It was a terrible time for collectors; a time that we’ve lamented repeatedly here at Banthaskull.  The dreaded “Black Series” of 3.75” figures was a veritable nightmare.  It started out promising, with a bunch of new figures that were on the cutting edge back in 2013.  But the meager offerings, coinciding with both the emergence of the actual 6” scale Black Series as well as the preponderance of 5POA figures, and the rather bleak packaging seemed like a low point for the line.  It was hard to imaging things getting worse, but that they did.  By 2015, the line was even leaner, and Hasbro opted to eschew the traditional plastic bubble with cardback in favor of the desolate and depressing black box that was relegated to Walmart exclusivity. 

But as mentioned, the earliest waves consisted of some excellent figures, and were led by one of the best non-TVC figures ever made, 2013’s release of TBS#3 Anakin Skywalker.  The AOTC figure was a terrific sculpt with outstanding articulation - particularly the debut of the vaunted rocker ankles.  In that review, both Chris and I wrote about how we hoped the revolutionary new point of articulation was a game-changer, and should be introduced as a regular feature in the line.  Alas, only a small handful of figures got this treatment, and rocker ankles were almost forgotten until very recently.  We gave the figure a 9/10, lamenting the weak face sculpt that had no discernible likeness to Hayden Christiensen, the lack of a robe, and the weird exclusion of an unlit hilt (even though the figure had a peg hole in the belt).  My closing summary was this:

As outstanding as this figure may be, the fact that it is the main character in an outfit worn throughout an entire film means that an update to the face and accessories (hilt and robe) could be warranted somewhere along the way if there was a logical place to slot it.  It’s a TVC quality figure, which unfortunately was relegated to the bland Black Series packaging.

Well, here we are.  In 2022, Hasbro found a logical place to slot it, as it’s the 20th Anniversary of AOTC.  And they updated the face and accessories (hilt and robe.). And releasing it in TVC gave us the iconic vintage cardback we missed in 2013.  So this figure should be a perfect 10!

Well, maybe not quite.  First of all, let’s take a look at the face.  I think the PhotoReal is very good in that it’s a more realistic looking face than the original.  However, I can’t quite say it looks all that much more like Hayden.  It’s better, but it still misses the mark.  Hasbro also went for a lighter shade of hair color, perhaps making it a bit more screen accurate. 

The proper accessories are here now.  Anakin has an unlit hilt, which plugs in nicely to the hole in the belt.  He also comes with a Jedi robe.  It’s fairly unique, with a cut that at first appeared somewhat strange and upsetting in the original publicity shots, but it does seem to be screen accurate to what Anakin sported in AOTC.  While it looks pretty good when Anakin is in a neutral pose, the front “lapels” can look off when the figure is in an action stance.

And while this figure is still quite excellent, by today’s standards some of the luster has worn off.  It shows its age with some articulation that doesn’t reach the lofty heights of modern TVC releases.  The neck is the simple ball/peg, the waist and wrists are swivel, and the range of motion of the elbows and knees is merely 90 degrees.

The upgrades are nice, but some of the aging peeks through.  I’ll keep this at a 9/10, as the positives and negatives balance out.  This TVC release is definitely an improvement over the TBS version, but times have changed.  It’s unlikely we’ll see a true modern update to AOTC Anakin, but that’s okay.  I’d rather see Padmé and Dooku first.