Bail Organa - TLC - Basic (BD 26)

A member of the Galactic Senate, Organa is also First Chairman and Viceroy of Alderaan. When Anakin falls to the dark side and Padmé dies in childbirth, Bail and his wife Breha adopt one of the twins, Leia, to raise as their own daughter.

Another figure whose greatness is destined to be overlooked due to his relative simplicity and plainness (and subsequent boringness), Bail Organa is a great action figure based on his appearance in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith (at the very end of the film when he and Breha Organa adopted and are holding infant Leia). Bail Organa is a very straightforward figure, but he is a very significant upgrade from the 2005 ROTS figure. It is important to note however that he is not an update of the 2005 figure but instead an all-new figure. These two figures sport unique outfits from different scenes in the film and it is evident that Hasbro has used modern technology to make this latest version of Bail as great as he can be. Bail Organa has 12 points of articulation and it is the perfect amount for this figure. The Legacy Collection incarnation of Bail works much better than any previous versions we have received and it will likely be the template or basis for future figures of this character. It is a shame however that his hip movement is limited by his plastic molded lower robes. If Hasbro can go back and edit the other costume with similar articulation, it would make it significantly better. It is interesting that time tends to heal shortcomings of older action figures when time is spent to enhance them and make them better. Revisiting action figures will likely never go away and it shouldn’t because we will eventually get definitive action figures. Hasbro tends to learn from their mistakes and always do something to make the latest version become a little more definitive.

Bail Organa may come across simple looking because of his coloring. When you look at his head, it is well-sculpted but too sophomorically colored. Hasbro could have done a great deal more to make this figure's facial features pop out. His eyes essentially look like black dots and while there is a striking resemblance to Jimmy Smits, something looks too “cartoonish” about it. It appears as if one shade of brown was used to color the hair, eyebrows, eyelashes and facial hair on his head. It is not too impressive at all. His uniform is painted in a semi-glossy gray blue color and his boots are beautifully colored in a very shiny black. The contrasting sheen is a bit of a plus since the rest of the figure suffers from being too basic and simple. You probably know this by now, but Bail Organa comes with two different skin tones. Originally released with a much paler and lighter shade of skin (see gallery for comparisons), he was quickly changed and given what we can best describe as a sun tan. The skin was changed to a more orange color to make him have darker skin. We know that actor Jimmy Smits has darker skin, but we are not sure how well this new coloring translated to the revised action figure. After all, he is not orange-colored. And if you look at the scene in Episode III when he is with Breha Organa holding infant Leia, they look much paler than the revised action figures show (more like the first run of action figures ironically). We are a little more partial to the more "pasty" version - it just looks a little more realistic than a fake bake - which is what the revision seems to look like.

Although Bail Organa was not initially a fast seller, he has been an evenly selling action figure. We are not claiming that he has completely sold through in all areas, but he certainly didn’t have “Yarna syndrome”. But one thing is for sure and that is he certainly sold better than his wife and case mate Breha Organa. (Breha is only second to Yarna d'al' Gargan as the worst selling figure in The Legacy Collection to date probably.) If Hasbro could have given Bail Organa sharper face details, he would be nearly flawless. And there are so many positives to the figure, but we feel they get overlooked because you are halted by the weak face paint applications. This makes this action figure tragic. Of particular note, this action figure came with excellent and very unique soft-goods. We haven’t seen them on another action figure since. It is silky and shiny and Hasbro used a material that we hope becomes more common in the line. It has a nice feel and drape to it. It is basically a very soft nylon. It is held closed very nicely together by his plastic molded shawl which itself has been magnificently sculpted and painted. We are truly perplexed why this figure has so much excellent detail and construction everywhere but the face. But this figure is what it is and if Hasbro chooses to include Bail in a future release, we hope they go back to the drawing board on his portrait, because it is the only stumbling block this action figure has. If you’re looking for a definitive Episode III Bail Organa, then this figure is for you. It really is a shame that he won’t get the just praise he deserves.