Hot Toys Unveils New Princess Leia Figure

Hot Toys is celebrating Star Wars Day with revealing a new 1:6 scale figure of Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) from The Empire Strikes Back. Interest in the Star Wars universe, of course, surged with the release of the seventh film in the saga, The Force Awakens in 2015. It intensified even more with the success of Rogue One just last year, and is perhaps hitting an all-time high this year with the pending 40th anniversary of the release of A New Hope on May 25th, and the upcoming release of The Last Jedi in November. Joining in the celebration have been toy and high-end collectible makers, including Hot Toys, which has been producing 1:6 scale figures of key Star Wars characters for years.

Hot Toys' official distributor Sideshow Collectibles said "May the 4th Be With You," effectively, on Thursday by unveiling the high-end figure maker's upcoming release of Leia in her iconic planet Hoth costume from Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. Like the Hot Toys' previous release of the 1:6 scale figure of Princess Leia from A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back figure of Leia features a spot-on likeness of Fisher.

In its announcement, Sideshow describes the figurine as follows:

"The strong and fearless Princess Leia holds a very special place in many Star Wars fans’ heart. With her courageous personality and dedication to ending the tyranny of the Empire, she ranks among the galaxy’s greatest heroes and one of the most beloved heroines of all time."

"Sideshow and Hot Toys are proud to officially present the Princess Leia sixth scale collectible figure from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back! The highly-accurate collectible figure is specially crafted based on the appearance of Princess Leia in the film. Featuring a newly developed head sculpt with stunning likeness, sophisticated tailoring of Leia’s outfit as seen in the battle of Hoth, an assortment of weapons and accessories, and a specially designed snow-theme figure stand, this collectible captures all of the details of the great Rebel leader."

Priced at $219, the new Leia figure is about 10.2 inches tall and features 28 points of articulation. It comes eight pieces of interchangeable hands including a pair of relaxed hands, a welding torch-holding right hand, a pair of blaster-holding gloved hands, and three accessory-holding gloved right hands. The figure's costume is a sophisticated, tailored, off-white jumpsuit that includes a beige vest and a pair of gray boots. Other accessories include a blaster, a pair of safety goggles, a welding torch and breath mask. The Leia figure also comes with a specially designed rectangular-shaped figure stand with a "Princess Leia" nameplate and Star Wars logo. Sideshow says the figure is expected to ship anywhere between January to March in 2018.

The announcement of the release is bound to stir some bittersweet emotions, seeing as it's the first figure Hot Toys has produced of Leia since the legendary Fisher's untimely passing this past December. Last year, Hot Toys released a figure of Leia from A New Hope, and the figure sold out not long after Fisher passed away. Expect Hot Toys as well as other collectible makers to honor Fisher's memory with more releases, which hopefully will include figures based on Leia's appearances in Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.