I’m still not interested in talking to anyone, so just save it until tomorrow.

Like the Yoda we reviewed this morning, this is the second Anakin released in the ROTS mainline, following III 02 Anakin Skywalker.  That figure is bad, but at the time was relatively cool because it was the first Anakin we got in his ROTS duds, and it had various swap-out accessories that gave some alternate posing options.  It let you recreate the Dooku fight, and was pretty accurate to the source, even if the sculpt was somewhat lame and was encumbered by the action feature.  It was also notable because it had the running change that corrected the alternate red lightsaber from Vader’s to the correct Dooku style.

This version of Anakin is meant to depict him on Mustafar.  Hasbro has often had a weird habit of including anachronistic accessories and sculpting in an attempt to add variety and play value.  In the end, you get a kind of Frankenstein figure that has reduced usefulness if you’re looking for screen accuracy.  It is supposed to show Anakin after he has succumbed to the Dark Side, with his Sith Eyes.  Again, like III-02, this one also had a running change.  The first version had black eyes like he was punched in the face by Mike Tyson.  It was later updated to drop the black circles, and instead have the screen accurate yellow eyes.  I don’t know if this was just a poor first take that was corrected, or if it was intentional to not spoil the turn to the Dark Side when originally released.  It really should be “Darth Vader” instead of “Anakin Skywalker”, but that would have ruined the surprise. 

The figure has an interesting take on the robe.  It’s a removable plastic robe, with the hood sculpted down.  The robe itself is sleeveless.  I believe the only time Anakin had his hood down on Mustafar was after he killed all the Separatists and met Padmé on the landing pad.  After he chokes her, he and Obi-Wan both remove their robes to fight.  So those few moments are all that is good for the robe.  The unfortunate part is that in order to skip the sleeves, Hasbro opted for the arms to have the look of his tunic, as well as the long glove on his right hand/arm.  This wouldn’t be visible when wearing his robe.  So even if it’s accurate to the Padmé part, it’s not really correct to have the arms showing.  Plus, I don’t think his eyes were yellow while he spoke with Padmé.

The robe-less outfit is good for most of his fight with Obi-Wan.  But for some reason, Hasbro included a switch out exposed mechanical arm.  At no point during the duel was his mechanic arm showing.  That didn’t happen until he was already defeated and chopped up into parts on the lava beach, and his clothing caught fire and burned off.  At that point, he’d be a completely different figure; a figure so grotesque, burned, and scarred that surely Hasbro would never make it.  But anyway, that accessory is a useless inclusion.  Anakin should have come with an unlit hilt instead.

This figure has an action feature that is just a tad less obtrusive than the first Anakin, so it would qualify as somewhat “less terrible”, but still terrible. The feature is another leg squeeze, creating another arm slashing motion.  But it’s executed a bit better, and isn’t as obvious when the figure is standing naturally. 

Overall, it was an average figure for the day, but tried to do too much and was unsuccessful at most of it.  You’re not going to want this figure for really any reason, as it’s been done better since.

5/10.