PRINCESS LEIA & Luke Skywalker
Power of the Force Princess Leia Collection
Item No.: Asst. 66935 No. 66937
Manufacturer: Kenner
Number: n/a
Includes: Luke figure with ceremonial medal
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $9.99
Availability: 1998
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: The beautiful Princess Leia, Senator and Cell Leader for the Rebel Alliance, rewards the young Luke Skywalker for his heroic role in the destruction of the Imperial Death Star. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy room, standing on a TIE Bomber for some reason.

Commentary: In 1998, Kenner was pretty game for experiments in the 3 3/4-inch figure format, one of the more interesting of which was the Princess Leia Collection, which featured this figure. Combining (or so I'm told) some of the typical Kenner boys' team designs with refinements by the Kenner girls' teams, this unique figure was one of the first modern attempts at incorporating cloth bits and rooted hair into the action figures. The good news was, for 1998, it worked well. Aside from the fact she had far too much make-up, this was a really nice figure. The cloth wasn't too bulky, the coloring was great on the costume, the hair worked, and the articulation was acceptable for her day. As an added bonus, since she had a cloth dress, her legs could actually movie. In short, Kenner more or less nailed it. Hasbro could probably rerelase this figure today if they repainted the head, or if they were feeling saucy, resculpted it as well. Either way, the head is the figure's main weak point. Unfortunately for us, that's a pretty important spot, and that extra red around her eyes really doesn't look too great. We saw Hasbro upgrade a Princess Leia Collection figure with their Endor Leia in 2006, so they are indeed quite capable of improving this figure. Oh, one little downer-- she's a little tall by today's standards. But aside from that, this figure could probably fit in with your other late-2000s-era figures quite nicely.

Collector's Notes: This entire collection of 2-packs didn't do so hot-- many of them sat in some areas, and could be had on clearance for about two bucks. Consider that if you decide to buy one off of eBay or in the secondary market, there's really not much incentive to pay too much more than retail plus a couple of dollars for inflation at this point. ( MORE IMAGES )

Day 638: February 3, 2008