Princess Leia Organa - Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures

Gentle Giant Ltd. has not relented once yet on their popular Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures line. They’ve consistently released a couple every few months and one just keeps getting better than the last. They’re committed to releasing all of the 12-backs first and one of the first four vintage Kenner figures ever, Princess Leia Organa has now been released to thunderous applause. Gentle Giant Ltd. has been very faithful to the timeless 3.75” scaled action figures from the seventies an eighties and they’ve ensured to match all of the details and imperfections of those classic action figures in this 12-inch scaled line. Uneven leg and arm length, asymmetrical head sculpts and general unevenness has been carried forward to the figures of the Jumbo scale and it either adds to the charm or frustrates the collector. (We’re on the fence about this honestly. If there is an opportunity to equal leg length, why not take the initiative to fix it now so the larger figure can stand unassisted, but what does our opinion matter?)

Princess Leia Organa is another wonderful addition to the Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures line. In the large scale, we’re hard pressed to find any imperfections in the integrity of the sculpt. This rotocast collectible is well designed and the accompanying vinyl cape and long blaster add the final touches to an already splendid collectible. Gentle Giant Ltd. however is finding some difficulty matching the vinyl capes to the base color of the underlying outfits. Both the Sand People figure and Princess Leia Organa figure suffer from this mismatch and we find it a bit disappointing especially since the MSRP is so expensive and outside the budgets of most collectors. The white outfit part of the figure is off-white (almost a cream color) and the vinyl cape is bleached white. This, especially in the large scale, is especially glaring and for lack of a better word, problematic.

We also don’t like something else about many of the Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures. Not all, but many of the figures don’t like to hold onto their weapons, and that’s mostly either because the rotocast vinyl from which their made is too hard and doesn’t have the pliability to open up and hold it, or the spread of the fingers is too wide and gravity doesn’t allow them to stay in place. For Princess Leia Organa, her right hand is so tight that when we “shoved” her blaster pistol in the hand it left a terrible black scratch when we removed it. When a collectible is $75, this is unacceptable. Thankfully, the nostalgia rescues the figure from these types of problems. With incredible vintage-inspired packaging to an exact enlarged 1:6 scale collectible replica of the 1978 action figure, there is very little to dislike here. Princess Leia Organa is indeed a wonderful addition to this line. It makes us wonder where Gentle Giant Ltd is going to take it. Will they complete all of the Kenner figures when all is said and done? Only time will tell.