Star
Wars Action Figure Collection:
Characters > Princess
Leia Organa
It
was her plea for help that sent us on the initial adventure,
and from the moment we first saw her leaning over a little droid,
we were enchanted. It was love at first sight. The rebel forces
followed Princess
Leia across the galaxy in an ultimately successful bid to defeat
the evil Galactic Empire. Toy collectors have spent the past
three decades scouring the nearest system for action figures
cast in her likeness.
So
iconic is that first vision of Leia -- a white-clad damsel in
distress -- no fewer than 10 action figures have attempted to
recapture Leia as we first saw her. One of the most prolific
action figures in the entire Star Wars line, so far Princess
Leia has been rendered as an action figure 36 times. There's
no end in sight.
She
may not have been a committee when she uttered that memorable
line in "The Empire Strikes Back," but there are certainly
enough Princess Leia action figures out there today to form
numerous committees.
Our favorite -- No. 1:
Princess Leia Organa (Kenner - 1978)
Call us old school, but we love the original Princess Leia action
figure for the very reason that, like Leia, she is beautiful
and substantial. Sure, she doesn't have flexible limbs or flowing
gowns, but sometimes there's just no beating the classics.
Our
least favorite -- No. 5:
Princess Leia (Hasbro - 1995)
Hasbro's first take on Leia, released when the toy-maker resumed
the line in 1995, cast Leia as some kind of sumo wrestler /
steroid-taking monstrosity -- call her Leia Van Damme. Horrible!
Don't get us wrong. At the time we were just happy to have Star
Wars action figures back in stores after a 10-year hiatus. And
Hasbro proved it could do better in more recent versions of
everyone's favorite rebel princess.
Honorable
mention -- No. 6:
Princess Leia (Jabba's Prisoner)
Slave Leia as we called her was probably one of the most anticipated
action figures since the first Early Bird Kit set. We spent
countless hours scouring stores before we finally found her.
If we had the Imperial Navy at our command, we would surely
had dispatched probe droids to the far reaches in search of
this Leia action figure. Priceless!
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