For better or for worse, the Vader scene in Revenge of the Sith was basically the ultimate fan service moment provided by the PT.  It was apparently the moment that everyone was waiting for:  to see Anakin don the suit and hear the familiar breathing for the first time.  Most fans probably enjoyed it up until the infamous “NOOOOOOO!” scream of anguish, which was one of those times that ridiculous fans felt Lucas ruined their childhood. 

That aside, I feel that the scene was well done.  It featured alternating images of the gentle Polis Massans delivering Padmé‘s twins along with the dark scene of evil looking droids turning the burned remains of a writhing-in-agony Anakin into the mechanical Darth Vader.  In fact, according to Wookieepedia, FX-6 was specifically designed with that bit of cinematography in mind, and were meant to look nightmarish.  FX-6 is, of course, a predecessor to the FX-7 medical droid which was featured in The Empire Strikes Back, and released as an excellent modern update in the POTJ line.  In canon, FX-6 was a Clone Wars-era droid model.  Units were often deployed on the front lines to provide medical assistance to the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic.  As they did not have vocoders to communicate directly to patients, these droids usually functioned as assistants to other droids or medics with better bedside manners, but they were capable of performing most high level medical duties.

Hasbro released this outstanding figure in the Legacy Collection in 2008.  It is very well sculpted, with an amazing amount of articulation and detailing.  The head is on a swivel (FX-6 would apparently be perfectly at home on the football field) and has a lot of sculpted details such as sensors and antennae.  The main body also has a “waist” swivel joint.  You can basically rotate the figure any way you want, although it doesn’t really do a ton for display value.  Besides the arms, the body has several canisters, hoses, and other “greeblies” all over it.  There are a few applications of color here, as there are canisters that seem to be filled with various fluids.  There are even red, blue, and green splatter effects that seem to be from when the anguished Vader used the Force to crush the droids after hearing the news about Padmé.

The real draw here is the amazing number of articulated arms.  The upper body has 7 arms, each of which is unique.  They all have articulated “elbows”, and 2 of them also have a bit of movement at the “shoulder”, which gives a bit of extra display possibility.  There are also 13 lower arms, which can move via the hinged “shoulders”.  Again, each of these arms are unique.  It looks like Hasbro put in a lot of effort into the sculpt, as we get a grand total of 24 points of articulation.

Then we get to the one major flaw in what would otherwise be a nearly perfect figure.  The base of the droid has three “feet” that are actually sculpted “roller balls” (they don’t actually roll).  Due the odd asymetric placement of these balls, the figure is actually not entirely stable.  It’s a bizarre design choice.  FX-6 was a CGI model, so it’s not as if there was an actual prop that had these feet on the bottom of the droid.  For whatever reason, this was the direction Hasbro took, and a figure that should be almost “tip-proof” is actually a bit of a challenge to balance.  You can get it stay upright, but the slightest disturbance will tilt it or knock it over completely.  It’s an awful finish to an otherwise great figure.  One smaller complaint is that the upper arms are made of a very soft plastic, and over time, they can warp.  I understand that harder plastic would create a bunch of eye-removing pointy protrusions on what is essentially a kid’s toy, so it is what it is.

Overall, this is an outstanding figure, so long as you set it up on a stable and sturdy surface.  It’s highly detailed, highly articulated, and works perfectly in the rise of Vader scene that you definitely have on your shelf.  I’ll give it a very good 8/10.

Credit:  Carded sample provided by Randy S.

Build-A-Droid 

FX-6 contains right leg for MB-RA-7.  This droid was referenced in literature as being an art instructor during the final years of the Republic.  Source:  Legends.