Senator “Sheev” Sheev “Palpy” Palpatine was just a nondescript politician who happened to be in the right place at the right time when his home planet of Naboo was ruthlessly invaded by the maniacal Trade Federation.  After Queen Amidala addressed the Senate to request an intervention by the Republic, she seized the opportunity to boldly unseat Chancellor Valorum due to his inaction during the crisis.  Senator Palpatine, who was a soft spoken and peaceful man, reluctantly threw his hat into the ring for the position of Chancellor.  He was shocked when the news was delivered that he had carried the vote.  Like Jon Snow, he never wanted the position, but knew that taking the chancellorship might be the only way he could halt the wholesale slaughter of his people.  He tried everything he could to convince the Queen to stay safe on Coruscant while he did what he could to save Naboo.  In over his head, he found it difficult to move the Republic into action, but he was able to do so following Amidala’s shocking success to liberate the planet.  Upon returning to Naboo to celebrate, he met young Anakin Skywalker and stated the he would be watching his progress clo…OHMYGOD CHANCELLOR PALPATINE IS EMPEROR PALPATINE!  HOLY CRAP, HOW DID WE LET THIS HAPPEN?

Wow. Well, Senator Palpatine is one of a few old white guy politician figures that made it into the Episode I line (along with Valorum and Bibble).  You could likely not find 3 more boring action figures, and yet all three have a certain charm that worked well at the time, and manages to survive 20 years later.  All three figures are highly detailed, have decent face sculpts, and can work well enough in a display today. 

Senator/Chancellor Palpatine wears what appears he same outfit in all of his scenes, with the exception of when he is by Amidala’s side as she addressed the senate.  During that scene, he’s either wearing a different outfit, or perhaps just a ceremonial cape or coat of some kind over his regular duds.  It’s funny he wears the same clothes even though his other scenes are at different times, even after he won the chancellorship and visited Naboo to attend Qui-Gon’s funeral and then the victory celebration.  The figure is represents all of those non-senate appearances.

Senator Palpatine has a highly detailed sculpt, with an outstanding amount of texture molded into the clothing.  The main part of the overcoat is separately sculpted, giving the figure that much needed depth that greatly enhances what could easily leave it horribly boring.  The billowy sleeves, the shiny boots, and the metallic buttons on his vest all make this a striking addition to your collection.  The colors are bright as is the Naboo style. The shoulders and hips are articulated, but he can’t really do much other than stand.  Unfortunately, he’s in a slightly non-neutral stance, and one of his hands is pointing, so it’s very specific.  While the face sculpt isn’t exactly a dead ringer for Ian McDiarmid, it’s still pretty decent.

Included with Palpatine is a “hovering” senate cam accessory.  It’s stuck on a clear plastic pole, to give that hovering affect. The figure’s right hand is sculpted into a “C” grip position, which allows him to hold it, if you so desired.  I’ve found that the angled nature of the clear pole kind of allows it to be held in such a way that makes it a bit more natural, as in image number 8.  Alternatively, you can actually plug the base of the clear pole into the included commtech chip, which is kind of a nice touch.  It would have been better if the pole was sculpted with a base so it could stand on its own, but apparently the technology hadn’t been discovered yet.

This is a nice looking figure.  It’s not great by today’s standards, but it manages to hold up well enough, mostly because a resuclpt would be a tough sell.  Nevertheless, Senator/Chancellor Palpatine figures from throughout the PT are something Hasbro has largely ignored, or done poorly.  There’s a decent salt-shaker Episode II Palpatine, but this version could use more love, including a cape to allow it to double as the Senate address version.  I’ll give this figure a decent 5.  It works well enough in a modern display, but an update someday would be nice.  Maybe a special Palpatine “Saga” boxed set of 4 or 5 figures after The Rise of Skywalker comes out.