Editor’s Note:  This review has been updated with a second look…

Original Review:  Chris - 8/22/2014 8:00 AM

The head of your figure is going to pop off.  A lot at first because it’s appears to be an assembly issue.  Out of the packaging, my sample’s head wasn’t doing much more than resting on its shoulders.  It literally fell off the moment I touched it.  The is the first Darth Vader figure ever with a ball jointed neck and there is this unfortunate price to pay.  The head never pops onto the peg.  It seems more like a rubber stopper in a flask.  There is no positaive feedback pop given when the joint is “in”.  You merely push it down in place until it holds.  Because of this, we are offered the greatest range of motion for the head on a Darth Vader figure ever.  It can tilt so Vader can menacingly peer down from his lofty stance.  It can tilt sideways to give the impression that Vader is contemplating his allegiance to the Emperor Palpatine.

What appears to have happened is that the length of the neck peg was set when the figure’s shoulders were naked.  It did not account for the slight thickness of the cape which is held in place by the head and neck complex.  When removed, the joint operates smoothly.  When in place, the head will pop off when articulated to any extreme, as any ball jointed head will do.  The problem is that this figure lacks that slight bit of resistance to give the user feedback that they are pushing the joint to its maximum.  Do yourself a favor.  Before trying to use the figure in any way, remove the head and then take an instrument to push the cape as far down into the recess as possible.  Then reinsert the head with sufficient elbow grease.  I can’t promise you the head won’t pop off, but you’ll be able to use the figure without imminent decapitation.  A minor retool to add a few more millimeters of height to the neck post would seem to remedy this.

Once you’re past this issue, you are left with a Darth Vader figure that can out-duel its onscreen counterpart.  This is the most dynamic Darth Vader figure we have ever been offered at this scale.  The legs are the best example of articulation without sacrificing aesthetics that I have seen to date.  This could be because the separate cod piece provides the ball jointed hips sufficient cover.  If you think “terrible” is preferable and want to pose this figure straight-legged like a 5POA figure, you can do so and simply ignore the copious range of motion that lies at your finger tips.  The ball-jointed hips and knees, together with the brilliant rocker ankles, allow you to pose this figure in amazingly aggressive stances.  And these are not tenuous balancing acts either.  You can pose this figure leaning into the fight and it will hold that pose without the assistance of a stand.  I have a feeling this is the most “posable” Vader we will ever see.  If The Force Unleashed video game represents the power of the Force magnified, this figure is Vader Unleashed. 

The arms are the now standard fare with ball joints at the shoulders and elbows.  The armor on the shoulders of Vader figures tends to limit some of the range of motion in that area.  I have to believe this was true for David Prowse in the costume as well.  Where this figure cranks it up a notch is that it includes ball jointed wrists for the first time ever on a Darth Vader figure.  Part of me wishes the wrists articulated up and down for some sword poses, but by articulating along the plane they do (in and out), you can approximate the “if you only knew the power of the Dark Side” fist clench pose.  That is a first for a figure of this scale without pre-posing.  Unfortunately, this figure represents Darth Vader as he appeared at the end of Revenge of the Sith, so that pose is a bit premature, but I like it anyway.  I hope this figure gets repainted in an Episode V configuration.  I will buy lots more.

I am a little reluctant to give this figure a perfect 10 out of 10 score.  Not because I don’t love the figure that much, but because if the neck post were a few millimeters longer it would be even better.  So it would become “more perfect.”  Outside the Preamble to the United States Constitution, the concept of “more perfect” seems weird.  But this figure feels like a 10 out of 10.  Since we don’t do fractional scores, I’m going to give it that 10 out of 10, but know that it truly represents a 9.9 to leave room for a slight correction to the head/neck complex.  I deem this figure “deskworthy,” which is the highest praise I can give a figure.

Updated Review:  Bret - 11/21/2018 07:05 AM

As I’ve probably mentioned a few times recently in my reviews and comments, I was rather disengaged from the hobby during the period of time when the Black Series was the main collector line.  My link was Chris, who I would ask, via text, if I needed such-and-such new figure just to ensure I could continue my completism and avoid buying repacks.  When I did buy figures, it was with very little enthusiasm.  My collection was in storage, and I had little ability during that time in my life to devote to enjoying the figures that were within reach before packing them up to join their brethren.  I often paid almost no mind to the figures I bought.  If I even opened them, they’d go immediately in a bin with barely a glance.  My collecting was rather robotic, and definitely uninspired.  It’s a shame, because even during the Black Series, there were some real gems.  This is one of those. 

The images in the gallery above are the original ones taken by Chris approximately 37 years ago.  There was no need for either of us to actually “upgrade” the gallery to conform with our new standard backdrop because this was actually one of the first that used said backdrop.  So while I didn’t have to actually photograph anything, I still made sure to find this Darth Vader so that I could give it a fair review.  I’m glad I did, because I had no idea how awesome it was.  If you’ve read Chris’s review above (and you should, because it’s hilarious), you’ll find out pretty much everything you need to know about the figure from our resident Darth Vader expert.  The important thing to note here is that this is a Revenge of the Sith Darth Vader.  This is indicated by the chestbox, the gloves, the inner robes, the lenses, and other more minor differences, including ROTS having the first completely symmetrical mask.  If you don’t care about such differences, Chris will call you an idiot.  I have only recently come to care about them because I didn’t want Chris to call me an idiot. 

It is, by far, the best Vader figure available.  It is super-articulated highlighted with premium points of articulation at the wrists and hips, and it also has the highly desirable rocker ankles (ROCKER ANKLES!)  While a ball-jointed neck is typical of almost every SA figure these days, this is the first Vader to have it.  Chris already pointed out the faulty design issue, but I agree that it’s not too hard to get over it as long as you are careful when posing.  You’ll be happy with the results.

This is the definitive Revenge of the Sith Darth Vader figure.  It would be hard for Hasbro to do much better, other than possibly tweaking the neck joint, and adding some “true” ball-jointed wrists.  This is something that basically doesn’t exist yet at this scale, which is that the wrists should flex in all directions, rather than only in the one plane that the hinge allows.  Chris recently revisited one of his favorite figures recently when he updated the VC93 Darth Vader gallery.  That figure isn’t as dynamic as this one, but still pretty awesome.  It doesn’t have the ball-jointed neck or rocker ankles, but overall, it is the best available and nearly definitive A New Hope (and basically, Rogue One) Vader.  Hasbro’s main focus for any upcoming Darth Vader figure should be to provide a figure that is equivalently articulated to this but is accurate to Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi.  At this scale, for all intents and purposes, the costumes from those films are close enough to being the same (minus the removable helmet).  Then they can add a ball jointed head and rocker ankles to VC93, and we’ll have definitive Vader’s from any film across the Saga.  But by then they’ll probably have the technology for fully ranged ball jointed wrists, so they’ll have to update all 3 again.  Then, when they develop the technology necessary to hide the figure’s joints under a flexible skin, we can begin the process again.  By then I’ll be 78 years old, there will have been 21 Star Wars films, and the Knicks will still not have won a title.  Sigh.