| Back to
the closet One of the interesting things about world is that mistakes happen. Movies
that are intended to be blockbusters, do good, but not great business; companies that
contract to provide toys in conjunction with that movie over-stock on some items.
Perhaps they misjudge the market, perhaps they don't understand what they can reasonably
expect what people will pay. Like those $60 collector's dolls that were being
offered by Hasbro.
Recently, a ton of these dolls have arrived at KB Toys all over the country, discounted
to $14.99 for the collector's dolls, $5.99 for the play dolls. This includes the 2000
dolls, the "Return to Naboo" purple outfit, and the "Beautiful Braids
Padme" doll. One of my favorite doll sites, "Doll Liberations by Lady Bast"
is currently featuring the "Return to Naboo" doll; check it out. I have
done a compare and contrast of the "Beautiful Braids Padme" where I compare her
to my Generation Girl substitute on another page.
Now I know that I was supposed to do the Senate outfit on my own, but how could I
possibly pass up the opportunity to see what a $60 doll looks like, particularly if it one
of the ones I didn't already have. And also, I must admit to being more than a bit
daunted by the idea of trying to duplicate that horned hairdo without actually damaging
one of my other dolls to do it. You see, so far, I've resisted putting holes in my
doll's heads.
So, I decided to buy the Senate doll, then (GASP!!!) take her out of the box, and
actually take her clothes off, so I could see how the "collector" dolls compared
to the "play" dolls. For comparison, I used a new "Hidden
Identity" Amidala doll (one of those $5.99 specials!), whose costume promptly got
given to another doll, so I now have two handmaidens to wait on these ladies. |
 Yep, this
is the doll, trapped in a cardboard prison. You can just barely see the red $14.99
on the KB price tag |
 The
inside of the box does make a nice display box, but I'm not going to let that stop me, its
time to liberate Amidala! |
|
 |
 |
| In this first picture, we have Amidala, on her stand, flanked by her
handmaidens. She is just out of the box, and still wearing her costume, the outer
robe having a bit of stitching holding it in place. The outer robe is a heavy velvet with
an embossed pattern, and with gold braid around the sections of smocked velvet in the
lower front. The shoulders are also smocked velvet. The cuffs and trim around the
front and neck is a heavy brocade. The color is much darker red than it appears in
the picture. In the second picture, the outer robe has been taken off, and she is
wearing the underdress. You can see how the pleating is restricted to the front of
the dress. The lower sleeves and upper part of the bodice are a patterned brocade
material while the rest of the dress is an orange satin. The back of the dress is
almost plain, since it would not really show with the robe in place. There is a
piece of gold lace in the center of the bodice with gold strings dangling from it.
This replaces the multilayered necklace that this costume is worn with in the movie.
Her neck looks a bit stiff, since she is still wearing the cardboard collar. |
 You can
see in the above picture, not only the collar, but an additional cardboard insert under
the bodice of the dress. Yep, both of these really need to go. |
|
 While the handmaidens hold Amidala's Senate outfit, she
poses next to the Hidden Identity Amidala. She is still wearing her white
underpants.
You can see that she does not have the same body type at all, her color is different,
the body mold lacks some of the definition of the play doll. |
 She doesn't have the
white molded underpant section, and her arms are longer, straighter, and thinner.
She is also a bit taller than the play doll.
Her hands are beautifully molded, much more expressive than the play doll. The
articulation of the doll is no better or worse. |
Here the handmaidens show off the Senate Amidala's clothes, including the red net gathered
half slip, and her red shoes. |
 Redressed, and back
on her own stand, Amidala feels much better after getting rid of all that cardboard.
Notice how her dress now fits snuggly around her neck. |
 A closer look at her
head, with her cresent shaped headpiece. All of this is very tightly attached to her
head, so I didn't try to remove it. The long red pieces and the horn and circular
piece on the top are are a soft plastic, while the bands and helmet shape were hard
plastic. The long strings are golden threads that are glued together. The hair
is heavily glued in place. |
 Another close-up of
the head and face.
Overall, I'm very satisfied with this doll. The costume is very nice, and the
price was right! |
|
|