JediTricks
01-09-2006, 10:32 PM
Back when ROTJ *first* came out, I desparately wanted 3 figures from the movie - Luke Jedi, saber-launching R2, and Leia as Boushh - but unfortunately finding these major figures proved very difficult. 13 years later, Kenner finally released a Leia Boushh figure that I could actually find, although the SOTE line figure was still not an easy find, and while it was a good figure, the face under the helmet wasn't much better than Monkey-face Leia. Flash forward 10 more years and finally Hasbro has released another Leia Boushh and anybody who says "it's just a rehash" needs a swift kick in the face... then wait 10 years and another kick in the face.
Packaging: 3.5/5
I like the look of this packaging from the front, it's too early to tell if the bubble will scuff easily the way the ROTS versions did, but for now it looks decent. The back clutters all its elements together and focuses heavily on the co-sells, the other figures in the wave. The bubble view is of Leia holding her thermal detonator and rifle/staff while standing in front of a photo of the carbonite block in the palace, and the helmet is way off to the left in its own part of the bubble. The tray has a cool feature in that the detonator is secured to the palm by having her left arm BEHIND the tray rather than in front; unfortunately, the rubbery rifle/staff accessory is bent as it passes through the tray and around Leia's hand.
Sculpt-Design: 4/5
The head is an odd thing, the facial likeness doesn't seem that much like Carrie Fisher at first but comparing the various lines it seems like they got it close, I suppose it's the shape of the eyes and mouth plus the paint, after a few minutes looking it really does look like her. The hair sculpting seems decent although the sideburn-like wisps are a bit thick, I like the pony-tail out the back (but it should be more rubbery). The head doesn't suffer badly from being ball-jointed, but it does sit too low on the neck. The costume has some good detail sculpting including the studs on the back of the gloves, the covers over the boots, and the cape & backpack tanks & bandolier belt that are a single separate (non-removable) piece; some of the tan elements seem like softer work but they were simpler textures so it's not too bad.
The belt and the left palm each have a hole to peg the thermal detonator into, that's a neat trick. Aside from the neck, the body shape is good except for the universal-jointed shoulders which look a little too obvious, but the build is definitely realistic and "action figure" rather than doll-like; the pose is natural and just right, the only pre-posing is her right arm which is bent to hold the rifle/staff. One thing though, Leia is very short, shorter than POTJ Bespin Leia even, which means she's *too* short.
Articulation: 4.5/5
This figure ties with VOTC Leia for the most articulation on a Leia figure at 12 p.o.a.: ball-jointed head, universal-jointed arms, cut-jointed elbows, standard wrists, waist, and hips, and universal knees. Leia's head can't look up and down too much, but can turn all the way to either side no problem. The left elbow articulation doesn't do much, it changes her arm from straight to bent about 10-degrees; the right elbow covers more territory due to the bend, but you can't straighten the arm to look natural. The skirt limits the hips to roughly 45-degrees but that's not too shabby. And even though she's slight and got tiny feet, she can stand on her own.
Paint-Deco: 4/5
The head's paint work is good but not outstanding, the eyes aren't quite the right shape and gazing upwards, the eyebrows are thin but not quite subtle enough, and the hair has 2 layers but is a little thick and sloppy; the paint around the wrap on the pony-tail is good though. The neck is painted a darker tone than the head's light color, and the ball joint is left brown, but this is barely noticable due to how hidden the neck is. The costume deco overall is pretty decent but again not outstanding, there should have been weathering on the tan stuff and there's not, only the pants got weathering. There are some very nice details though, the studs are individually painted, the belts and details have nice metallic work to them.
Accessories: 4.5/5
Besides the random-packed holo statue and movie title figure stand, Leia comes with 3 accessories: a thermal detonator, her rifle (or is it a staff?), and her helmet - which I'll get to last, mwa ha ha! The detonator is small, *really* small, it screams "you're gonna lose me! you're gonna lose me!"-small, so in order to keep it in her little hand it has a small peg which fits into a hole in her hand (the peg is a few millimeters too long, but I'm not brave enough to try to cut it down), it can also peg into her belt. The detonator is not quite round but it does have some decent detailing, and it's dark metallic plastic. Her weapon looks like a rifle - Kenner called it as much back in '96 - but has no grip so how do you use it? So, maybe it's a staff, in either regard the design is good for something with such few details, and it's also dark metallic, but it's one flaw is that it's very thin and rubbery, so it warps easily including in the packaging, but it does look great when she's holding it.
The helmet fits well but is about 25% too large because it's removable. The helmet's sculpting is very nice with fine detail work on the sides. The paint work is mostly quite good with several different base colors and details within, although the copper-green for the sides goes over its boundries I don't mind too much; the black visor slits and silver "mouth" are just right and they're the key to the look.
Overall: B+
Leia as Boushh was almost a forgotten figure but deserved a good update and this is it. There are some things which could be improved, and hopefully Hasbro will do a little better with the paint work by the end of the production run, but all in all it's very acceptable. The new $7 pricepoint does hurt the rating a little, but what hurts my pride is that this figure is so cool it makes me want to buy lamer figures like the Chewie in Chains from this Carkoon wave after I was sure I didn't want him. I guess that's the mark of a good figure, this Leia certainly is that.
Packaging: 3.5/5
I like the look of this packaging from the front, it's too early to tell if the bubble will scuff easily the way the ROTS versions did, but for now it looks decent. The back clutters all its elements together and focuses heavily on the co-sells, the other figures in the wave. The bubble view is of Leia holding her thermal detonator and rifle/staff while standing in front of a photo of the carbonite block in the palace, and the helmet is way off to the left in its own part of the bubble. The tray has a cool feature in that the detonator is secured to the palm by having her left arm BEHIND the tray rather than in front; unfortunately, the rubbery rifle/staff accessory is bent as it passes through the tray and around Leia's hand.
Sculpt-Design: 4/5
The head is an odd thing, the facial likeness doesn't seem that much like Carrie Fisher at first but comparing the various lines it seems like they got it close, I suppose it's the shape of the eyes and mouth plus the paint, after a few minutes looking it really does look like her. The hair sculpting seems decent although the sideburn-like wisps are a bit thick, I like the pony-tail out the back (but it should be more rubbery). The head doesn't suffer badly from being ball-jointed, but it does sit too low on the neck. The costume has some good detail sculpting including the studs on the back of the gloves, the covers over the boots, and the cape & backpack tanks & bandolier belt that are a single separate (non-removable) piece; some of the tan elements seem like softer work but they were simpler textures so it's not too bad.
The belt and the left palm each have a hole to peg the thermal detonator into, that's a neat trick. Aside from the neck, the body shape is good except for the universal-jointed shoulders which look a little too obvious, but the build is definitely realistic and "action figure" rather than doll-like; the pose is natural and just right, the only pre-posing is her right arm which is bent to hold the rifle/staff. One thing though, Leia is very short, shorter than POTJ Bespin Leia even, which means she's *too* short.
Articulation: 4.5/5
This figure ties with VOTC Leia for the most articulation on a Leia figure at 12 p.o.a.: ball-jointed head, universal-jointed arms, cut-jointed elbows, standard wrists, waist, and hips, and universal knees. Leia's head can't look up and down too much, but can turn all the way to either side no problem. The left elbow articulation doesn't do much, it changes her arm from straight to bent about 10-degrees; the right elbow covers more territory due to the bend, but you can't straighten the arm to look natural. The skirt limits the hips to roughly 45-degrees but that's not too shabby. And even though she's slight and got tiny feet, she can stand on her own.
Paint-Deco: 4/5
The head's paint work is good but not outstanding, the eyes aren't quite the right shape and gazing upwards, the eyebrows are thin but not quite subtle enough, and the hair has 2 layers but is a little thick and sloppy; the paint around the wrap on the pony-tail is good though. The neck is painted a darker tone than the head's light color, and the ball joint is left brown, but this is barely noticable due to how hidden the neck is. The costume deco overall is pretty decent but again not outstanding, there should have been weathering on the tan stuff and there's not, only the pants got weathering. There are some very nice details though, the studs are individually painted, the belts and details have nice metallic work to them.
Accessories: 4.5/5
Besides the random-packed holo statue and movie title figure stand, Leia comes with 3 accessories: a thermal detonator, her rifle (or is it a staff?), and her helmet - which I'll get to last, mwa ha ha! The detonator is small, *really* small, it screams "you're gonna lose me! you're gonna lose me!"-small, so in order to keep it in her little hand it has a small peg which fits into a hole in her hand (the peg is a few millimeters too long, but I'm not brave enough to try to cut it down), it can also peg into her belt. The detonator is not quite round but it does have some decent detailing, and it's dark metallic plastic. Her weapon looks like a rifle - Kenner called it as much back in '96 - but has no grip so how do you use it? So, maybe it's a staff, in either regard the design is good for something with such few details, and it's also dark metallic, but it's one flaw is that it's very thin and rubbery, so it warps easily including in the packaging, but it does look great when she's holding it.
The helmet fits well but is about 25% too large because it's removable. The helmet's sculpting is very nice with fine detail work on the sides. The paint work is mostly quite good with several different base colors and details within, although the copper-green for the sides goes over its boundries I don't mind too much; the black visor slits and silver "mouth" are just right and they're the key to the look.
Overall: B+
Leia as Boushh was almost a forgotten figure but deserved a good update and this is it. There are some things which could be improved, and hopefully Hasbro will do a little better with the paint work by the end of the production run, but all in all it's very acceptable. The new $7 pricepoint does hurt the rating a little, but what hurts my pride is that this figure is so cool it makes me want to buy lamer figures like the Chewie in Chains from this Carkoon wave after I was sure I didn't want him. I guess that's the mark of a good figure, this Leia certainly is that.