Well, I can explain the 6” reviews – I actively collect anything Fett and I will pick up Darth Vader items that catch my eye. So I had to get the 6” Boba Fett that I reviewed (as well as the Walgreens Exclusive version, which I won’t be reviewing other than to say it’s just as good as the regular one except white). When I was still hunting in stores for that white Fett I found the wave he comes in – Vader, Jedi Luke, and Chewbacca. Luke looks great, Chewie not so much, and I really liked the Vader. But I thought it was Revenge of the Sith Vader because that’s what Hasbro has been giving us for the past several years. I figured the helmet didn’t come off and that they would make a new one with a different head later down the line.
Side
Note: I don’t like the Chewie because his mouth is open (not a
neutral expression, which is what I prefer on my figures) and I think
the way they tried to conceal the joints with his hair looks really
weird.
Then
Schweck told me that it was a Jedi
Vader and that the mask and helmet do come off, which I could have
discovered for myself if I had just looked at the back of the box. So
then I felt dumb for not buying it and figured it would be a while
before I saw another one. Fortunately I found one in Walmart the
other day (they had Luke and Chewie, as well) and bought it. Along
with another Vader:
I’ll
review him later this week. Or next, depending on the schedule. But
soon.
As far
as Darth goes, when I was a kid I thought he was a robot. I mean,
until 1983 when Return of
the Jedi came out. Even
when he *SPOILER ALERT* told Luke that he was his father in Empire;
I don’t know if that didn’t penetrate or if I just thought Luke
had a robot dad (which Kevin Hart is shooting as the sequel to Ghost
Dad), but when I saw
Sebastian Stan’s pale, decrepit face it blew my little mind. That
was always the big reveal to me and probably why I put so much
importance in whether or not a Darth Vader figure’s helmet is
removable.
I was
never really scared of Darth Vader. As a matter of fact, here’s a
list of ten things from the Original Trilogy that scared me more than
Vader did:
The
Dianoga
Jawas
Everything
on Dagobah
Lobot
Ponda
Baba
The
Tusken Raiders
CZ-3
Bib
Fortuna
Ugnaughts
Pote
Snitkin
Okay, I
probably didn’t even notice Pote Snitkin. But he is pretty creepy
and his name is fun to say. Try it.
There’s
no denying that this is an impressive looking action figure. It’s
large in the box and, well… it’s Vader.
I
like these fancy-pants window boxes for a couple of reasons. First,
they’re easy to spot. Second, they just look nice. But I dislike
them because they are hard to photograph. The plastic is so glossy
that if you use a flash it looks terrible, but if you don’t it
looks like that up there.
Is
it just me or is this Vader a little skinny? Maybe it’s just his
voluminous cloak. Because that is a
lot of
cloak:
Okay.
Sorry.
Everything
else about this Vader figure is fantastic.
Ahem.
The
bodysuit is textured very nicely. The quilted squares are
asymmetrical and conform to the various folds and wrinkles in the
suit. It has the right level of gloss and is uniform across all of
the body.
I
remember the first time I realized that Vader’s armor had silver in
it. It wasn’t from watching the movies, it was when Kenner’s
Power of the Force 2 Darth Vader with Removable Helmet figure came
out. I think it was the first Vader to feature this detail, but I
know it was the first I owned that did. I thought it was some kind of
error or weird design decision. I don’t recall how I resolved it,
but of course over time it became clear that it was correct.
Don’t
even get me started on the red lenses in his mask.
While
the edges of the cloak are hemmed (thought the bottom is not), the
tunic is just cut fabric. My figure already had some fraying right
out of the box:
I’m
not crazy about how the cloak is attached to the figure. I’m glad
we got actual metal chain links on it, but the cloak is attached to
the figure’s shoulder armor with two unsightly threads that are
looped through two unsightly holes. It isn’t as bad as I’m making
it out to be, but it’s kind of weird looking.
There
were a few little nitpicky things that bothered me, but overall this
is a fantastic looking Darth Vader. It’s very tall and full of
details. Various glosses of black were used to define various parts.
It looks great and intimidating just standing around, which is
something Vader needs to do.
If
you want some truly insane
details about Vader’s get-up, read this – Darth
Vader’s armor – Wookieepedia.
Also,
this:
This
Darth Vader comes with a lightsaber, a lightsaber blade, a mask, and
a helmet.
This
Vader probably beats every other Vader ever released in this
category. I’m not going to run down the articulation joint by
joint, but suffice it to say that the figure is able to pose in every
way that a seven foot tall, half robot man covered in ten (yes, ten)
layers of armor might be able to pose. Probably a bit more.
The
range of each joint is very good. I was really impressed with how
much the head could move. The shoulders are slightly limited because
of the shoulder armor and the plating on the shoulders themselves,
but the pieces were designed to work together and definitely have
more range than the actual Vader probably would.
Between
the excellent posability of the figure and the interaction it has
with the included accessories, I spent a lot of time playing with
this one. No human being in a Darth Vader suit is ever going to be
able to achieve the same kind of poses this figure can, so Hasbro
went far above and beyond what was necessary. The helmet and
lightsaber fit and attach in exactly the way they should and
everything stays securely in place.
I
was really
hard
on this figure and I know that. I suppose it was because for all
intents and purposes this should be the greatest small scale Darth
Vader action figure ever made. I won’t compare it to Sideshow’s
incredible sixth scale Vader for obvious reasons (although it trumps
that one in the removable helmet department), but as far as little
plastic guys go this should be the gold standard. I may not be
actively collecting the 6” Black figures, but the line is certainly
noteworthy and in an odd way important to me.
The
3.75” scale will always be my home. That’s where I started. And
in 1995 when Kenner relaunched the Star Wars line was when I returned
to collecting in earnest. But McFarlane Toys and Toy Biz changed
everything with their 6” lines and this scale will always be my
favorite for franchises that don’t interact with vehicles. It’s
nice to see great figures of characters I love in that scale.
4
out of 5
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