Star Wars Silver Anniversary Figures: Swing to Freedom (Princess Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker)
For the past 34 years or so, Kenner and Hasbro have produced many diverse lines of Star Wars figures, from the Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi production waves to the current Star Wars collection, and as toy making technology improves and more tiny details can be added, the figures themselves are much more attractive and detailed. Costume variations and weathering, accessories (such as lightsabers and blasters), even characters' faces look more detailed and less generic than their 1978-1985 counterparts.
For several years now, Hasbro has released multi-figure sets called Scene Packs, Cinema Scenes, or more colloquially, three-packs (so-called for the usual number of 3.75 inch scale figures in each box), which are assortments of action figures posed in front of a nicely printed backdrop to form a mini-diorama of specific scenes from particular Episodes. Starting in the late 1990s with such Scene Packs as Purchase of the Droids (featuring Uncle Owen, Luke Skywalker and C-3PO) and heading into 2004 with the two Geonosian War Chamber sets, three-packs have been much sought-after collectibles, for they allow collectors to display their figures in ways they only dreamed about as children or teenagers in the 1980s -- and without having to open the packages!
But as nice as the three-packs are, good things, or great figures, sometimes come in pairs.
The Silver Anniversary of Star Wars, celebrated in May of 2002, was heralded (of course) by the release of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. There were also conventions and the publication of various 25-Year retrospectives and Special Editions, including the Star Wars Trilogy novelization anthology. With all that and the very fast release of Episode II to home video (in VHS and DVD), it was only logical that a special set of Silver Anniversary figures be commissioned, as well.
In the spring of 2002, Hasbro released a trio of two-packs featuring six major characters from A New Hope, figures that, as Hasbro's packaging blurb puts it, reflect "the essence of Star Wars -- courage in the face of overwhelming odds, the strong bonds of friendship, and the inevitable confrontation between good and evil."
Swing to Freedom, featuring Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, is a beautifully designed and executed rendering of the "swing to freedom" across the Death Star's seemingly bottomless central chasm. In an attempt to lock the blast door behind them, young Skywalker has also blasted the controls to extend the bridge that spans the artificial abyss. Now, Luke and Leia's only hope is the Imperial-issue grappling hook and cable in Skywalker's "borrowed" stormtrooper's utility belt.
Considering the small size of the figures, the detailing is fantastic. Luke's Tatooine outfit, which in the original 1978 Kenner figure had a perfectly white tunic and yellowish trousers and boots with matching leggings, looks more weathered and "sand blown" into a more beige hue, while Luke's face more closely resembles Mark Hamill's. The eyes are blue and you can see Luke's teeth (a rarity in Star Wars figures) as he prepares to make that heart-stopping swing.
Leia is just as nicely detailed; her right hand grips an Imperial-issue blaster, while her left arm is about to wrap itself around Luke's waist. Her eyes are fixed upon the grappling hook, but we know that in a moment she'll turn to her left and give Luke a quick kiss "for luck."
The plastic base is nicely rendered to look like the Death Star's floor, and the backdrop of closed blast door and wall paneling is nicely recreated (although the control panel, which should look "blasted" is oddly intact), and the eight-sided plastic packaging allows you to view Swing to Freedom from every angle except the extreme rear. This feature allows a serious collector to display the figures proudly without having to open the packaging; indeed, how to take the figures out of the package without damaging any part of the diorama poses various vexing issues. The safest thing to do is, simply put, to leave the packaging intact. Not only will this prevent breakage and/or loss of small pieces, but also it will preserve the value of the collectible.
The other two Silver Anniversary two-packs feature Han Solo and Chewbacca (Death Star Escape, which is actually a pose from a publicity still rather than an actual shot from A New Hope) and Darth Vader and Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Final Duel, which depicts the fateful reunion between the old Jedi Knight and his Padawan-turned-Sith Lord).
For several years now, Hasbro has released multi-figure sets called Scene Packs, Cinema Scenes, or more colloquially, three-packs (so-called for the usual number of 3.75 inch scale figures in each box), which are assortments of action figures posed in front of a nicely printed backdrop to form a mini-diorama of specific scenes from particular Episodes. Starting in the late 1990s with such Scene Packs as Purchase of the Droids (featuring Uncle Owen, Luke Skywalker and C-3PO) and heading into 2004 with the two Geonosian War Chamber sets, three-packs have been much sought-after collectibles, for they allow collectors to display their figures in ways they only dreamed about as children or teenagers in the 1980s -- and without having to open the packages!
But as nice as the three-packs are, good things, or great figures, sometimes come in pairs.
The Silver Anniversary of Star Wars, celebrated in May of 2002, was heralded (of course) by the release of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. There were also conventions and the publication of various 25-Year retrospectives and Special Editions, including the Star Wars Trilogy novelization anthology. With all that and the very fast release of Episode II to home video (in VHS and DVD), it was only logical that a special set of Silver Anniversary figures be commissioned, as well.
In the spring of 2002, Hasbro released a trio of two-packs featuring six major characters from A New Hope, figures that, as Hasbro's packaging blurb puts it, reflect "the essence of Star Wars -- courage in the face of overwhelming odds, the strong bonds of friendship, and the inevitable confrontation between good and evil."
Swing to Freedom, featuring Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, is a beautifully designed and executed rendering of the "swing to freedom" across the Death Star's seemingly bottomless central chasm. In an attempt to lock the blast door behind them, young Skywalker has also blasted the controls to extend the bridge that spans the artificial abyss. Now, Luke and Leia's only hope is the Imperial-issue grappling hook and cable in Skywalker's "borrowed" stormtrooper's utility belt.
Considering the small size of the figures, the detailing is fantastic. Luke's Tatooine outfit, which in the original 1978 Kenner figure had a perfectly white tunic and yellowish trousers and boots with matching leggings, looks more weathered and "sand blown" into a more beige hue, while Luke's face more closely resembles Mark Hamill's. The eyes are blue and you can see Luke's teeth (a rarity in Star Wars figures) as he prepares to make that heart-stopping swing.
Leia is just as nicely detailed; her right hand grips an Imperial-issue blaster, while her left arm is about to wrap itself around Luke's waist. Her eyes are fixed upon the grappling hook, but we know that in a moment she'll turn to her left and give Luke a quick kiss "for luck."
The plastic base is nicely rendered to look like the Death Star's floor, and the backdrop of closed blast door and wall paneling is nicely recreated (although the control panel, which should look "blasted" is oddly intact), and the eight-sided plastic packaging allows you to view Swing to Freedom from every angle except the extreme rear. This feature allows a serious collector to display the figures proudly without having to open the packaging; indeed, how to take the figures out of the package without damaging any part of the diorama poses various vexing issues. The safest thing to do is, simply put, to leave the packaging intact. Not only will this prevent breakage and/or loss of small pieces, but also it will preserve the value of the collectible.
The other two Silver Anniversary two-packs feature Han Solo and Chewbacca (Death Star Escape, which is actually a pose from a publicity still rather than an actual shot from A New Hope) and Darth Vader and Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Final Duel, which depicts the fateful reunion between the old Jedi Knight and his Padawan-turned-Sith Lord).
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