Sculpt—1/5
Do you have the old 1998 Power of the Force 2 Princess Leia (new likeness) figure? If you answered yes, then you know exactly what you're getting here--an utterly average Leia figure. If you answered no then let me tell ya', you're not missing much. In fact, don't ever pick up New Likeness Leia unless you're a completist or mega collector. Sure, this mold is heaps better than the original POTF2 monkey-faced Leia, but these days this mold is looking extremely dated. Hasbro, it's time to retire this one.

It's not that it's an overly bad figure, it's just that there are simply better Leia figures out there. The sculpt work on this figure is decent, with some somewhat convincing folds in Leia's dress and a nice draped look to the parts that are a bit baggy. The sculpted skirt looks a bit too poofy at the hips, but that's the way it's always looked on this mold. But the real reason I disagree with the use of this mold for this figure isn't the fact that it's old or average looking, it's that it's completely inaccurate for a holographic Leia figure. For one thing, the holographic Leia in the movie has her hood up, this figure doesn't. Second, this figure's pose (it's sculpted to hold a rifle with both hands) isn't good for recreating the pleading posture of the movie. And third, the holographic Leia of the movie is very small, unlike this figure which is the same height as other figures. This means you won't be able to recreate the scene from the movie without it being totally wrong. Imagine this full-sized Leia hologram on Ben's coffee table! So let's recount the facts: inaccurate size, inaccurate pose, inaccurate hood, and use of an out-dated mold.

Articulation--2/5
Holographic Leia has six points: neck, shoulders, waist, and hips. By today's standards, this is below average, but then again this is a 1998 figure, so what do you expect? It would have been nice if they had used a newer Leia sculpt or added some articulation but that would go against Hasbro trying to save every penny they could.

Accessories--NA/5
Hasbro was about to include a holographic blaster and sporting pistol, but at the last minute they realized that that doesn't really make sense, so they kept them out of the final product. The spaces where the guns would have gone are still present in the plastic packaging.

Paint--1/5
This figure features no paint at all. It's simply molded in translucent purple plastic. I don't mind translucent purple (or blue) plastic for holograms that appeared purple or blue in the movie, but certain holograms had color to them, and Princess Leia was one of those holograms. A little color like holographic Luke Skywalker would have been nice.

Packaging--3/5
This package goes back to the style of the Original Trilogy Collection with only slight changes. The name card in the bubble no longer has the OTC logo, but instead simply has the Star Wars logo. A sticker on the front of the cardback shows that this figure was a SDCC exclusive. The back continues the OTC-like design with a large photo of what a holographic Leia figure should look like.

Overall--1/5
There's really not much to like about this figure. We already have a great holographic Leia figure--it came with the POTF Commtech Chip R2-D2. This figure was simply a cheap excuse for an exclusive figure. Taking a crappy figure and molding it in translucent plastic does not a great figure make. Hasbro simply needed an exclusive, and since holographic figures seem to be their new flavor of the month, they took a crappy idea and ran with it. I feel like a sucker for buying this figure and I hate that. Worst. Exclusive. EVAR!!!

--Photos and review by Garett Yoshimura
garett@carrotnetwork.com