Dear Vonda, Susan, Julian, Geoffrey and all:
RE: Princess Leia, the action figure
I won't pretend to be an expert, but here is the skinny from my POV on the
Princess Leia action figures.
The current figure under discussion, "Princess Leia as Jaba's Prisoner," is
indeed, as Geoffrey said, the fourth PL figure manufactured by Kenner under
the current license, all of which started just a couple of years ago in
conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the movies. There were SW figures
released in the early 80's, which command pretty good prices as
collectibles in the current toy market, (part of which contributes to the
current state of the toy market, but I'll save my rant on that for
somewhere where it might be on topic!).
Kenner seems determined to mine the movies for all they are worth,
releasing variation figures in every possible aspect for the main
characters (including Han Solo in carbonite, as pointed out earlier) and
several outfits for PL. Also, they are releasing every damn alien ever
glimpsed in any film for the briefest second, as far as I can tell. People
love this stuff. (I have a friend who bought -- no joke -- 3 cases [72
figures] of storm troopers to get the proper battle effect!) All of the
outfits on the small, action figure dolls are plastic. There are cloth
outfits on the line's 12" figures, and Leia in white was made for this
line. The next scheduled Leia is "Leia at the Ewok's Celebration," with her
hair loose and in a brown wrap.
The sculpt for this figure's face looks decent, as does the LAJP (aka Slave
Leia) scuplt. The first two were *really* hideous, I promise. This may be
part of the appeal in the current figure. Other factors: she was not made
in the former series. Female action figures are perceived as more
collectible, and she is particularly "hot" right now. (Sort of the Tickle
Me Elmo syndrome -- but I'm NOT gonna rant. Although I guess I could tie my
rant into Connie Willis and justify it that way. <g>) And, finally, a
contingent of folks out there want a "Leia in Bondage" of their own, for
reasons which probably don't bear close examination. I always thought Leia
was pretty this way, but am really waiting for the Ewok outfit, which is my
personal fave.
AFAIK, Kenner is still marketing to thier original and continued perceived
market: action figures sell to boys, is the common perception. This does
not take into account the growing number of female and/or adult consumers.
In some ways, we should be grateful with this marketing conception, that
Princess Leia gets made at all. More female figures are made now, but they
are still the minority in most lines.
Quick: which action figure line is dominated by females?? "Aliens," of course!!
Stray thoughts:
I have to cast my vote on the side of those who asked, "Why can't a strong
female character wear a chainmail bikini and 4" heels?"
I always thought Lucas was making something of a pro-feminist statement by
casting Carrie Fisher as Leia, rather than a more stereotypically pretty
actress. Maybe that just reveals my own biases...
And, I will never believe he planned the "Luke and Leia as siblings" thing
from day one, personally.
Spawn is a male-- a human male back from hell. There have been female
spawns (the action figure made was called She-Spawn) and Spawn's enemies
include angels, who are sword-wielding, kick-ass babes dressed in scanty
ribbons and assorted armor. McToys (changed from Todd Toys because Mattel
was upset by Todd toys because Todd is a Barbie character...) is one of the
few to regularly produce and ship the same number of female characters to
an assortment as male or other (trust me, this is a wierd line!).
As I said, this is all my observations, and some of the toy info might be
off target. However, with 50 some action figures on my shelf, including
LAJP, I thought I might be a bit more obsess--er informed, than some
others. :)
Maryelizabeth
Mysterious Galaxy 619-268-4747
3904 Convoy St, #107 800-811-4747
San Diego, CA 92111 619-268-4775 FAX
http://www.mystgalaxy.com
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