I am so excited about today’s unboxing – the Premier Collection Padme’ Amidala statue by Gentle Giant! I have been patiently waiting for this to arrive ever since it was first revealed, and it’s finally here! As a huge Padme’ Amidala fan and collector, of course I had it pre-ordered the second it was available, and the wait was worth it.

Check out my unboxing video –

This statue is part of the Premier Collection line by Gentle Giant (owned by Diamond Select Toys). I have been collecting Gentle Giant for absolutely years now, and while I wish I could collect all of their Star Wars pieces, I tend to focus on my favourite characters like Princess Leia, Padme’ Amidala, and Rey.

This limited edition piece has a edition size of 3,000 – I’m glad it wasn’t a small run, so more fans can add this wonderful statue to their collection. I am always keen for more Padme’ Amidala items to add to my collection, and would have been devastated to miss out on this one!

Of course, the first thing I check for when opening up a new collectible – check for any flaws or damage. Thankfully damage is rare, even with international shipping, but sadly it has happened a few times. This statue arrived safe and sound – a huge relief! A quick check over all the pieces, and it’s time to assemble the statue.

This Premier Collection statue is 1:7 scale, it stands approximately 24cm tall. I have a few other Premier Collection statues, and I think this is really nice scale – big enough for a decently sized statue, but not so big as to take up a lot of display space, and space is always an issue for collectors!

Some Gentle Giant statues are assembled from a number of components, some arrive as one solid sculpt. This Padme’ Amidala statue has three pieces – the large arena base, Padme’ Amidala, and her right arm holding a blaster. So, not very tricky to put together.

Padme’ Amidala herself connects to the base with two metal pins on the underside of her left boot – this connects into place very securely. Her right arm attaches with a magnet – this also clicked into place easily, but I can wiggle the arm up and down. Personally, I am a little worried this might accidentally get knocked out of place, so I will remove that piece when moving the statue to a different display space.

The paint job on Padme’ Amidala is fantastic – the sculpt looks like her, the eyes are good, and the hairstyle is sculpted really well. I really like the details on this statue – including small elements like the texture on her belt that looks like leather, and the subtle arena dust weathering on her boots.

It was a long wait for this statue, and it was worth it. While I know some fans are frustrated that many companies choose Padme’ Amidala’s Episode II arena costume for designs featuring her (when she has so many other amazing costumes to choose from), but I realise that this scene lends itself to some great action poses. Hopefully we will see many more wonderful Gentle Giant statues featuring Padme’ Amidala’s other outfits – I know I would buy them all!

Overall, I am really happy with this Padme’ Amidala statue – I am especially fond of Attack Of The Clones, as that film sparked my Star Wars collecting journey. This statue arrived on 16th May, which coincidentally is the 21st anniversary of the release of Attack Of The Clones – a perfect way to celebrate!

Now I just need to do a bit of rearranging so I can fit it alongside my other favourite Padme’ Amidala pieces – another fine addition to my collection!

May the Force be with you!

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After reorganising my Star Wars studio room, I had the opportunity to display some of my favourite collectibles that needed a safe and protected space. To celebrate my favourite Star Wars characters, I put together a Women Of The Star Wars Saga display area, to showcase some of my most treasured collectibles in a spot where I can see them everyday.

Checkout this video of my new Star Wars display –

This is of course not all of my Rey, Amidala, and Leia collectibles, but this display includes some of the largest/heaviest pieces, and ones that really need a secure display space away from sunlight and excess dust. The sturdy drawers provided a great platform for heavy pieces like premium format statues, and they are all now in a room that has blocked out windows to protect from sun damage – a concern of mine, especially with pieces with fabric details.

Rey collectibles –

• Sideshow Collectibles Rey premium format statue
• Gentle Giant Rey Milestones Statue
• Gentle Giant Rey Dreamer Statue
• Kotobukiya Rey Descendent Of Light Artist Series Figure
• Hot Toys Deluxe Rey and BB-8 12″ Figure Set

Queen Amidala collectibles –

• Robert Tonner Queen Amidala Celebration Gown Doll
• Robert Tonner Queen Amidala Trunk Set Doll
• Gentle Giant Queen Amidala (Throne Room Gown) Mini Bust
• Limoges Queen Amidala Porcelain Trinket Box

Princess Leia collectibles –

• Sideshow Collectibles Princess Leia Premium Format Statue
• Lladró Princess Leia Porcelain Statue
• Royal Selangor Princess Leia Pewter Figure
• Gentle Giant Princess Leia (Bespin Gown) Mini Bust
• The Bradford Exchange Princess Leia Treasured Reflections Statue

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This life-size statue of The Child aka “Baby Yoda” from Star Wars: The Mandalorian was first announced and made available for pre-order from Sideshow Collectibles back in January of this year. The first wave of orders have started shipping out to eager customers around the globe. You can still place an order for this realistic 1:1 collectible either locally via Mighty Ape (affiliate link) or direct from Sideshow Collectibles, but the expected delivery date is sometime between January and end of March from both of those sources.

The Child is distributed by Sideshow, but is crafted by Legacy Effects, who made the original “Baby Yoda” puppet that was used on-screen in The Mandalorian series. It comes with a solid base, and a Razor Crest control knob that he can hold in one hand via magnets. This full-scale version of the character is not articulated, but an articulated one made by Hot Toys is also available (Mighty Ape; affiliate link).

We’ll shortly be taking a ton of photos and videos in order to post a full review, but in the first instance wanted to get a video made that shows everyone how he comes in the box, so without further ado, here is our unboxing video straight from when the shipping carton was dropped off by the courier.

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In 2017 Gentle Giant released this Darth Revan statue, depicting the Sith Lord as seen in the video game Knights Of The Old Republic. The 1:8 scale sculpt features Revan with two lightsabers, standing on a scorched step base.

This was one of the Premier Guild gift options for 2017 members – and to be honest, while we’ve been guild members quite often in the past, this Revan statue was the sole reason we joined in 2017! We are big fans of KOTOR and the Old Republic era, so this statue was a must-have for our collection.

As with most Gentle Giant products, this is a limited item with an edition size of 700 – our statue is #272/700. The sculpt is really good, with great detail – the lightsaber hilts reference Revan’s appearance in Star Wars The Old Republic.

We have this statue on display next to our other Darth Revan and Old Republic collectibles – it matches nicely to the Darth Malgus and Darth Malak mini statues also made by Gentle Giant. Revan’s pose has great movement to it, which works well with the two lightsabers (my main SWTOR character is a sentinel that carrys two lightsabers, so I always have a soft spot for characters with two sabers).

Darth Revan is now part of the ‘Legacy’ era of expanded universe content, so it’s great to still see the popular character being including in modern merchandise – I really hope we see Revan brought into the new canon era!

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Today, May 19th, marks the 20th anniversary of theatrical release of The Phantom Menace in the United States (in New Zealand, it actually came out in cinemas a little later, on June 10th).

One of our most prominent Episode 1 collectibles is this life-size Darth Maul statue, which we have on display in an alcove that faces our front door… so that he greets all guests that come to our house.

The Darth Maul statues were originally prizes in a competition run in New Zealand at KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants, but in addition to those that were given to competition winners, a large number that were displayed at restaurants found their way into the hands of collectors. I managed to find this one for a very good price at a local second-hand store in 2000. You can read more about the Pepsi/KFC Episode 1 promotion in New Zealand on the SWNZ, Star Wars New Zealand website.

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This ARTFX Jaina Solo figure by Kotobukiya was the first of a new Bishoujo collection. It was originally released at the very end of 2012, depicting Jaina Solo in her X-Wing flight suit with helmet and lightsaber.

The figure comes with a clear base, with a Rebel Alliance symbol insert, which shows through the base. The Bishoujo figures come in pre-painted parts, which snap together – though I found this figure has a few tricky parts – the lightsaber is balanced on her figure via a very small peg, and the weight of the helmet has a tendency to ‘pull’ the left hand off from the arm (I should just glue it at some point).

Sadly, there were only two Star Wars Bishoujo figures – Jaina Solo (2012) and Mara Jade (2014) – and I own both. I would have loved to have seen the line continue, but I’m very happy to have this lovely statue in my collection.

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In 2013, Gentle Giant released this Darth Malak statue as a ‘PBM Express’ exclusive, with limited stock available for Premier Guild members. As a huge fan of the video game Knights Of The Old Republic, I am always excited to add KOTOR related items to our collection. This Darth Malak statue is a ‘mini scale’ statue, standing 7″ tall. Darth Malak is sculpted in an action pose, with a removable cybernetic jaw. The statue is a limited edition item – ours is #69/900.

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