PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA in HOTH GEAR

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Imperial snowtroopers have been spotted inside Hoth’s Rebel base. Little time remains for Princess Leia and Han Solo to make it to the Millennium Falcon and escape with their lives.”

Kenner’s Power of the Force II hit its high-points for production in 1997 and 1998, as demand steadily rose through the line’s run.  However, as they started jumping deeper into the weird cuts of characters, and production was not scaled back, things started to become stagnant.  The line was subsequently reined in, and refocused, as they prepared for the incoming push for Episode I.  With a great many of the “Freeze Frame” era figures still lingering at retail, the final four figures for the sub-set were released not at main retail, but rather through a Fan Club-exclusive assortment in 1998.  Of the characters featured, by far the most noteworthy was Princess Leia in her Hoth attire.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Princess Leia Organa in Hoth Gear was released as part of the aforementioned Fan Club assortment of Star Wars: Power of the Force II in 1998.  She in particular had an interesting journey to release, first intended for release in the “Complete Galaxy” sub-line, which was cancelled, then intended to go with a Hoth 3D display, which was also canceled, before being moved to single release for an assortment that was also almost cancelled.  At least she made it out.  The figure stands about 3 1/2 inches tall and she has 6 points of articulation.  Her sculpt was unique, and not shared with the Cinema Scenes release of the same design, though admittedly, they’re pretty close in terms of styling.  This one gets a stiffer, more generic standing pose, instead of the more scene-specific one from the multi-pack.  Neither is really better than the other, they’re just different enough to be different.  Sculpting is pretty sharp, and the detailing on the outfit is particularly impressive.  Her color work is also a bit different than the other version, but not better or worse.  The hair’s a little darker, and the face is a little sharper.  The weathering on the outfit is also a cooler shade, and more focussed on her legs.  It still seems a little heavy handed, but it’s not awful.  Leia is packed with a blaster, which is a re-use of the Han-style one that they loved so much.  It’s fine.  It’s not remotely accurate, but it’s fine.  She also gets a freeze frame showing a scene from the Hoth evacuation.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had none of the Fan Club figures as a kid because I honestly didn’t know that was a thing the Fan Club did.  Kinda wish I could have gotten in on such a thing.  Seems right up my alley.  Instead, I’ve been slowly tracking them down.  They’re not expensive, mind you, just a lot less likely to show up than the others in the line.  Leia here was found mixed in with a batch of otherwise not noteworthy figures from the earlier run.  She’s perfectly fine.  It’s crazy how many steps there were to getting her release, but she’s a decent figure of one of the character’s main looks.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.