Princess Leia - Unleashed

Strong-willed and courageous, Princess Leia Organa believes fervently in the cause of freedom and becomes an inspiring leader of the Rebel Alliance. The adopted daughter of the diplomat Bail Organa, Leia uses her leadership skills, royal connections and position in the Senate to provide the Rebels with whatever they need, from equipment to stolen enemy plans. Her stern demeanor is all that most people see of this dedicated woman, until a flashy rogue captain steals her heart and reveals the passionate, romantic soul within this warrior princess. When the life of her newfound love is in jeopardy, Leia calls upon the fierce determination that has carried her safely through many challenges and dangers. She overcomes brutal obstacles and the humiliating punishment of becoming a vile warlord's slave, to rescue her love from a hideous death. Blazing with intensity and always ready to take action, Princess Leia battles dark intrigue and enemy forces as she helps lead the brave band of Rebels to a glorious victory and a lasting peace in the galaxy.

Hasbro could never go wrong producing a new “slave Leia” action figure or collectible in any format. Most fan boys know this too well. So of course it made complete sense that she was one of the first Star Wars characters to be attempted in the Unleashed line. When the Unleashed line first began, each piece in the line was given subtitle, for lack of a better word, which described the overall spirit of the Unleashed sculpture. Not surprisingly, Princess Leia was given “sultry” as the term of choice. This extra descriptions quickly went the way of the dinosaur when the packaging changed. Instead, Hasbro commissioned some of the finest artists in the industry to design beautiful card back for the figures. It became quickly apparent that bright and colorful visages of the action being portrayed in the sculpt via artwork went a whole lot further than a simple word from the dictionary attempting to do the same thing. The striking pose of the figure against the beautiful backdrop of what an artist’s eye sees are what work together to set the Unleashed line apart from so many others that Hasbro has produced in their time. Princess Leia is gorgeous. And she does look sultry. But let us talk about why you’re going to want this figure, even if you’re not a collector of this scale.

Firstly, this is Princess Leia in Jabba’s slave outfit. The sculpt is sexy and the design of her costume is screen accurate and extremely well put together. Princess Leia doesn’t appear concerned at all. In fact, she looks quite confident. Perhaps this scene reflects the moments after she strangled Jabba the Hutt and ran out to the outside of the sail barge to escape the clutches of those who were holding her there. She confidently has raised an extra long force pike in her left hand and the tip of it reaches to the sky, almost in an infinite manner. Perhaps it’s a metaphor for the long struggle she endured before getting her freedom. She stands atop a platform that is hard to pinpoint from Episode VI, but it’s unquestionable that it is something inspired from Jabba the Hutt’s reign. Perhaps it’s the deck of the sail barge where the cannon is stationed and she is only minutes away from blowing it to smithereens. Whatever the order of events, Princess Leia assures you that she fears very little and not even a skimpy bikini will prevent her from acting to protect herself as well as her friends. Without articulation, Princess Leia serves your collection best as a centered display piece. It is beautiful, eye-catching and one of the finer Unleashed figures in the entire lineup.

Princess Leia’s portrait may not have the best likeness to Carrie Fisher, but the likeness is nonetheless gorgeous and looks like the Princess Leia character. Her hair has been braided in painstaking detail, and she has a long ponytail that wraps around her back and shoulders due to its length. Her skirt is quite the conundrum. It looks fantastic, but would you believe that Hasbro cast the skirt in a translucent plastic? It works surprising well. We believe its translucency adds more depth and texture to the sculpt than were is cast or painted in an opaque fashion. She is also wearing burgundy underwear for those of you interested. Her skin tone looks about perfect and the makeup details in the face make her very attractive. Of course, her trim tummy and athletic frame are the big selling points for this figure. Hasbro really did a fantastic job. We tend to like more compact arrangements of the Unleashed figures. Princess Leia occupies a great deal of height thanks to the force pike. But it certainly isn’t a deal breaker for us at least. Princess Leia breaks down into five separate parts. The deck is two portions and the force pike is two portions. And Princess Leia is one whole piece period. Definitely not an Unleashed figure to miss, Princess Leia has it wear it counts!

As a bonus feature to this review, we have provided the original artwork created for this Star Wars: Unleashed figure. Click the thumbnail to the left to see the amazing illustration.