Okay, so we had an interesting weekend.  A few things happened.  First of all, I got bombarded with product in the mail that took me all my free time this long weekend to photograph - and I still didn’t finish.  As such, we weren’t able to continue with our two-a-day format for ROTS, and sadly, that’s going to be the case going forward.  I’ve had to reduce my Banthaskull workload a bit, so we’re back to one article a day (we’ll see about weekends).  Also, it was a holiday, so we hope everyone enjoyed their time, if they had an opportunity for an extra day off.  And finally, and definitely most importantly, I’ve rejoined the human race, at least for another day.  A third 20-point comeback (first time ever in a single post-season) staved off a too-early disaster on Saturday.  So I’m in a much better mood - for the moment.

The product bombardment I mentioned included both the Anakin 3-pack and the HTTE 3-pack.  These new products take precedence over the ROTS20 reviews.  But fear not!  This set includes an ROTS-adjace figure.  And we will resume the ROTS reviews shortly, especially since Chris sent me a much-needed resupply of some items that I wasn’t unable to photograph.  You may have noticed that we had skipped a few while we’re going in numerical order.  We hope to have resolved these technical difficulties, so we can continue with the retrospective.

As for the product of the day, we’ve got The Journey of Anakin Skywalker.  This is in the “Special Action Figure Set” Kenner-style format, as opposed to the “box in a box” multipack that contains individually carded figures.  I’m not entirely sure how Hasbro decides which format is more appropriate for a particular set of figures.  I had assumed that they typically plan on re-releasing these figures (which typically, although not always, are a convention exclusive) as individually carded figures in the main line.  But even that isn’t always the case (at least not yet).  And then of course there was the Shriek-Hawk 4-pack, and there would seem to be almost zero chance any of those would ever be single-carded.  But who knows.  Certainly not me.  I’m not sure Hasbro even knows. 

Lets take a look at each figure.

ANAKIN SKYWALKER [Clone Wars Microseries]

We’ve essentially seen this figure before, so I won’t go into a lot of detail.  This base figure was previously released as VC347 Anakin Skywalker which was sourced to Ahsoka.  Perhaps there’s some differences in the outfit as depicted in The Clone Wars, but the figure essentially satisfied that need, as it was a huge upgrade over the now-craptastic VC92. 

For this release, Hasbro repacked the figure, but added one interesting accessory.  There’s a soft goods cape included.  This is intended to reflect Anakin’s look in the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars Microseries.  It’s a fan favorite, and seems to be attracting some attention with Hasbro, as they released 6 repainted figures in 2022 to commemorate the series.  The cape is attached to the figure via elastic bands which fit over the arms and can be tucked under the shoulder joints to be well-hidden.  The effect is very satisfying, and it’s a nice unique variation that helps make this set special.

The figure is great.  The only issues I attributed to the earlier release were the iffy likeness and the slightly too light hair color, resulting in a 9/10.  I won’t change that score here, but it does get a slight boost with the added removable cape.  It’s a very high 9.

DARTH VADER [Ahsoka]

Here’s a figure that we’ve all been waiting for - sort of.  It’s another tremendous upgrade to the ROTS-era Anakin Skywalker, and pounds VC13 to dust.  The head sculpt appears to be different from the Clone Wars figure described above.  It may just be my old eyes, or perhaps I’m deceived by the different paint application, but it does seem like a new sculpt.  The cheeks seem a bit shallower, and jawline looks different to me.  Whichever the case, the new hair and paint make it look very distinctive. 

The sculpt of the body is fantastic.  Gone is the extra long gorilla right arm that doomed VC13.  The articulation is nearly perfect.  It has all of the current top-notch joints that you’d expect/demand.  My only real complaint is that the right (gloved) arm only flexes to 90 degrees at the elbow - while the other elbow and both knees do go past 90 a bit.  As I’ve said, I’m not really sure what the holdup with this is, as it seems that all figures should have that extra range of motion out the knees and elbows.  But as Meat Loaf sort of said, “Three out of four ain’t bad.”  I am impressed with what Hasbro did with regard to the sculpting to support the range of motion for the shoulders.  Historically, the Jedi tabards, which tend to extend past the shoulder, prevent the articulation from achieve full range due to the hard plastic.  Well on this figure, the tabards are a very soft pliable plastic - just for that little bit of overhang.  As such, there is no holding back on the full range.  This is outstanding effort by Hasbro’s design team. 

As for the hips, a soft goods “skirt” (lower tunic) as well as lower tabards, allow full range of motion for the hips.  Interestingly, we see something I didn’t catch in the promo images when I saw them originally.  While the lower tunic is your basic soft goods, the lower tabards are a different material which is slightly glossier, and a darker color.  It almost looks like pleather (it isn’t).  It’s a nice call, and really helps the look.  Some collectors still prefer plastic to soft goods, but the design choices here are tremendous, and I can’t see this being done better in plastic.

A great feature is the swappable left hand.  Anakin can either tell the younglings not to cross the street because cars are coming, or he can be conducting a Force Push.  I tried to get a pose with Anakin doing a single handstand, like Luke did on Dagobah, but I couldn’t pull it off.  Instead, he’s breakdancing.  But the cool thing about the hand is that it’s perfect for the scene in ROTS where Anakin and Obi-Wan are playing rock-paper-scissors with the Force in the Mustafar control room.  Perhaps an ROTS Obi-Wan Kenobi is already designed with his hand in a similar pose, so they can face off just like in the film.

The controversial aspect of the figure is that it is sourced to Ahsoka.  The indicators are two-fold.  First, the yellow eyes.  Unlike Scut Farkas’s permanent yellow eyes, Anakin only had these at two brief points (as far as I can tell) in ROTS.  The first time was after he massacred the Separatist council, and overlooked the lava field.  In that scene , he was wearing his robe with the hood up, an accessory not included here.  The second time was after Obi-Wan already had chopped off Anakins arms and legs on the lava beach.  That isn’t what this figure is about either.  Meanwhile in Ahsoka, this was Anakin’s outfit for a significant portion of his conversation with Ahsoka - first when he was on Mandalore, and then back in the World-Between-Worlds.  When he was fighting Ahsoka, he had the yellow eyes.  And more importantly, he sported a red-bladed lightsaber.  We all know that during the fight on Mustafar, Vader still had his blue lightsaber for the whole duel. 

So the combination of the red lightsaber and Sith eyes peg this figure to the TV show.  If you gave him a cloak and a blue lightsaber, he’d be from ROTS.  I could be completely blanking on an announcement that’s already happened, but absent that, it seems a good bet this figure will be released in the mainline.  It would make sense to change the eyes to regular coloring, add a Jedi robe, and give him his blue lightsaber.  That’s the #MaketheMains Anakin that everyone wants.  In the meantime, I give this figure a 10/10.

DARTH VADER (REDEEMED) [Return of the Jedi]

This is another figure we’ve basically seen already.  It’s the VC280 Darth Vader (Death Star II) figure, which Chris gave a 9/10.  This figure has an all new helmet, with the translucent armor and skull underneath.  It looks great, and is a little less “icy” than seen in the PR photos.  While it’s specific to a few moments while Vader is grabbing and tossing Palpatine, the helmet sculpt is an improvement over the 3 pieces from VC280 that don’t quite fit perfectly together.

It maintains the lightsaber and hilt accessories, but also includes two Sith lightning effects.  Interestingly, both are just recast from an existing figure, VC115.  This time, the plastic is very light a flexible, but also a lighter shade of blue.  The original effects were a more stiff plastic, and a deeper blue.  I like this version better.

VC280 even had the removable hand, so this feature isn’t new, but it is very well executed.  My only real complaint about the figure is the same one Chris noted for VC280.  The cape is ridiculously large.  They could probably cut about 60% of the fabric, and it might still be too big.  It’s wild and difficult to tame when posing, but if you fold it over itself and tuck the excess under the arms and behind the figure, it could reduce the absurdity factor.

In the gallery, I showed the 4 “Emperor’s Wrath” releases and how they compare in helmet/lightning effects, as well as the removable hand feature.  I think this figure outdoes all of them nicely, and becomes the definitive version that captures this moment.  9/10.

THE SET

This is a great set with 3 tremendous figures.  The Ahsoka/ROTS Anakin/Vader is my favorite of the 3, but I love the others as well.  The thing that makes this set awesome may be the same thing that others will note as a detractor.  The 3 figures are each very specific “niche” versions of Anakin:  Microseries, Ahsoka WBW, and a few seconds of ROTJ.  I know some collectors are frustrated with the “ROTS” Anakin being sourced this way with the red lightsaber.  But I actually prefer that these 3-packs have some uniqueness that would differentiate them from mainline releases.  We all thought the Luke Skywalker Destiny set was great, but it was kind of anti-climactic when all 3 got straight re-releases in the mainline.  I like the idea of a Microseries version in the set, with a TCW version in the mainline.  I’m fine with an Ahsoka-sourced Anakin/Vader, if we get a slightly updated version to satisfy the ROTS need.  And having VC280 in the main line makes sense, with the more specific “Wrath” figure in this set.  I’d prefer this type of thing more often.

Overall, 3 special versions of Anakin in a great set.  I give the whole shebang a 10/10.