress isn't authentic and it is an unacceptable quality standard for such a prominent prequel character. We can understand Hasbro making shortcuts in Breha, but definitely not the Queen. The only thing positive about this figure is that we finally have it and to be honest, that is a sad reason to own something. While a revisit of this figure has a "slim to none" chance of happening, we conclusively assume that this will be the best version of it for awhile. Sigh. This is a truly a sad sentiment. While we saw pre-production images of this figure for a while now, it surprises us that we are so surprised that it really disappoints us now. But this isn't our fault. It is obviously because Hasbro didn't deliver. Please give the Queen the premium attention she deserves, Hasbro! Using Breha Organa as a basis for her is just not right! We hope you will be able to justify adding her to your collection without the disappointment we felt, but this may be unavoidable. A figure that we definitely want in our collections, this is certainly not the right way to show her proper love at all.