Princess Leia - ROTS - Collectible Figure And Cup

As Princess Leia is bringing back plans of the Empire's Death Star to the Rebel forces, she is taken prisoner by the evil Darth Vader. He tortures her, trying to learn the location of the Rebel base and the whereabouts of the stolen plans. The brave princess refuses to tell him, and is rescued by Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca.

We understand that the Collectible Figure And Cup line from Hasbro is all about the “cup” and not necessarily the “figure” but must they reach so far back into their catalog when choosing what figure to pair with the cup? That’s about where we’re at with the Princess Leia Collectible Figure And Cup set, part of the third wave of the TARGET exclusive line. With a fantastic roster of figures that became part of The Original Trilogy Collection “vintage” lineup, we’re not so sure if we understand why Hasbro would choose action figure further back than 2004 for the Collectible Figure And Cup line. The VOTC figures are superior, are available and could all use a re-release. Hasbro decided to instead use 1998’s POTF2 [FF/TKC] Princess Leia Organa [All New Likeness] from the Freeze Frame phase of The Power Of The Force “2” lineup. At the time this figure was a vast improvement over the “Monkey Leia” release three years before it. But in 2005, it’s just as obsolete. Sometimes figures begin to hurt the eyes because they’re aging so poorly. Princess Leia is case in point of this. With a hulky body and man hands, it’s time to put this action figure to rest.

As if the hulky bodies of the oldest The Power Of The Force “2” figures aren’t bad enough, Princess Leia no longer has an “All New Likeness.” It’s old and tired and doesn’t look like the onscreen character much at all anymore. Sure, “Monkey Leia” and “Manly Leia” are not-so-nice nicknames, but that’s proof of how cruel time is. Now the 1998 figure is joining the same ranks. Let’s face it, Princess Leia Organa [All New Likeness] was a figure that made Hasbro proud. They even boasted “All New Likeness” right on the packaging to ensure that they could distance themselves from the horrid 1995 version as far as possible. The 1998 POTF2 Princess Leia Organa [All New Likeness] figure was a big breath of fresh air, and although she wasn’t perfect, collectors knew well that she would be hanging around for a long time after her initial release. So here we are again in the 2005 Revenge Of The Sith line, and she still won’t go away. Although with a three-year difference between them, 1998 Princess Leia didn’t have any additional articulation that 1995 Princess Leia had. The figure’s only saving grace was that it had a much more feminine quality about it.

We’re not sorry for our disappointment that Hasbro didn’t utilize 2004’s The Original Trilogy Collection Princess Leia Organa vintage figure. It’s leaps and bound better than anything Hasbro has made in The Power Of The Force “2” line. And because the VOTC was only released once, we feel she makes a superb candidate for a re-release. We’ll leave it at that. As far as this version of Princess Leia is concerned, Hasbro only gave the figure one of her two weapons. But this has been the pattern of most of the figures in the Collectible Figure And Cup line. As you’re well aware, the gun is obnoxiously too big. It does, however, mimic the actual weapon in the film. The signature long-barreled blaster pistol is well-designed, but for a past era. This tolling does not meet the standards of 2005. Thanks to her extra-large hands, it fits well in her grasp. It is refreshing to see vast improvements made to this character, but Hasbro decided to ignore the superior figure and go with something old and tired instead. Thankfully, the included cup makes up for the figure’s shortcomings. It has beautiful artwork embossed around its circumference and is collectible unto itself.