Review: Star Wars Black Series Princess Leia Organa (Endor) from Return of the Jedi, Galaxy Collection Wave 2
- Mephitsu
- May 5
- 4 min read
“You're a jittery little thing, aren't you?”
In 2020, the Star Wars Black Series releases included a Return of the Jedi theme, headlined by that year's SDCC Exclusive, The Heroes of Endor set featuring new figures of Luke, Han, Leia, and Paploo from the battle of Endor. Han, Luke, and Leia went on to get single releases in the fledgling Phase 4 Galaxy Collection, included in the 2nd full wave of general releases alongside figures including Cad Bane, The Armorer, Hoth Rebel Soldier, and Phase I Clone Trooper. The Return of the Jedi figures were given a green accent colour in the new packaging, which was used on the text and side artwork. Princess Leia is number 03 in the ROTJ series, her artwork connecting to the Teebo figure from Wave 1 and onward to Luke and Han from the same wave in the connective side-art montage.
Leia’s figure, identical to the one seen in the Heroes of Endor release, is the outfit she wears during the arrival on Endor and through to the battle at the Endor bunker. This is made up of her Rebel military uniform of blue trousers with yellow piping, and a green and beige short-sleeved tunic. Over this, Leia wears her soft goods camouflage poncho, with a softer plastic black belt fastening it in place, exactly as it was on the 1983 figure from Kenner. Other than the base colours and trim decor, there are no further paint apps on the figure itself other than black boots with grey soles, with a further painted belt buckle in silver and grey and black on her wrist communicator worn on her left wrist.
The belt holds in the final part of the costume, a green camouflage soft goods poncho that includes a tailored fitting and a stitched back hood. The material, like that used on Jedi robes, hangs well on the figure, and while it can never mimic properly scaled fabric, it doesn’t look out of place and works with the sculpted parts when posing the figure.
The head sculpt is another strong Carrie Fisher likeness, improving heavily on the older ROTJ ‘Hutt Slayer’ Leia and on par with the Empire Strikes Back releases from 2018. And like the Hoth & Bespin releases, facial print tech enhances the sculpt. The hairpiece is simple, yet inclusive of Leia’s iconic plaits. It is kept tight to allow the removable combat helmet to be worn. This is cast in softer plastic with green and brown detailing as well as battle damage as chipped silver paint and a yellow and red Rebel insignia to the right-hand side.
The helmet slips on and off with ease, fastening with a chin strap and tiny but well-engineered plug-in socket. You can also remove the belt by way of a similar clasp, which provides the figure three individual looks with or without poncho, and with or without helmet - the latter as we see her at the Rebel briefing ahead of the Endor assault.
The final accessory is Leia’s Defender Sporting blaster that fits into a working holster on the hip of her belt, and also into her right hand. This weapon is sleek in its design and lacks a lot of detail, but it still features visible rivets and bolts with the end nozzle picked out with a splash of silver paint.
Endor Leia has 17 points of articulation, all of which are pinless. She pre-dates the more extensive use of butterfly shoulders so relies solely on single elbow and shoulder joints. These are sufficient for most gestures and weapon poses. Her legs are fully mobile, allowing Leia to kneel if needed, while the torso has a small level of waist movement. The neck is dual-jointed, although most of the movement is on the top part, with the base being limited by the collar of her uniform.
Princess Leia from Endor is a pretty much perfect Black Series release in that we get a great looking screen accurate figure, with strong likeness to the actor, and articulation that supports the majority of the poses we would look for. It also harkens back to the original ethos of the Black Series, providing multiple looks within the same figure using swap-out parts, and the removable helmet and poncho work brilliantly, or they can be removed for a General Organa from the Mon Calamari cruiser.
All in all, a very well-designed and well-executed figure that would also go on to feature in the 2023 ROTJ Anniversary line, paying homage to the original Kenner figure that it mirrors in many ways.
Keep Track of all the Star Wars Black Series figures from Hasbro at our comprehensive
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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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