I know what you’re thinking. “What? More of those shitty little Star Wars Black figures? Why don’t you review the 6-inch figures, you sonofabitch?” Woah, there! I promise that this is the last of the 3 ¾” Black figures that I’m going to look at before moving on to cover Wave 2 of the 6-inchers. The name of the game this week has been doing quick features that I can squeeze in between my busy schedule. I’ve been intentionally putting the 6-inch Black figures off until January so that I could give them their proper due once things have calmed down for me. I’ve already featured two of these 3 ¾” figures and it’s safe to say that the line has not been kind to me, nor I to it. Let’s see if Natalie Portman can turn the tides!

There’s the SWB 3 ¾” card and I’m still not digging it. I will say that at least this figure’s bubble hasn’t prematurely separated from the card, so that’s something. Contained within the miraculously still attached bubble is Padme Amidala in her strategically torn clothing from Thor: The Dark World “Attack of the Clones.” Hey, Hasbro, if you’re going to do an update to an Amidala figure you certainly picked the right one. Although if you do another, you might want to release her in that little black outfit from that scene where she’s telling Anakin she’s a Senator with only business on her mind while wearing an S&M inspired negligee. Anyway, I tend to think of this release as “Arena Battle Padme” and I’m pretty sure the last time this version was done was way back as part of the original AotC series and that’s when Hasbro was incorporating a lot of pre-posed sculpts and action gimmicks, which meant that the figures often sucked.

No action gimmicks here! In fact… I’m almost shocked to say it, but… holy crap this is actually a really nice figure. No, strike that… this is an EXCELLENT figure! The detail in the outfit is fantastic, right down to the little sculpted piping in the top and the leggings. The boots are intricately detailed, her belt features some little pouches and a working holster and even her bicep rings are neatly painted. Now this is how to properly do a figure in 2013, Hasbro!

Flip her around and she has some rather gruesome scratches across her back as well as tears in her top from one of those arena creatures. The scars are not only part of the sculpt, but also painted in with laser precision. Honestly, I could have done without them, as they are rather gross and off-putting, but I can’t help but respect how beautifully they were executed. Hasbro also did a pretty nice job sculpting Ms. Portman’s derriere. I’ll confess, I’ve grown a new appreciation for her butt after seeing “Your Hignesss.”

The portrait is also quite good for a 3 ¾” sculpt. I’d definitely say this figure features a better likeness to Ms. Portman than Diamond’s recent Marvel Select version from their Thor 2 line (Woof!), and that’s a twenty dollar 6-inch scale collector piece. The likeness here is just superb and the paintwork on the face is crisp and clean!

The articulation here is pretty good, with the only thing holding it back being the T-crotch for the hips. Proper ball jointed hips would have really made this figure perfect and the old style jointing feels dated alongside the rest of the figure’s articulation. The legs feature ball joints in the knees and ankles. The arms have ball joints in the shoulders and elbows and swivels in the wrists. Padme has a ball joint in the torso, which is cleverly hidden under her torn shirt, and her head is ball jointed. Not bad!

Padme comes with two weapons. You get her Naboo-style blaster, which fits comfortably in her hip holster. You also get a larger blaster rifle, which I believe is one she salvaged from a downed Battle Droid, but I could be wrong about that. “AotC” is not exactly one of my “go-to” movies and it’s been ages since I’ve seen it. Her right hand is sculpted to hold the pistol and her left to hold the larger blaster, but I’ve been able to make it work the other way around as well.

After doing two Star Wars Black features with two shitty re-hashes of figures that have been done so much better, it’s refreshing to finally hit a payoff here. Padme is a superb figure and an updated version of the character that was long overdue.  I’d go so far as to say she’s one of the best Star Wars figures I’ve picked up in a while. I got her for $5 during Amazon’s sale, but I would have been perfectly happy laying down ten bucks for this kind of quality. This is a figure that would have been right at home released alongside the other Vintage Collection figures. I believe she was planned for another line that was to coincide with the aborted theatrical re-release of “Attack of the Clones” in 3D and if that’s the case I’m very happy that Hasbro eventually got her to the pegs because she’s a must-have for any collection.