QUEEN AMIDALA FAO SCHWARZ ROBERT TONNER DOLL FROM 1999
- JB
- May 5, 2020
- 3 min read
(aka, the most expensive Amidala doll you can (probably) get, if you can find it)
Happy May 4th and welcome to Star Wars week!
I wanted to kick off the week by taking a look at some of the very cool collectibles I’ve been able to track down over the years. The first thing on the table; one of the most expensive Queen Amidala items you can get. If, of course, you can track it down first.
This is the Queen Amidala Victory Gown doll from Robert Tonner back in 1999, as part of the FAO Schwarz limited items, and it was only available at the FAO Schwarz stores. She is an 18.5-inch tall porcelain doll with highly detailed clothing, replicating the Victory Gown worn at the end of The Phantom Menace.
As you can see, this Amidala is gorgeous. From The Phantom Menace we got a handful of dolls from Hasbro, which are very nice to be fair, and some 3.75 action figures that still live on my shelves. However, post The Phantom Menace, there was only one more Amidala doll release and very very few action figures of the Queen turned Senator. As a big Amidala fan, once I discovered that the Robert Tonner doll existed I set up some eBay searches and took to the internet to track her down… only to find blog posts from back in the early 00s and barely any info on her out there at all. It took at least another 3 years for the doll I bought to appear on eBay, where a very kind seller in Germany agreed to ship her over to the UK for me. She put me back about £300 plus shipping, and I was very happy with that price as the long dead eBay listings of other dolls were about £400.
Robert Tonner made two versions of this doll, which adds to the confusion, and there is very little promotional material I have been able to find that goes through either doll in detail. Here is what I’ve been able to find over the years:
Victory Gown ver (400 pieces) – this is the doll I own (I think)
Comes with:
- yellow outer box with Naboo crest printed all over, and a portrait of Queen Amidala
- certificate of authenticity, and number out of 400
- Victory Celebration outfit: white dress, petal cape, fan-like headpiece (that clips to cape), shoes with purple detail, tights, jewelled forehead piece (mine is missing this), clear stand with Naboo symbol
Trunk set ver (200 pieces)
Comes with:
- Blue trunk with Naboo crest printed on front to keep both outfits and the doll in
- Victory Celebration outfit (same as above)
- Senate kimono outfit: advertisement shows a blue kimono, however all other images/promos I have found show a (more accurate) light pink kimono, with red under dress and gold belt
- Fan hairpiece with draping beads
Interestingly, the fan hairpiece from the Trunk set seems to turn up on it's own with the Victory Gown ver. I have one with mine, and several auction listings seem to have it too. I don't know if this was included in error, but it seems strange that several of them seem to include it.
The ad... which has been scanned to such a low res it's basically unreadable...but shows a blue kimono, rather than a pink/silver colour kimono
Asides from the advert (which maybe shows a prototype blue Kimono), the only other printed information I’ve found on the doll is a Little Debbie card from Rancho Obi-Wan, which I believe are collectible cards that come in Little Debbie packs in the US. It shows the pink version of the senate Kimono, and on the back the following info:
Also, in the background of a shot at Rancho Obi-Wan in the Netflix show The Toys that Made Us, you can see the Victory Gown and pink senate Kimono dolls stood in a cabinet.
I’ve put together a video of my doll (above), showing her outfit, all the details and the packaging for any of you who may be looking for her. When I was hunting, it felt like I was chasing after scraps from nearly 2 decades ago, and many links and auctions had long gone dead. Though she’s very rare (I’ve only seen two go up for sale, and one of them I bought) and the trunk set even rarer, if you are and Amidala fan and have the money to spend and the time to wait, she is wonderful. Incredible craftsmanship was put into this doll and she looks most impressive on a shelf or as a focal piece in a display. Though Padmé is woefully underrepresented, I’m happy they at least made this work of art. Happy searching!
Sources and links (accessed as of 22/04/2020)
Pintrest board where I’ve collated all I can find:
Other sources:
The Toys that Made Us – Season 1 Episode 1: Star Wars
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