Review of Princess Leia Hoth - Star Wars ESB
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

While it might seem like Hot Toys entire Star Wars focus is on the new films, they are still producing a nice assortment of characters based on the original movies.  I just reviewed their exceptional Grand Moff Tarkin, and tonight I'm checking out a new Princess Leia.

This time, they are dipping into Empire Strikes Back, my favorite film of the entire franchise. There's a lot of reasons it's my favorite, but one of the big ones is Hoth. I liked everything about the opening sequence, especially the costume designs.

This Leia is wearing her cold weather gear, bundled up against the elements. You can pick her up for around $215 - $220, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
Same old, same old. This is a basic shoe box design, with a cardboard cover over the interior plastic trays inside.  The graphics are decent, and it's all collector friendly, but there's nothing particularly unique or exciting.

There's a piece of plastic wrap you might not notice at first. I didn't. It's around her neck, fairly low inside. You'll need to pop off her head to remove it.  You'll actually see it in a couple of the photos because I thought it was part of the costume at first, and got some shots I really liked before removing it.

Sculpting - ****
Hot Toys has done their share of beautiful Leia sculpts. I was a little hard on their New Hope version, because I felt it was too much of a slack expression. It was accurate, just not exciting.

They've upped their game just slightly here, creating a little more life and emotion. Not a ton by any means, but the eyes are slightly squinted, and the muscles in the face appear tighter. She's a little older as well, as you'd expect.

It's a tremendously detailed sculpt, especially in the finely cut hair. If you can sculpt short hair this well, there's never any need for a rooted replacement.  I like this particular style too - I was never a big fan of the ear warmers look. They have added two thin, short strands in front of either ear, something they've been experimenting with lately and having great success.

She's shorter than most figures of course, coming in about 10 1/2" tall, and looking about right with the larger male protagonists. The hands are also better in terms of scale, unlike her male counterparts.

Paint - ****
It's Hot Toys. Did you really expect anything short of an amazing paint job? The hair and hair line look amazing, the eyebrows, the bright lips, the make up around the eyes...it's really impressive.

I will say that there's a little bleed in the eyes, with darker whites than I'd like, but that's an awful minor nit, especially in hand where it's almost impossible to notice. The eyes really sell it in hand, with the way they reflect and create natural catch lights.

Other details are equally impressive, like the plastic pieces on her vest and jumper, and the various small details on the accessories. Everything is extremely realistic, and that's due in large part to the quality paint job.

Articulation - ****
The photo below is one of those where the silly plastic wrap is still on the neck, but this shot was making a particular point so I still used it.

The ball jointed neck works well, and there's a joint at both the neckline and down at the torso. The head can lean and tilt in a variety of ways, giving every pose more personality and realism.

The shoulders, elbows and wrists provide great arm poses. The vest and jumper are less restrictive than you might think, thanks to their use of a soft, flexible material. The jumper doesn't affect the knees and hips a whole lot either, and you can get deep stances. Sitting doesn't work great, but she shouldn't be sitting down on the shelf anyway.

The photo below shows how good the ankles work.  These are not two piece boots, but the material is soft and pliable, allowing plenty of rocker movement. You can get the feet flat on the ground in even deep stances, which goes a long way to stability and realism.

The figure can take shallow to deep stances, and does so with great flow and realism. You can't ask for much more.

Accessories - ****
For this price point, we don't get a lot of accessories with a Hot Toys release...usually.

But this time they stepped up, giving us some very cool character specific extras. She starts out with seven hands - she comes wearing a relaxed pair, and there's three additional rights for holding various accessories. These are all gloved, and she has a pair of bare hands as well, perfect for holding some other specific extras. The gloved hands swapped easily, but the bare hands were tough. There's a couple extra wrist pegs just in case.

She has the necessary blaster, which looks great in her hand in a billion stances. She also has a wielding torch, attached to a power box with a long flexible wire. There's wielding goggles she can use as well, just to be OSHA compliant. The two bare hands are designed to work perfectly with these shop tools.

Another extra can be worn as well - the breathing mask and tank. The tank can clip to her vest, while she wears the mask over her face thanks to a sturdy elastic band.

Finally, she has a display stand. It looks like a grated floor, but this time it's lightly dusted with a snow effect. You won't have to use it, but it does provide some consistency in the display.

Outfit - ****
It's hard to pick a best feature on this figure with some many done right, but I think it's the costume that sells the overall quality for me.

It's three pieces: the vest, jumper, and boots. The quality of the material is exceptional, and the tailoring and fit is nothing short of amazing. This sort of tailoring creates a truly realistic look, and sets a sixth scale figure apart from the crowd.

The jumper isn't designed to be removed, which is what really allows it to fit so well. The outer vest isn't bulky, at least not in a way that would put it out of scale. Even the collar, a tough area with any costume, is properly padded and sized.

But it's those boots, those amazing boots, that takes it over the top. They could have gone with a two piece design, thanks to the strap that wraps around at the ankle, but they didn't. Instead, they went with a very pliable, soft material which allows for mobility and looks fantastic.

Fun Factor - ****
Great looking figure, key film character, important costume that fits in great with a bunch of other characters on the shelf, super articulation, and interesting accessories - you can't get much more fun than this. Today you'll find lots of ways to pose her with all those other Hoth themed figures, and thanks to her articulation and accessories, come up with a bunch more tomorrow.

Value - ***
Original retail on this figure was round $220 - seriously! You can still pick her up for $210 - $220, depending on the retailer, and even at that price this is an above average value.  She's got plenty of accessories and a unique, well done costume. With too many Hot Toys figures going for $240 or more now, this release is a breath of fresh air.

Things to Watch Out For -
Whenever you're posing or working with the figure, remember to pay extra attention to those little strands of hair by her ears. I didn't have any trouble with them, but I could see issues if you aren't careful around them.

Overall - ****
There have been some very nice Leia figures over the years. Hot Toys has another coming soon, based on her look in the latest film.  But it's going to be tough for them to ever do one I'm going to like more than this.

It's the combination of quality and my love for this costume.  This was an action outfit, a bad ass outfit, a warrior outfit. And it was from one of my favorite sequences in all the movies on Hoth. This is a figure that's already on the top of my list for best sixth scale female of the year - Hot Toys has set the bar high once again.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - ****
Accessories - ****
Outfit - ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ***
Overall - ****

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Sideshow has her for $220 as well.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
The last Leia that Hot Toys produced was based on A New Hope. Other Hot Toys Star Wars figures include Grand Moff Tarkin, Executioner Trooper, Jyn Erso, Old Luke, K-2SO, Yoda, the deluxe Deather Trooper Specialist, the regular Death Trooper Specialist, the Shoretrooper, Chirrut Imwe, the most recent Darth Vader, the Jedha Patrol Trooper, the Resistance Outfit Rey and the regular Rey with BB-8, a fantastic set. I've covered lots of other Hot Toys Star Wars figures, including the Battlefront Shock Trooper, Finn and Riot Control Trooper, Captain Phasma, the FO Flametrooper, FO Snowtroopers, Kylo Ren, as well as the First Order Stormtrooper. Other Hot Toys Star Wars figures include the recent Darth Vader, C-3PO, Tatooine Luke Skywalker, Luke in his Stormtrooper Disguise, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Han and Chewbacca from ANH. If you'd like a bit more of a regular Stormtrooper, they've done him as well, along with a Blackhole version.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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