Lego 75327 Luke Skywalker Red Five Helmet

It's been a while since I received anything that I preordered. But at least Lego haven't been too delayed in getting their stock out. Here is my quick look at the new Luke Skywalker Red Five Helmet set.

Looks pretty good setup next to the Sideshow X-wing Luke 1/6th scale figure and the Lego UCS X-Wing.

Hot Toys MMS588 Lando Calrissian

Any day that Hot Toys releases an original trilogy Star Wars figure is a good day for me! It's great that with this release, Hot Toys has tackled a character that hasn't been done for years in this scale, and is a massive improvement of course from the old Sideshow Lando figure.

Click the link below to watch my video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can subscribe too and stay tuned for upcoming reviews!

The set doesn't come with too much, but I guess there really isn't all that much to include from The Empire Strikes Back for Lando Calrissian. What has been included is all nicely done to do a great job for essentially a pretty simple figure.

The cardboard Cloud City backdrop is a little tacky though, and the way the flaps fold and connect is not very secure. But at least the weapons, communicator devices, and swap out hands are all well done. The cape is a nice felt material with some good stitching, although it is a pain to attach to the figure and look natural (more on that later).

The figure itself has a fantastic head sculpt. The slight smile is OK, but I actually would've preferred some sort of cheeky smirk. Either way, it has the typical Hot Toys realistic skin tone and fine texturing in the hair. The figure's outfit is beautifully tailored, and my favourite part of the figure. The shirt is a similar material to the cape, and is tucked in nicely and moves/folds in very realistic ways.

The pants are also well tailored, fitting well over the padded body. The belt looks a little plasticky, but from normal viewing distances is OK. The boots are the typical pleather material used for previous Star Wars figures, and still look nice with the outfit.

As mentioned earlier, the cape is a pain to put on the figure. It has movie-accurate straps that go over the shoulders and under the armpits. Just be careful in pulling on the elastic straps to make sure the collar can fit snugly around the neck. There is a small wire in the collar to bend it around the neck once you have the cape oriented the right way.

Eventually you can get it to sit quite naturally. It does tend to balloon out at the rear, but that's mostly hidden on display so just try to make the folds look natural from the front. The gold inner lining is a nice contrast to the baby blue material of the outer cape and shirt. I actually used a light iron to get out some wrinkles out of the box. Using a bit of water spray and the iron helped to tame it a bit.

Once set up, the figure does have a lot of shelf presence, and looks fantastic for such a simple figure. Together with the rest of the Empire Strikes Back rebels, the glaring omission of a Han Solo from the movie is readily apparent. All figures that Hot Toys have released from Episode 5 have been fantastic figures.

I really do hope that Hot Toys announce more Han Solo figures soon, as I would love to have a variant from Empire Strikes Back as well as his Endor outfit from Return of the Jedi. Here's hoping 2022 brings some good news for Star Wars collectors!

Lego 40483 Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber

Lego has a tradition of giving out freebie gifts with their larger Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series sets. This year is no exception with this new Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber set being sent out with orders of the new UCS AT-AT.

Click through below to check out my quick review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel! Make sure to like and subscribe to stay tuned for the upcoming review of that massive AT-AT set!

Hot Toys MMS551 Princess Leia and Wicket

Any original Star Wars original trilogy release by Hot Toys is usually a cause for celebration, and this new Princess Leia and Wicket set is no exception! This set is the perfect complement to the previous Endor Luke Skywalker release, with awesome work on Wicket in particular!

Click through below to watch my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can give the video a thumbs-up and subscribe too!

The set comes with a nice array of accessories, as you would expect in this price range. The 2-pack includes the battle damaged Death Star Trooper and Stormtrooper helmets as extra incentive to get the set instead of the individual figures. The weathering is very nice, and the internal details of the Stormtrooper helmet is great like it was one the Luke and Han disguise figures.

The printed bases are a little disappointing in that they aren't a sculpted diorama piece like the Luke figure had. But I guess there's only so much they could use that mold for apart from sand and snow! At least there is some foliage pieces to add around the stands to give that forest effect. The tree stump is perfect to hold the helmets.

The array of hands is pretty standard, but I do like Wicket's hands that use the same sort of tech as the previous Chewbacca hands. The weapons with Leia's pistol and Wicket's spear are also nicely sculpted and painted, although some mixed media on the spear would've been a nice extra touch. There is a bit of mixed media in the helmet, just like there was with Luke. They are essentially very similar helmets, with the main differences being internally where they need to fit around their respective head sculpts.

Leia's general outfit is nicely tailored, with a nice fine material too. Nothing hinders the articulation, but the boots need the usual care around the ankles. Make sure not to pull the pants out of the boots, because getting them back in properly would be an absolute pain in the arse I think!

Removing the white protective plastic around the neck was easy enough, but the rest around her upper chest is difficult. I ended up just leaving it there because I was going to display her in the poncho that covers it anway. They really should make it easier to remove.

Getting the pouch off the belt to slide through the poncho takes a bit of patience to delicate remove it without breaking anything. But once the poncho is one and belt tied nicely, she looks absolutely fantastic. The colour of green is quite movie accurate I think, and the material is nice without being too delicate. The thin edge wire allows a bit of control as to how it flows.

Wicket is definitely the highlight of the set. It would seem to me that Hot Toys has taken the lessons they learnt from the two previous Chewbacca figures, applied them to Wicket, and made a fantastic little representation of the Ewok.

The fur around the face and belly appears to have varying levels of dark wash/weathering between the single figure release and the 2-pack. For me, the amount of dark wash around the face and belly is a nice balance, with subtle effects that look very realistic in hand. I think the face sculpt is great, especially when the fur around the face is fluffed up a little to fill and spill out around the cowl.

The rest of the body had some internal fat suit applied, which I think hinders the articulation at the hips for the legs. But the level of articulation for such a small fat figure is quite nice, with all the range of motion you'd want in the head, arms, and legs.

As a character displayed on the shelf, it looks incredibly realistic, and perhaps a better use of the fur technology developed for Chewbacca. I just hope they decide to make use of it and announce other Ewok characters!

The head sculpt for Leia is a reuse of the Hoth Leia figure, with a slightly darker facial paint app. It's a beautiful sculpt and the realism in the skin texture is the usual high Hot Toys standard. The back of the hair comes off to accomodate the helmet, which does leave a noticeable gap near the braid when the hair is put back on. But in a usual display, it won't be immediately obvious to the average person.

The little hair pieces near the sideburns are an area of concern, so be very careful if you plan on putting the helmet on. For me, I'll never be putting on the helmet, especially when the instructions have a warning that prolonged use of the helmet may cause paint transfer onto the head sculpt.

As an accompanying piece to the Luke Skywalker figure, Hot Toys could not have done a better job! The diorama pieces all look fantastic with each other, and the extra helmet pieces really makes for a great display piece in the collection.

Now I just hope Hot Toys hurries up and announces an Endor Han, or at least a Bespin Han! I have no idea what the hold up is, but hopefully fans get the announcement we've all been waiting on for years now! In the meantime, if you're a Star Wars fan, I can't recommend this set more highly - get out there and add it to your collection now before you regret it!

Hasbro Black Series Luke Skywalker Battle Simulation helmet

I wasn't planning on picking up this helmet, but here in Australia the Myer Store had a 25% off sale on the helmet over the Easter break. At AUD$150, I figured I may as well get it to display with the EFx Stormtrooper helmet that I've had for a few years now.

Overall, I'm really glad that I ended up buying it! It looks pretty nice in hand, and the sound and light effects are a nice bonus that the kids love. My video review below gives you a view from inside the helmet as to what you see and hear when running the simulation. With both Battle of Yavin and Hoth sequences, it's a pretty fun way to wear the helmet!

Hot Toys MMS517 Luke Skywalker Deluxe

The announcement of this Deluxe version of the Return of the Jedi Luke Skywalker figure was bound to rub many collectors the wrong way, especially those that had already purchased the original MMS429 Luke Skywalker.

But the alternate head sculpts and hair, along with the additional Endor outfit and accessories, made it a pretty easy decision for me to get this Deluxe version too, even though I had the first figure. When they announced the Endor Leia and Wicket figures, it solidified my decision to get this to display the core cast of characters in their Endor outfits, as well as Luke in his classic outfit from the Jabba skiff battle.

Click through below to watch my full review of the new Deluxe version of this Luke Skywalker figure. Also further below is my original review of the first release of this figure. Hope you can check that one out too!

As all Deluxe sets should, this comes with a decent array of accessories. Some I probably won't ever use, such as the deleted scene desert cowl and googles. They're a nice to have, are look to be pretty nice quality, but I just wouldn't have Luke displayed like that in my cabinet.

The sand base is a reuse of the mold used for other figures like the Sandtrooper and Snowtrooper, so is getting a bit boring. It doesn't really suit the Endor environment either. I think the forest flat printed base shown for Leia and Wicket looks much better.

The lightup arm and saber are the same as before, and I never use them, especially for figures like this where it's been reported to be an absolute pain in the arse to swap out. The hands are nice, with a few that are unique to this set. I'll definitely be going with the gloved hand holding the pistol for my display.

The alternate head sculpts are surprisingly good! I didn't think I'd like the slightly open mouthed head sculpt, but in hand I think it looks great! I'll be using that with the windswept hair in his classic Jedi outfit and robe/sash. The paint application is fantastic, and both are obvious improvements over the original head sculpt that seems a little flatter and less detailed. Even the paint app for the hair pieces seems more detailed with better variation.

The pic below shows the new figure on the left, with the original figure on the right. The fat suit they used on the original figure does make it look too bulky in the chest/torso area. The new figure doesn't use a fat suit, and so the proportions are more accurate to his look in the movie. The outfits are essentially identical, although the newer one on mine seems to be tighter around the neck.

The Endor cowl and helmet are nicely done. I was surprised that they used fabric on the top part of the helmet, which adds a nice touch of realism. The cowl is a nice material with a very thin wire along the edge to help with posing.

The stitching around the hood is very good and allows it to fold flat against the back and shoulders for a natural look. The camo colouring is decent, and fits nicely over the original figure to hide the bulky chest.

For both figures, I've used the two new head sculpts, since I find them far better than the original. Sure it's a shame Hot Toys didn't release a two-pack with all of this stuff included. But I think this separate release gives all the options for collectors to buy which look they prefer, or everything!

The new "looking to the side" neutral sculpt looks great especially when setup in his Endor gear. No I have a spare neutral sculpt from the original figure I need to find a use for! With the two figures now all setup, I can't wait to get Leia and Wicket later in 2020!

Hot Toys MMS468 Emperor Palpatine Deluxe

Hot Toys continues to release great Star Wars figures, and the recent Emperor Palpatine is no exception. They do pretty well on the original trilogy figures, and this Emperor goes perfectly with the Royal Guard and Vader figures.

Click through below to watch the full review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Make sure to give the video a thumbs up and subscribe to stay tuned for more reviews! :)

Box art is the usual style, this time being pretty large with the inclusion of the throne in this Deluxe set. The accessories aren't too extensive, but I guess the wasn't much to the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. I won't be posing him with his force lightning accessories, and they are a bit of a pain to place with the fingers. I do like the glossy black cane, but again won't be using that either. The key accessory for me is of course the throne itself.

 The throne looks quite nice, but could be a bit on the small side. The light up features are pretty useless too, but I think the biggest fault is that the base sits too high. This means it's an absolute pain in the arse to get him seated in the throne and have his feet touching the ground!

Having the Emperor look like a school kid sitting in a large chair just doesn't look great. The best that I could do with the articulation of the figure almost got the feet there. You definitely have to use as much of the ab crunch as possible, and angle the head down as far as it can go. Bend the legs and knees enough to get him slouched in the throne and you should be able to get it decent enough. Pointing the feet downwards also helps with the illusion.

The other difficult thing with him seated is getting the hood of the cloak to remain low over his forehead. Due to the slouched pose and the stitching of the hood, the tends to ride back up his head, revealing too much of his forehead. He looks much more menacing with the hood low. I'll have to keep futzing mine to try and keep it low.

 Other than those complaints, overall I think it looks great. The costume material is nice, and Hot Toys did a great job with his clothing under the cloak. It's a great soft material and luckily doesn't hinder articulation too much.

The cloak is a nice reflective material, but does take a bit of work to drape naturally over his arms and body. I tried as best I could to match the scenes from the movie showing him in the throne. in the end, it looks pretty good on display with the other imperial forces. If you're a Star Wars original trilogy fan, then I'm sure you'll love this figure.

Hot Toys MMS429 Luke Skywalker (Jedi Luke)

I think Hot Toys released the Jedi Luke figure back in June or July 2018, but the Australian distributor didn't get stock until December for some reason. So it was a long wait, but definitely one worth waiting for if you're a Star Wars original trilogy fan.

Click through below to watch my full review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Make sure to give the video a like, and to subscribe to the channel and stay tuned for all my upcoming review :)

Packaging is the standard Hot Toys Star Wars design, with some decent pics of the prototype figure on the front and inside cardboard insert. The range of accessories is actually decent for this release, with the Jedi cloak and Death Star base being a couple of standouts that are not included in the Deluxe version to be released next year.

The Jedi robe is a nice soft material similar to that of the Anakin Skywalker figure. The swap out lightup lightsaber arm by all accounts is a bitch to put on, so I didn't even bother trying. It's a shame HT didn't include a separate lightsaber gloved hand to all the non-lightup lightsaber.

The lightsaber hilts themselves are nicely painted as always. I'm not sure how accurate it is to the movie, but I'm not that big a stickler for those minute details in accessories. There's a range of hands for various poses and to hold the blaster. There are two swap out base covers too, with the sands of Tatooine and the floor grate of Jabba's palace being the options depending on the accessories you use with the figure.

The head sculpt is always a focal point, with many not liking the slightly open mouth. I actually don't mind it too much, since Luke did spend a lot of time in the movie with his mouth slightly open! What I think draws attention is the slightly elongated mouth area that gives him a bit of a fish look. The prototype didn't seem to protrude so much, but overall I think it's decent.

The figure does have a fat suit underneath the black outfit. This helps to pad out the joints, but does hinder the articulation. This lack of articulation is mostly in the torso rotation and ab crunch areas, which are really needed to get him into that iconic pose on Jabba's skiff. I did the best I could because I really couldn't be bothered taking off all the clothes and removing the fat suit.

With the black Jedi tunic on over the core black outfit, the fat suit is not very noticeable. I prefer this look which is the way he looked on Jabba's skiff. The belt over the top of the tunic belt was only ever seen briefly in the movie when he spoke to Leia on Endor I think. So I'll stick with just the tunic only.

Posed up he looks quite nice. What's lacking of course is the windswept hair to match that scene, and HT have deliberately included that only in the Deluxe version to be released next year. Luckily that comes with another head sculpt and his Endor outfit, so I'll be using the windswept hair with this sculpt and the other one can wear the helmet that he wore on the Speeder Bike.

The boots are really nicely done, and it's great that HT have fixed the ankle areas so that they don't collapse like they did on the first few figures like ANH Han Solo. The range of motion is good too, so you can have his feet flat on the more dynamic poses.

The tailoring and fit of the core black outfit is pretty nice, and the magetic flap to fold down the top right corner for the Death Star duel is a nice touch. The pants can get a bit tight around the groin area, so I tried to lower the top of the pants and raise the parts tucked into the boots to give it a bit more flexibility. Overall I think he poses quite nicely with the lightsaber.

This Jedi Luke is another nice addition to the original Star Wars collection from Hot Toys. Side by side with the other Luke releases, this new figure fits in perfectly. I actually think the new head sculpt is perhaps the most movie accurate of the three. A lot of collectors seem to like the DX07 Bespin Luke, but I don't particularly think the likeness is that good. The three outfits below are my favourite for Luke, and Hot Toys has definitely done them justice.

Hot Toys MMS459 Leia Organa

I absolutely hated The Last Jedi, and it made me angry in so many ways. I was going to pass on all the figures, but since Hot Toys did not release a Leia figure from The Force Awakens to go with Han, Chewie, and Luke, I decided to get their release of Leia from The Last Jedi.

Overall it's a pretty nice figure as expected by Hot Toys. Click the link below to check out by full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe to the channel to stay tuned for upcoming reviews :)

She certainly doesn't get packed with much at all, coming only with a stand, a few hands, blaster gun, and homing device. The gun is essentially the same as that from A New Hope with a few paint app changes. The home device looks too delicate and fiddly to place around her wrist, so I didn't even bother.

As always with fairly simple figures, the most critical aspect is the head sculpt. And again Hot Toys has done a great job. The likeness is pretty good, and the detailed stranding in the hair sculpt proves again why Hot Toys is the top of the game.

I think the sculpt could have been helped with more wrinkling in the face is give it a more realistic aged appearance. Hot Toys does tend to stylise their female figures and make them look younger or sleeker than they really are. But other than that, the head sculpt is great. All the usual paint details, glassy eyes and skin texture are there.

The outfit is not too bad. The material of the outer dark coat is a little stiff and doesn't tend to sit as naturally as I would like. I used a bit of warm water to soften it around the shoulders to get it to sit a little lower, which helped. The material does have a nice sheen to it, and seems quite similar to the cloak of the Emperor Palpatine figure at first glance.

The underlying robe is a very nice soft silky material. Hot Toys does some of the best work with costuming, and the tailoring and pleats are all very nicely done. Overall the complete look is a pretty accurate representation of her outfit in The Last Jedi.

Here are a few pics of the other Princess Leia figures I have in my collection. I'll probably end up getting at least one version of her from each major movie I like. I'll pass on the Bespin Leia outfit, so I'm pretty much just looking out for a new Return of the Jedi figure. Hopefully Hot Toys announces one soon!

Still love these two figures from A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. You can't really get much more iconic than these two Princess Leia outfits from the original trilogy!

Hot Toys MMS423 Princess Leia (Hoth outfit)

There's never been just one iconic costume for Princess Leia, and her style from Hoth is as memorable as any of her other outfits. This new release from Hot Toys does it justice, just as their first figure with her classic Death Star costume.

Click through below to check out my full review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe to the channel and give the video a like :)

Packaging style is what we've come to expect for Star Wars related figures, so nothing too special to write home about. The cardboard insert looks nice, but Hot Toys continues their trend of using inaccurate photos for their figures (eg. they used the Death Star 2 in the background which was not in The Empire Strikes Back!)

She doesn't come with too many accessories, but what she does come with is nicely detailed. I won't bother using the breathing apparatus or welding goggles. But the blaster is nicely painted in glossy black with the silver tip, and she looks great holding it.

The costume is nicely tailored, with great stitch and patch work throughout. Early reports had people receiving figures with strange coloured dots near the areas of patchwork. Apparently this is ink to guide the factory workers and sewers, but luckily mine was fine.

My first figure arrived with a broken arm and Sideshow sent me a replacement body. It was an absolute pain the arse to push the pants of the new body in the boots. I had to use quite a bit of force and one of the little tools Hot Toys gives with their Iron Man figures. That was the only way to push the pant material into the boots without them looking too bunched. I would not recommending taking those boots off for any reason!

The boots are a nice fake leather type material, with good ankle articulation. The overall body articulation is also decent, but the suit does restrict it a little. But you can still get her into a decent pose to try and replicate her attitude.

The head sculpt has a slight difference to the prototype. I do think the head sculpt is good, but could have been better. From some angles it looks perfect, but from others it looks too thin in the cheeks. Still, it's instantly recognisable and on par with their ANH Leia figure.

Overall, it's awesome that we're getting more original trilogy figures from Hot Toys. I really hope they do a Han Solo and Lando Calrissian from Empire one day! If you're a fan of Star Wars, I'd jump on board and grab this figure while you can!

Hot Toys MMS390 Luke Skywalker from The Force Awakens

It's taken seemingly forever for Hot Toys to finally release I think the last figure from their series of figures from The Force Awakens. Perhaps it was all down to some marketing strategy to release it closer to The Last Jedi hype train starting.

Either way, I think it's a pretty decent release if not something that is going to be overly memorable in the scheme of my collection. It's great to have good representations of old Han and old Luke to offset the other younger versions I have from the original trilogy.

Click through the link below to check out my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel! Scroll further down for more pics and thoughts.

The set doesn't really come with all that much to be honest. The bonus preorder stand is nicely sculpted and painted, but other than that all you really get are a few swap out hands. While we're on the hands, the relaxed hand, force gesture hand and its corresponding mechanical hand all seem slightly over sized. When the arms are at his side, the large hands really accentuate the gorilla look.

But swapping out to the more close fisted hands hides the size issue better, which is what I went with for my display pose. Those hands are more suited for posing him pulling back his hood, which is what many collectors will chose I think.

Aside from the hands, I think everything else on the figure is pretty great. There have been a few complaints about the head sculpt, but I think it matches the prototype photos well, and is a decent likeness from the movie scenes I've compared it against.

Similar to the old Han Solo sculpt though, Hot Toys went with a almost golden sheen look to the hair, whereas a much greyer colour would've matched not only te movie, but the colour of his painted beard too.

The outfit is very nicely tailored, with several layers and different materials. I like that they didn't use a wire for the hood, which makes curving it and using some water treatment a better way to pose it around the head. I still need a bit of work on mine, but you get the idea.

The magnets that hold the cloak to the shoulders could work a little better, and need decent futzing to get the material to lie realistically. I think in the last movie scene, the cloak can be seen to actually be sewn to his tunic that runs down the front of his body, which seems pretty silly. But I guess they need that to make sure it stayed on his shoulders! So Hot Toys' use of magnets is probably as best a compromise as any.

Articulation is decent, and getting the arms up for the pose was straight forward. The large and obvious wrist joint that becomes more visible is a bit of an eyesore, but not much can be done about that. Perhaps look for a smaller wrist joint from other figures that have a similar skin tone, which might work to hide it.

The torso area has some definite foam padding of some sort, that really seems to restrict the articulation in the torso area. But for most poses I was going for, it wasn't too big a deal. The material of the pants doesn't hinder the hips or upper legs, so you could go for wider action poses if you wanted.

There's not too much ankle movement though with the use of sculpted boots. The ankle is separate to the calf area, so you can can some rocking action there, but not too much on mine. It would've been nice if they went with material for the strapping and boots, similar to the previous DX07 Luke Skywalker, but it's not too big a deal.

Standing with the other heroes from The Force Awakens, I think Hot Toys has done a pretty great job with all of these figures. Each of them aren't perfect in their own right, with at least a few things to complain about with them all (eg. Chewie's snout, Finn's excessive height, Rey's lack of height).

But together I think they look pretty amazing. The only figures I really hope they make for The Last Jedi that they missed for the previous movie would be General Leia and Poe Dameron. If they make those two for the new movie, I think I'll be happy enough for the new trilogy.

Up on display with the bad guys I have from the movie, I like the overall aesthetic that they went with. Familiar of course, but at least different enough to be interesting. I'm not sure I'll be tempted to get any more trooper figures, but will be interesting to see how Captain Phasma and Snoke play out in the new movie.

So to summarise, if you were a fan of The Force Awakens and started collecting these Hot Toys figures, I think you'll be pretty pleased with this new old Luke Skywalker. I'm sure there'll be a new Luke released for The Last Jedi, but this one will do for me.

Hot Toys MMS369 Yoda

Seems like a long wait to finally get a great original trilogy Yoda, and that's what Hot Toys have given us with this new version. Two great head sculpts and diorama make for a great way to display the little Jedi Master!

Click through below to check out my full review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel :)

Box art is the same style as always, but it's interesting that the inside insert art shows the prototype with just sculpted hair. They added a bit of fluffy hair in final production by gluing it to the sculpt rather than rooting the hair. But it still gives a decent effect that adds to the realism.

Comes with a decent array of accessories to justify the high price point. The light up feature is a nice-to-have, but not something I'll use at all on display. The diorama base with tree give a nice little environment for the figure to rest on.

It's a definite improvement over the previous Sideshow version, especially in the head sculpt accuracy. I particularly like the closed-eye sculpt from the scene where he lifts the X-wing out of the swamp. It's perfect for that Jedi concentration look on display, and that's the way I'll leave it! If you're an Empire Strikes Back fan, this is the 1/6th scale Yoda for you!

Hot Toys MMS298 Princess Leia

I've been a huge Star Wars fan since I was a kid growing up in the 80s. Ever since I starting collecting 1/6th scale figures, the dream has always been to get the core Star Wars cast from the original movie. I could've gone back to get some of the older versions, but being spoiled by Hot Toys quality, I decided to wait.

And now that Hot Toys have finally completed the core cast of heroes from A New Hope, I can definitely say that they have made the dream come true! These figures are overall pretty damn fantastic, and this release of Princess Leia tops it off with perhaps the best head sculpt of them all!

Click through below for my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel!

The packaging art is the usual classy style, with nice editing on the cardboard insert. Unfortunately they've still gone with the Death Star 2 from Return of the Jedi instead of the first from A New Hope! Minor detail, but something they should've known lol

I got the exclusive version with the backdrop of the scene where she hands over the plans to Artoo. It's a pretty flimsy kind of cardboard, so definitely not the quality of the backdrops we used to get in the DX releases. So if you missed out and just got the regular, I don't think it's a big deal at all.

Accessories-wise she's pretty barebones, with some hands and the two blasters that she used in the movie. The big selling point of course is the head sculpt itself. Initial prototype photos looked amazing, and thankfully they haven't really changed too much for this final production version.

The sculpt and paint application is beautifully done. Some figures only have a good likeness from certain angles, whereas this sculpt looks pretty spot on from every angle. The hair is also nicely done, and I'm definitely glad they went with sculpted hair and not rooted hair on this! The buns look great!

Some people have said the facial expression is a little bland. It's a neutral expression for sure, but I think it conveys her natural beauty really nicely. To me, it doesn't have that blank zombie stare like some other Hot Toys female sculpts have had in the past.

The iconic white Death Star outfit has its pros and cons for sure. The overall look for me is great, although the length at the ankles could have been more to reflect the way the movie costume dragged on the floor.

Hot Toys used a very thin material, but luckily it doesn't feel too delicate to touch or move. I think they went with such a sheer material to try and replicate that see-through texture that it had in the movie. But that removes any weight from the costume so it is difficult to get it to hang right on the body.

To prevent the material from ballooning out at the waist and thighs, they actually designed it with some garter belt type straps around her thighs that are then sewn to attach to the outfit itself. I worry that over time that area might get damaged or degrade, so something to watch out for.

The hood is wired, but in the end that is almost its downfall too because it is extremely difficult to get it to lie flat along her back when the hood is down. I haven't bother trying to cover her head with it, so left the wires folded the way they were out of the box. It sat against the back fairly well, but any slight movement will make it start bending away from the body, which ruins a bit of the realism that a nice heavier material would have. The pic below is the best that I could do, so that will be the way it stays!

The boots are nicely done though, with a good leather look to them. The best thing is that they don't have the collapsed ankle issue that plagues the Han Solo figure. I'm not sure if they added extra padding there, or simply that the ankle pegs are not as long to have a gap. Either way, it articulates well without having a bad unrealistic bend in the ankle.

Despite the issues with the costume, overall I think it looks fantastic. As a representation of Princess Leia in her Death Star outfit, this is certainly the best figure ever done for that look. Together with the other figures from the core cast, they all look incredible together. It's taken a while for this setup to finally be possible in my collection. But Hot Toys have definitely made it worth the wait!

Hot Toys MMS297 Luke Skywalker exclusive

Each time I get one of the new Hot Toys Star Wars original trilogy figures, it just brings a sense of joy that only nostalgia for your favourite movies can bring! These figures are simply incredible, and include a great array of accessories. The new Luke Skywalker figure in his Tatooine outfit is now exception.

Perhaps the only negative point for me is that the head sculpt isn't as good as that shown on the front box art! The final production sculpt still seems a bit off, but overall is still a fantastic package by Hot Toys.

Click the link below to check out my full video review :)

Sideshow Collectibles TIE Fighter Pilot and X-wing Pilot Luke Skywalker

It's been a long wait for these two iconic characters to finally reach my collection in 1/6th scale form. Overall I think Sideshow has done a pretty fantastic job, particularly with the TIE Fighter Pilot. The only real negative on the Luke figure is of course the head sculpt and sub-standard facial paint application.

Check out my full video reviews of both figures below! Scroll further down for some extra photos :)

TIE Fighter Pilot:

X-Wing Pilot Luke Skywalker:

TIE Fighter Pilot Summary:

Packaging is the usual Star Wars black and grey style, so not much to discuss there.

Doesn't come with all that much, and the exclusive is an additional small blaster which I believe is the gun that the vintage toy had back in the day.

Best thing about the figure is definitely the outfit, the tailoring of it, and the overall solid underlying body. The details are pretty nice on the molded boots and gloves as well. Together with the other Sideshow troopers, they look fantastic!

The helmet is awesome too, and really shows what Sideshow can do when they don't have to worry about painting a human head sculpt! The helmet looks great, and the soft hoses to the chest piece are nicely done. It's a shame the eyes seem to be painted black, and are not a nice translucent plastic to replicate see-through lenses. But other than that, the TIE Fighter Pilot is a fantastic figure worthy of any Star Wars collection!

X-wing Pilot Luke Skywalker:

As with the TIE Fighter Pilot, the packaging is the stock standard style of these Star Wars figures.

At $240 retail price, there's not much that comes with this figure, which is a shame. At least include a blaster and lightsaber to sweeten the package! At this price, Sideshow really needed to nail the head sculpt, and they didn't which is a huge disappointment for me (more on that later).

The tailoring of the suit is awesome as it was with the TIE Fighter Pilot. The suit looks bright orange in photos, but has a subtle weathering in hand, as well has nice weathering on the white sections of the vest.

The helmet is also nicely done, and separates well to allow for the placement over the head sculpt.

The head sculpt itself is actually very good, and I think is better than the Hot Toys Tatooine Luke figure. However, the flat paint app is what really brings the head sculpt down, where is simply does not have the detail, texture, and realism on Hot Toys head sculpts.

If Sideshow wanted to charge $240 for this, which is actually more expensive than Hot Toys' version which comes with more accessories, then they really needed to get the head paint app right. But there's not that much of an improvement on their previous figures, so in a side by side comparison, the HT version looks better despite not having a better sculpt! Realism in a head sculpt will also win out.

But still, with a fantastic outfit, this still looks pretty great on display. Especially since Star Wars collections have an over abundance of blacks, whites, and other dull colours, the splash of colour that this figure brings is much appreciated!

Posed with the helmet and exclusive version gloves, it does have presence on display, and will definitely look great next to my Lego UCS X-wing!