The medal ceremony on Yavin, as seen at the end of A New Hope, is one of the most iconic scenes of the Star Wars saga and over the years we have seen a number of action figures recreating the presentation of the medals and that ending shot of our hereos lined up after defeating the Empire and the first Deathstar.
We have already got the Luke Skywalker Yavin Ceremony figure in the Black Series as he was released in 2019. We can now add Princess Leia to that set with this 2022 Galaxy Collection release. Leia in her Yavin Ceremony robes was first released on a POTF2 card back as a Hasbro Pulse exclusive. She then went on to be repacked as the launch figure for the Galaxy Collection A New Hope Series, numbered as 01 and then followed by both Pondo Baba and Dr. Evazan from the same wave. A New Hope has been given an orange colour scheme and this is used on the border that spans three sides of the box and as the accent colour to the Leia artwork on the angled side panel. This artwork has Leia in her ceremony dress and with the Yavin Ceremony backdrop including individual characters in the backdrop such as C-3PO and General Dodonna.
As is the usual format, the rear of the box carries a short piece of text to add context to the character, but not necessarily the Yavin Ceremony or her role within it.
"Princess Leia Organa was one of the greatest leaders of the Rebel Alliance, fearless on the battlefield and dedicated to ending the Empire's tyrany"
I initially expected the Yavin Ceremony Leia to borrow heavily from the A New Hope release Leia, particularly the arms and legs. In actual fact, the arms are new as far as I can tell, and only the upper legs and waist are direct re-uses. The lower legs look new replacing the boots from the first Leia figure with the dress shoes she wears on Yavin. Arms and legs are cast in a base skin tone with the shoes then painted in silver.
The torso features a sculpted top to her dress as well as her necklace. This piece is a white base cast with the skin tone painted and then the necklace picked out in silver over the top. The remaining elements of the outfit are then executed in soft goods. There is a silver belt piece around her waist from which the tailored skirt piece flows. This is a similar material to the earlier A New Hope Leia and while it hangs well enough, it doesn't flow like a real garment and it also comes creased from the way it is packed into the box. The upper soft goods are a lighter almost mesh-like material that are wrapped around the upper arms and flow in two pieces down the rear of the figure. Like the skirt, these hang quite straight and there is a little bit of patience needed to have these flowing where you want them.
The Leia head sculpt is new, and is a very good likeness to Carrie Fisher and on par with the Empire Strikes Back versions from a few years ago. The photo-real face print adds the final touches in terms of details and goes into more details than perhaps previous Leia figures by recreating the make-up she would be wearing in this scene with a redder blush to her cheeks and darker lining around her eyes.
The hairpiece is in two parts, the first piece sculpted as part of the head and potentially a head sculpt ripe for future re-use, although it doesn't seem to be the same as the one used on the upcoming Comics Princess Leia which would be from a similar point in the timeline. Onto this is plugged the larger ornately plaited bun with a single braid that comes down her back and reaches her waist. There is a single brown tone across both hair sections with no added wash or paint apps.
There is a single accessory included with Leia, that of the Yavin Ceremony medal. This is the same piece as used with Yavin Luke back in 2019 cast in a softer plastic and shaped at the end to sit around Luke's neck and then drape naturally onto his chest. It is cast in a beige base colour and then has the medal itself painted in gold with the basic shaping of the medal visible in the sculpt on the face of it.
This is not something Leia wears herself, although she can if you want to go down that route, but instead, the medal fits into her hands in a presentation pose. I would have liked the medal to sit flat for these poses not bend unnaturally outward as you see in the central image below. I am trying a little heat treatment to see if this will flatten out over time.
I can't quite fathom why, but Hasbro have still given Leia a right trigger hand so she can wield any smaller blasters you may have knocking around. I assumed this was because it had been taken off another figure, but it looks much slimmer than the hand used on A New Hope Leia or her Bespin Escape release?
While there will be little need for this Leia to do any extensive dynamic action poses she is articulated pretty well under those robes with 16 points of articulation including - courtesy of the early Leia figure - double-jointed knees. The arms are pinless and a single elbow joint and move sufficiently for medal presentation or in more serene stances with her hands clasped for example.
Despite the petit feet and slight heels, Leia stands very well once posed although the ankle rockers may take a bit of work to tease into a flat foot position and you need to engage the waist and hip joints to align with the ankles so Leia doesn't appear to be leaning forward.
Princess Leia Organa, as seen in the Yavin Ceremony, is a perfectly good Black Series release with a great head sculpt, good articulation and a scene appropriate accessory. Soft goods continue to divide opinion, but they are probably the right choice here and are certainly much improved on earlier examples with the dress acting more or less naturally if not without the folds you would expect.
We do now need a Yavin Ceremony Han Solo to complete the set as like Luke before her, she is a figure that needs to work as a larger group otherwise it's difficult to find a place for her on display. I now have Luke and Leia posed as we see below and I can add in Han if and when he gets a release.
Don't forget to check out the Star Wars figure lineup at Zavvi if you want to add Princess Leia Yavin, or any others, to your collection.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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