Slave Leia Statue by Gentle Giant

This statue has been on my want list for a long time, but auctions for it always seemed to go a bit higher than I wanted to pay. Finally, though, I was able to get one for a very good price. I mostly get Slave Leia items when they are part of a larger scene or series of Jabba’s Palace characters, but I made an exception for this piece, even though it’s basically a standalone statue without any companion pieces.

So far, no company has come out with a high-end 1/6 scale figure of Slave Leia (Hasbro’s figure doesn’t cut it by today’s standards). This is mostly because her nearly naked body poses huge challenges for an articulated figure. I’ve seen a number of customs that people have made, and they usually end up looking rather bad simply because of all of the exposed joints. Since this statue is 1/6 scale, a lot of people have decided to use it in their 1/6 scale Jabba displays, along with the Sideshow Jabba the Hutt. Unfortunately, she doesn’t come off of her base, so she doesn’t really fit in all that well with the Jabba display. I have seen a couple of people who have managed to remove the Leia part of the statue from the base so that she can be placed on Jabba’s throne, but from what I understand it is rather difficult. I don’t think I’ll be trying that.

I’d say the likeness is pretty good. Gentle Giant’s standard paint applications have a tendency to make statues appear artificial looking, but I think the underlying sculpt is a good one. It’s definitely better than Gentle Giant’s Slave Leia mini-bust. I do think they fell into the common trap of making her more buxom than Carrie Fisher actually was, though. I also think that her facial expression is a bit too sultry — even though she was in a sexy outfit, she was more defiant than anything during the Jabba’s Palace scenes. That’s one thing I like about Sideshow’s Premium Format figure, as it shows some of the character’s strength.

If you asked me what the best Slave Leia statue was, I’d say it’s a tossup between this and the Sideshow Premium Format figure. The PF has size on its side, and is a non-standard pose (which can be either a plus or minus depending on how you look at it), while the Gentle Giant piece probably has the better likeness. Both of them would look best with a repaint, though. In any case, I’m glad to finally add this to my collection.