I actually opened this doll a few weeks ago, i'm just a lazy bum and hadn't gotten around to uploading it.
See, when this set hit the UK stores were asking a frankly ludicrous £50 for it! like wtf were they all smoking? Ridiculous. Especially when you consider the US prices were nowhere near that. Sometimes I honestly think toy companies just WANT to fail in the UK market the way they price stuff, that or they're all blithering idiots and think we're all loaded over here.
Either way, i'm pretty fed up of being price gouged by retailers with their absolutely obscene RRP nonsense.
Fifty quid is ridiculous.
But it's not a problem unique to Hasbro. Mattel do it, MGA do it, they all bloody do it. Man, if only we brits were that rich, sheesh.
Anyway,
as a result I was waiting for the price of the set to come down because i'm not bloody made of money and i'm not paying that sort of price for a bloody playline doll.
I could buy a sodding Pullip for that!
So when Amazon finally got their shit together and dropped the price to a far more tolerable £15:99 (having already dropped to £30 which is what she SHOULD have cost in the first bloomin' place!) I pounced.
I love Leia, she's awesome, but here's the funny thing. I didn't actually discover Star Wars until I was at least 13. In NZ it wasn't shown every christmas like it apparently was over here in the UK, and my father was a bit of an elitist geek and preferred his sci fi less westerns in space and more serious and nerdy. I grew up instead with an awful lot of Star Trek and I honestly haven't got much recollection of us all sitting together as a family and watching family movies. We either went to the cinema, or videos were put on to distract the kids while the adults did something else.
Maybe we did sit together and watch stuff, but I don't remember doing so. It's weird.
Anyway, it means that I was into my early teens before I finally rented episode 4 and watched it.
And a LOVED it.
Now what is particularly strange is that I watched the bloody Ewok movies as a kid! I remember watching bloody caravan of courage or whatever the hell it's called when I was like 8, so why the hell did I never watch Star Wars? It's so weird!
And my grandparents had a load of Star Wars toys including puzzles which I used to love to play with.
They even had the ewok board game!
I used to force my Nana to play it with me because I loved the little cardboard characters and the board was so colourful and fun.
It's one of those puzzles and the fond memory of my Nana though that makes this particular Leia costume my favourite.
As a kid the only image I had of Star Wars was a puzzle at my grandparent's house of Leia and Wicket. I had no real idea who the hell the woman was or what an Ewok really was, but I loved that puzzle. It had funny curved pieces which I found really interesting.
I'm pretty sure this is it.
THIS image was my first real exposure to Star Wars, and as a result, when I think of Princess Leia I don't think of her white gown and silly bun hairdo, I think of this. Camo poncho, funny banana hat (the top part always makes me think of banana splits okay? Husband thinks i'm wierd for this but omg it's a banana! it's white and segmented!) and a bloody Ewok.
Endor Leia is MY Leia, and so there's a real sentimental feeling for me toward this costume.
So obviously when asked "which Leia doll do you want" my answer will almost always be "ENDOR!" or that awesome bounty hunter costume when she breaks Han out of Jabba's palace <_< I think i'm just a sucker for a lady in a poncho and boots lol.
Like the other forces of destiny dolls Leia comes in a plastic fronted box with an easy to remove card insert.
And the back of her annoyingly shiny and thus hard to photograph box just has a short blurb about who she is. I love the artwork. Wicket looks cool and I do rather like how the artwork looks pretty much like the actresses if they were disnified haha (which is pretty much what they are right?)
Leia is now a Disney Princess after all, she's the best disney princess <_< >_>
Once you get all the stuff off the backing card it's a lovely sunset in Endor with the huge trees and platforms of the Ewok village. Nice touch.
Almost all the FOD dolls seem to use this orange and purple colour scheme, which I kinda like because it makes a change from the pink pink pastel and more pink you usually get with doll lines, or the prevalence of black and silver from action figure lines.
The blister pack part of the packaging was, like Sabine's, not actually properly glued to the backing card. It felt like there was some mild adhesive but not enough for it to stay stuck in transit, so the backing came away clean without tearing any backdrop.
Made the whole thing a lot easier to debox.
Except that damn arrow, that thing was near impossible to remove bah.
This is everything that came in the box.
Doll, helmet, Ewok figure, bow and arrow, spear, spare shoes and an extra dress.
This Leia is the only FOD doll to be released with an alternate outfit and as a result, the only one without any molded clothing or stupid gimmick.
I... kinda wish they'd just gone this route with ALL these figures ffs.
Wicket is flocked, kinda like a sylvanian families toy. He has a plastic features and his hands are molded so he can hold both the tiny bow and the spear.
His cowl is made of soft rubbery plastic with a molded texture and little molded stitches. It works fairly well, a fabric cowl wouldn't really have sat very well I don't think, fabric at small scale often looks weird (just look at the old Kenner figure of Leia's Endor outfit for instance. Poor girl's pretty much drowning in fabric there!)
The cowl comes off with a little fiddling. Wicket has what looks like a separately molded face place so his eyes, nose and mouth are free of flock. It looks a little odd but then it's also very accurate to the Ewok costumes of the movie (which if you look closely at them are pretty damn creepy).
Wicket has molded texture all over his body that adds to the flock to give him a very soft teddybear sort of look to him.
The flock is pretty decently applied, I couldn't find any bald patches on mine.
The bow and arrow are a sort of beige tone and molded to look like wood. They could both I think do with a little paint on them.
The arrow has a little notch in it so it can fit into the bow's string. The string is flexible too, not very, but enough that you can "draw" the bow to look like it's ready to fire.
Unfortunately Wicket can't actually do this himself as his stumpy little arms can't bend at the elbow lol.
He's got hip and shoulder articulation so he can sit, his head also moves side to side but can't do this when he's wearing his cowl.
He's a strange size. He seems a little too short for an Ewok, according to stills from Return of the Jedi he should come about up to just under Leia's hip. This figure is more like knee height. He feels just ever so slightly underscaled. Just an inch taller and he'd be fine I think. A shame. The r2d2 from this line has the same problem, he's a little too small to be in scale with the figures. WHY Hasbro? WHY?
Wicket is however a damn well made figure and on his own is really a rather nice little toy.
Leia's doll I personally think is a pretty decent likeness. Oh sure, she's Disneyfied, but I feel like the doll is a better likeness than the artwork is for sure. There is something very "Carrie" about the face of this doll I think. It's a cartoonish likeness, but a flattering one nevertheless. Certainly I think it's a more flattering direction than the old Kenner Leia who's frankly a little scary.
Leia's hair is all pulled back into a complicated braided bun thing. Of course, being at this scale it means the bun thing sticks out a little further than it should with real hair, but i'm not sure what they could have done there. Some things just don't scale down, complicated buns are one of those things.
Her poncho is made from slightly shiny thin fabric which isn't very screen accurate but feels like it's pretty robust. It has a hood which has a slit in the back for the big ol' bun to fit through. But it looks strange up because it's sewn into a funny kind of point at the front.
The poncho is longer at the back than the front with slits in the sides for the belt to cinch it together.
Leia comes with a blaster which she can hold very well in her blaster hand. her other hand is gripped into a fist but she hasn't got anything to put in it so it looks a bit weird to me.
Her belt has molded pouches on it. None open, but her holster holds her blaster well.
Her trousers are made of thin slightly shiny fabric as well, pale blue with a yellow stripe down each side. They are full length sort of jodpur style trousers under those boots, which is nice.
The boots are soft and can be removed nice and easily, something long boots often have a problem with.
She also has her banana hat.. I mean.. helmet. This one doesn't look as banana-like as the puzzle picture but that's because the beige colouring is across the whole thing is a bit browner than I remember it being. Maybe it's lighting in that scene of the movie.
The helmet is a PAIN in the butt to get on. Her big bun gets in the way and even after you squish that down it feels like the helmet is just a tad too small for her head, so it sits really high up.
It doesn't quite look right to me.
and getting the chin strap to clasp took a LOT of effort omg.
I don't think a kid would have much luck with this accessory.
Under her outfit she has molded and textured underwear and a sort of boob tube going on lol. Random.
Her body is decent and fairly realistically proportioned. Her head is oversized of course and her limbs are long, but almost all dolls are like that.
But she feels a but more reasonably proportioned than "morning after" Barbie here (excuse her look, she's from the kid's toybox and feeling a bit rough)
Leia's legs are shorter, her neck and waist wider, her limbs broader and her bust smaller.
And she has actual feet instead of little hooves like Barbie.
(My camera decided to act up here)
The Forces of Destiny dolls actually have very little bust at all.
She is articulated at the knees (a fairly standard hinge joint), elbows (hinge again) and wrists (her hands are removable)
She also has hip and shoulder articulation which is pretty average.
Her articulation is nothing special. It's nice to have, but she can't really pose that well anyway. Her elbows can barely manage 90 degrees, nor can her knees.
She can fit into Barbie stuff, sort of. It's a bit loose in her waist and bust.
Barbie can fit into Leia's pants and poncho, but her hips are too wide to get the extra dress on.
The shoes are waaaaay too big.
The extra outfit is the dress from the end of Jedi, when they're partying with the Ewoks. Leia's hair is down for these scenes but there's no way i'm taking her hair down, i'm fairly sure I wouldn't be able to get it back into a bun again.
The dress is made of a sort of fleecey fabric which I feel is a strange choice. Why make the poncho from shiny thin nylony stuff but the dress in fleece? Surely the poncho should have been fleecey and the dress like.. cotton?
It's weird.
The dress has sewn in layered sleeves, a fabric belt and printed on lacing and stitches.
It's an okay garment but the printed on lacing combined with the strange fabric choice make it feel well, a bit cheap and odd to me.
I'm not really sure about this dress.
it fits the doll nicely, the skirt drapes quite attractively at different lengths but the sleeves are very very tight which means it's impossible to get this onto any doll that doesn't have removable hands. There just isn't enough give in the sleeves to even get it onto THIS doll without removing her hands. Not sure how kid friendly that is either.
She comes with a spare pair of shoes too, which go with the dress. They're fairly nicely molded but they don't seem to actually fit the doll very well. Because of Leia's flat feet they couldn't really do strappy shoes like this out of molded plastic and have them able to be put ON the doll without making them just a touch too big for her feet. As a result they don't look right when she's wearing them, they look gappy and wrong.
I don't much care for this alternate outfit. It's made of strange fabric and the shoes fit badly so all around just none of it really works for me.
I can't help but feel like maybe that extra money should have been better used making Wicket an inch taller and more in scale with the doll instead of this rather hasty feeling secondary costume.
Back into her proper outfit she looks more complete and finished. Certainly the Forces Of Destiny figure is a better likeness and a more flattering and attractive toy than the old Kenner figures.
I admit though, it amuses me that dolly Leia can hold her action figure.
My only other gripe about this figure is that I WISH she'd come with a second set of hands (hey maybe that instead of poorly fitting shoes!) because the clasped fist and trigger hands look frankly bizarre and a little crass when there's nothing being held in them.
In certain poses she looks like she's gesturing that the viewer is a wanker or something. not a good look for a toy. Ahem.
And I mean I like grippy hands and I love that she can properly HOLD her blaster, but why does she have a grippy hand as well? what is she supposed to be holding? She doesn't come with any other accessories she CAN grip. None of the figures do. She looks silly holding Wicket's weapons because they're so teeny so what's she meant to be hanging onto? Why could she not have had a relaxed pose hand and a trigger hand? It'd have been a bit less rude than a clasping wank hand.
How do you pose this hand so it doesn't look strange or rude!??
So final thoughts?
I do like this figure. She hasn't got the problematic gimmick of the other FOD figures, those gimmicks that never work and just add expense to production and retail. Her body is nothing revolutionary (gosh imagine these on a properly articulated body like Made to Move?) but it means you can pose her enough on a shelf to look dynamic and cool. Her costume could have been done better but for a playline toy it's well made, just made from some rather odd fabrics. I love her boots, I love her belt and blaster and I love her face. I wish her helmet sat just slightly lower so she didn't look like she had a megabrain head under there.
All in all? She was worth the £16 I spent on her, but there's no way this set was worth £50.
Wicket is really cute and a well made toy, but he's not scaled correctly to the dolls and while that probably doesn't bother kids, it bugs the shit outta me. But he's heavy and he's pretty immediately recognisable as an Ewok. I'm not convinced about the bow though, he can't hold it properly so what's the point?
Overall, there are strange decisions made with this set. The fabrics seem swapped around and wrong, the decision to give Wicket TWO weapons but not give Leia anything to grasp in her other grippy hand is a bit weird and her gaping sandals just look bad.
Her whole secondary outfit I really could just leave. In fact, i'd have very much preferred the doll just came in this outfit, maybe packaged with a speeder bike to justify the £50 price tag. I would have bought that at full price man!
As always, I feel like the forces of destiny dolls are a line that has potential but is badly implemented. The prices are too high for what you're getting across the board, they seem to not really know if they're making a doll or an action figure and so we're ending up with a strange hybrid that appeals to neither market and the decision to release a billion and one variations of the same three characters is frankly bewildering.
I get the feeling this line has already failed. Hasbro got cagey with me when I asked about the release schedule for Asokha (who was supposed to be released in April but never appeared) and that makes me wary. Last time I asked about a release date for Sabine I was given actual info and they said they were looking into it and she "should be in the next assortment due out in February" (which actually turned out to be true, she HAS finally hit the UK) but this time the same person told me "we can't comment". That sort of vuage wishy washy response in contrast to how helpful they were last time suggests to me something hasn't gone to plan and the line might have already been canned from on high. We'll see, but i'm not optimistic. Maybe they just got told not to talk to people who email them. I dunno man. It's a bit of a startling contrast though.
A shame, because I kinda wanted Asohka and Luke and was really hoping we'd get at least a Han to go with the group. I mean they did Luke, Leia and Chewie, so where the hell is Han!?
It's looking increasingly unlikely we'll ever see his figure and that's a disappointment, i'd have liked to have had the original group all together in one scale and one style.
Confused as this line was, I have rather enjoyed Forces of Destiny. I like the cartoony style of the dolls, I think they're quite attractive and fun and less creepy than the often hyper realistic figures you usually get. I like that they feel like a toy that a kid can play with, but that a collector can also display. I like the rooted hair on the girls (long hair looks bizarre molded) and the partially fabric outfits which make them look a bit more detailed and interesting.
But I admit, I kinda wish they'd gone more the fashion doll route like this Leia. Given them ALL proper fabric costumes and then released the variant outfits as fashion packs (no kid wants or needs 3 Reys or Leias or Jyns, that's ridiculous) and released the little companions as properly scaled figures sold separately (i'd have bought a properly scaled r2 and bb8, loads of people would man. If not for FOD dolls then for any other 1/6 doll or figure they had!)
I feel like the line HAD potential, but it wasn't handled very well. We have had no advertising at all over here in the UK that i've seen, the toys are hidden in a lot of toy stores instead of getting a proper end cap or promotion and so so many stores only got ONE character in massive quantity (like 30 Reys in one store and nothing else, 20 Jynn's in another, nothing else. WHY?)
Distribution was borked, pricing was borked and direction well, felt conflicted and uncertain.
It's not like Star Wars has NEVER done dolls. Back before even Phantom Menace was released we got loads of 12 inch figures with fabric clothing and stuff!
I found them all to be a little too stern faced and characterless personally, okay likenesses but a little too much like a wax work to be that FUN. Cartoony appeals to me, like with the Descendants dolls, it allows you to not have to worry so much about exact likenesses of the actors. As those hideous Beauty and the Beast dolls proved, sometimes, quite often in fact, going for a stylised route is WAY less horrifying than trying to apply playline doll style painting to a hyper realistic head sculpt.
*shudder* that Belle doll... eugh.
Anyway,
I give Endor Leia and Wicket a solid 7 banana hats out of 10.
I like them, i'm pleased to have them, but had I paid more than what I did, I think i'd feel robbed. There's too much that wasn't really done that well, the secondary outfit is just pointless to me and she keeps making rude gestures!
No comments:
Post a Comment