Doctor Aphra Wins Fan Vote, Will Get First Figure in Hasbro’s New ‘Star Wars’ Vintage Collection

At Star Wars Celebration last month, Hasbro unveiled a number of new action figures from across the Star Wars saga. Most importantly however, the toy company announced plans to bring back the Star Wars Vintage Collection, a 3.75” figure series that was massively popular with collectors and fans before disappearing from shelves.

To kick off the Vintage return, Hasbro announced a Jakku Rey as the first figure in the line, but opened up its yearly fan vote to decide the second character to join Rey. After a tight race, only one could be the victor, and Doctor Aphra has taken on all comers to earn her very own action figure.

Created by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca for Marvel’s Darth Vader comic series, Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra is an outlaw archaeologist roaming the galaxy during the original trilogy. Recruited by the Sith Lord after the Battle of Yavin to help Vader complete some secret missions without the Emperor knowing, Aphra quickly earned his favor by completing a number of dangerous tasks that often brought her face to face with the Rebellion.

Despite only being introduced into Star Wars canon in 2015, Doctor Aphra quickly became a fan-favorite character. Her quick wit, intelligence, and willingness to play every side against another to her benefit made her memorable almost instantly. Aside from being a cosplay staple at conventions since she arrived on the scene, she also turned that popularity into an ongoing comic book series of her own at the end of 2017.

Co-creator Kieron Gillen was thrilled by the idea one of his characters might join the long history of Star Wars action figures, as he explained to StarWars.com in the announcement of Aprha’s win.

“I’m of a generation that some of my earliest memories are of Star Wars figures and the magic herein,” Doctor Aphra creator and series writer Kieron Gillen tells StarWars.com. “The idea that someone Salva [Larroca] and I made up is going to be one of those, immortal in plastic, feels all kind of magical.”

Doctor Aphra is not the first new expanded universe character to get an action figure or collectible — her droids Triple-Zero and BT-1 got statues at Celebration from Kotobukiya — but fans proved they were clearly hungry for Aphra merchandise by voting for her here. She beat a number of strong contenders including Emperor Palpatine and Yak Face, but her getting more votes than beloved Ahsoka Tano speaks volumes to Aphra’s popularity.

Though we don’t know much about what her figure will look like — the Vintage Collection isn't due to arrive until 2018 — this variant cover from John Tyler Christopher does give you an idea of what to expect.