'03 | #04 Padme Amidala - Droid Factory Chase (Reviewed 03-30-2003)

Includes:
• Cloak
• Pistol
• Droid Factory Base

Shameless Tramp - Yet Another Padme

Spice: The third version of Padme has arrived and it is nice to see this one isn’t frozen in a permanent Right Guard commercial pose. It is also a nice bonus to see Hasbro do something productive with packaging these things with stands. The add on feature to make the droid foundry is an excellent idea, I am surprised Hasbro thought that one up all by themselves. There is an incredible amount of detail in this particular figure, as well as several points of articulation. Seems Hasbro is tearing a page from the Mcfarlane crew and making these things do more than be statues. There are many outfits for this character but this is the one that probably should have been released first. I think this may be the best figure made of Padme to date. Click thumbnail for large image J - I am very dissappointed in this one Spice. It has the same problem that so much of Hasbro's product output has. They kill it with an overall poorly designed facial expression and add a terrible paint application to really put the cheese on your steak. Cuffs and collar don't match when the hair isn't painted and the huge dialated pupils make her look like she has just been administered eyedrops. The worst thing about it all is that she has torn a page from the never-ending Anankin and Mace story with the gaping maw. All I can think of is some shameless tramp screaming at me whenever I look at this face sculpt. Click thumbnail for large image Spice - Shameless was the way they produced a zillion of the other versions of a worthless figure like Padme Arena Escape. This one at least moves! Also this figure while has a drab expression doesn’t appear to be constipated like some of those versions of Anakin Skywalker in recent incarnations. Would you expect her to be all smiles while running for dear life in the Droid foundry? Sure it is a little dull, but I can’t really see what else they could have done to make it appear better. If she did have the fear of God in her eyes she would look like the constipated Speeder bike Anakin. J - Sorry man, I can dig their intent, but she still looks like she's crying out for more. And the worst is the empty areas of her hair line that didn't get hit by the paint tool in production. I know this gets tricky when you're mass producing these figures, but they are doing amazing things with tampo-tech methods and yet they keep making these toys' heads look like they are wearing a bad toupe'. I remember Mon Mothma (POTF2), Han Solo Bespin (POTJ) and myriad others suffering from the same ailment, and countless others in all your colections. As an opener, little slap-dash sloppy practices like this make me think less of Hasbro's quality as time goes on here. I try to promise that I won't get sidetracked on other issues when reviewing these figures, but this is one of the MANY things you pay for every time you make a purchase!

Spice - The facial expression is something I can live with. There are several different poses that you can create with this one; as I mentioned before the articulation is fabulous. The only thing they left out was that the elbows aren’t jointed. That would be too much like a G.I. Joe, and they would never make a perfect figure would they? The weapon fits perfectly both in hand as well as in the holster, but I can honestly say I hate the soft goods weapons. Why did they switch to this garbage? I don’t seem to remember having a problem with the hard plastic they used to serve us. That is back when Kenner was on the package and these things seemed to be that much better than the originals. Sure they look a little better with the real scan technology, but I really think the older figures 1997-1999 were better than what they are giving us now.

J - The mushy weapons are a constant source of irritation but I do like the holster on this Padme. On mine, both hands drop the gun with a loose grip, but I can deal with that. Instead of mushsy soft goods weapons, why not have the planned soft goods cape that was boasted by the manufacturer a few months ago? Again, caustic polypropelene is cheaper than fabric remnants even with oil prices on the bubble again. Now, I do like the posing possibilities with the legs, but the arm articualtion seems useless to me. And unless you have her in svelte sneering sprinter mode, the cape looks like a stucco lathe job. The conveyor fragment stands alone as the one part here that I can vigorously recommend to all you Geonosis freaks out there. It looks like the thing it looks like, or something like that.

Spice - I really like this figure regardless of what her expression is. There are many things to like about it. It also makes good for display purposes in the Arena Playset. Adding the stand on to the pieces sold with that, as well as the Deluxe C-3P0, really makes a cool scene. This is the one good idea Hasbro has had in the past three years so I will give them credit for it. From the looks of things, this is something they plan to do with a number of the figures coming out this year in the Saga line.

J - Let's just say I really dig this figure from the neck down: the tight, well-proportioned body, I mean totally appropriate, with no He-Man quasi-macho elements or Right Guard rampage, really very feminine and accurate too. I think this one and the POTJ Bespin Escape Leai figures have the tightest workin' bodies out there and it shows. The face makes me want to pop this noggin out of the socket and screw in a Padme pilot head with the wrong hairdo. The base is great but the cape crashed in my book.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Spice - They are really making the Droid factory battle scene very complete with the additon of this figure, and the new R2-D2 (stay tuned for that in future Sandwatch features). I think they could have maybe used a real cloth cape, as they should have with the Tusken Raider. I agree with you Jason, it must come down to a cheaper price for the plastic vs. the cloth. In the grand scheme of things I have to give this figure the thumb of approval. Thumbs up.

Jason - I keep saying 'Can you imagine ... her face on her body.' If this one came with a head variant like the dizzy ass Tantive Troops I could totally dig it but this one doesn't pass the J slammin' package criteria - thumbs down again for another slap dash Hasbro 'minit-market' job here.

 

Grades	J	Spice
Visual Impact	6.9	7.5
Detail & Paint	4.0	6.9
Accessories/Weapons	8.8	9.1
Articulation/Function	8.3	8.1
Overall	6.2	7.9

 

+	great figure to use in the arena playset
-	could they not have found a better portrait of Natalie Portman for the insert?
+	this WAS a must have, why they neglected to do this costume thus far is beyond me
-	a little more attention to the head sculpt and the elbow joints they may have had a perfect figure

(Figure '03 | #04, Asst. No. 84861, Item No. 84923, Backing Card P/N 6190300400, Window Insert P/N 6190540400, Date code 23511 (1st shift on 351st days of 2002; can be unique for different samples of the same figure) )

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