‘Bout time.  Eleven figures into the ROTS lineup, and we finally get the (more machine than) Man of the Match.  Darth Vader, in his familiar black armor, was the poster child for the film, appearing all over the place in promotional materials for toys, tires, and frozen shrimp.  A stylized version of his visage forms the basis for the ROTS line artwork.  The release of this figure helped stoke the rumors that he was going to appear as such in the film.  When he did, the moment the helmet was fitted and he drew his first mechanical breath, the audience at my theater on opening night erupted into cheers and applause, even though the circumstances leading up to that moment were tragic and even disturbing.

The figure is Vader’s first that was inspired by a look outside the OT time frame.  He’s got the accurate coloring of the buttons/lights on the chest box, so he qualified at the time to be your go-to ROTS version.  He’s got a decent soft goods cape - even if the chain is a little too loopy - and secondary skirt underneath.  The helmet is a nice sculpt as well.  But the goodness stops there.

As we know, most of the early Collection 1 figures had an action feature embedded in the sculpt, and this is no exception.  Coming with the ubiquitious leg squeeze feature, activating it will create a lightsaber slashing motion.  There’s not much more to it than that.  He is otherwise preposed in a battle stance, that for the most part isn’t terrible, it’s just severely limiting.  While the lower body articulation is almost non-existent (as expected), even the upper body lacks any real options.  The left hand can be swiveled for two optional gestures:  1. Force Choke, or 2. “give me your lunch money.”  Meanwhile, neither arm does a whole lot to give any real variability to the figure’s fighting stance. 

Ultimately, armored Vader was never shown in the film to wield a lightsaber, he was only on the medical table until he broke free (while still in handcuffs).  This figure can’t do that accurately, even if you just put him on a flat surface in the absence of the actual table.  So this figure is more fan service than anything else, as it doesn’t do anything worthwhile.  But I would assume that a lot of collectors that were getting into the prequels as kids probably were excited to have their very own Darth Vader.

It looks nice, as he’s all shiny and new, and the cape/skirt are done well.  He’s got the correct details to suffice for an ROTS appearance.  But there’s not much else to love about this figure aside from the fact that he’s simply Darth Vader and his inclusion into Revenge of the Sith was a significant moment for fans. 

5 stars.