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

Original Review:  Chris 8/13/2013 07:19 AM

Am I the only one who thinks the head bears more likeness to Sweetchuck from the Police Academy series than it does to Hayden Christensen? But that’s about my only complaint with this figure.  Perhaps first we should talk about an area some of you may complain about, but is no big deal to me.  That is, this figure is very light on accessories.

For Anakin’s most memorable action sequences in Attack of the Clones, he’s using a green lightsaber that was tossed to him by his pal Nicanas Tassu.  Nicky Tas, as his friends call him, is the type of considerate guy who not only brings things on an excursion that he needs for himself, but also thinks of things his buddies might lose or forget.  I bet he also has an iPhone charger under those robes even though his phone is a Samsung Galaxy.  Good dude.  Back on track, he tosses Anakin a green lightsaber.  I considered arming Anakin with the green saber from another figure to set up some Geonosis Arena shots, but I thought that might confuse some readers into thinking the figure came with that accessory.  For action sequences with the blue lightsaber, you of course have the rampage at the Tusken camp.  But in that sequence, Anakin was wearing his Jedi robes which this figure also does not include.  He’s also wearing his Jedi robes at the “secret ceremony” wedding with Padmé.  Lastly, the figure includes a lightsaber hilt peg hole on the belt, but no lightsaber hilt into which it could be plugged.

The figure includes swappable right hands so that it can represent Anakin for the majority of the movie with his natural limb, or the cybernetic hand instead, which can be attached to represent Anakin after Count Dooku lightened him of the appendage.  The robotic hand is sculpted with a void in the forearm portion as if depicting the space between the ulna and radius bones of an actual forearm.  I’m sure this is accurate to the digital model in the movie, but it also means the accessory lacks the rigidity to plug into the forearm without occasionally bending. 

The upper tabard of the costume has the habit of restricting the arm movement in raised positions.  This is endemic of most modern Jedi figures as that portion of the costume flares out and limits the range of motion of the shoulder joints.  Unless Hasbro goes the extra mile or two and starts including soft goods tabards on these figures, it’s an “it is what it is” thing.  And speaking of articulation, we come to the aspect that almost blinds me to any ills of this figure.  Not only does the figure sport the much appreciated upgrade to ball jointed hips, but it is the first ever use of rocker ankles on a 3 ¾” Star Wars figure to the best of my knowledge.  If you don’t know why this type of articulation is a huge advancement, please read the Darth Maul 6” review.  The lower body articulation allows the figure to strike all the swordsman fighting poses you want.  This instantly makes this figure a hugely worthwhile upgrade.  I’m glad it comes two per case because when definitive versions of main characters are released, I like to stock up on a few.  If the cost of this type of uber articulation is to be light on accessories, I’ll pay it every time.  I have plenty of extra accessories in my parts bin.

The restriction to the arm movement and the iffy head sculpt prevent me from placing this is the “perfect” category, so it receives a 9 out of 10.

Updated Review:  Bret - 10/24/2018 07:05 AM

Chris can make fun of Nicky Tas all he wants, but that guy died in Petranaki Arena to ensure Anakin could have a lightsaber and survive the day, so that he could one day become the man that would slaughter all of the other Jedi.  Good man, indeed.

That aside, we’ve also reached a low point in Bantha Skull figure reviews, as Chris had the unmitigated gall to reference Sixer filth in his review.  I’m not sure if there’s any coming back from that, but we’ll begin the recovery process immediately.

Despite my taking umbrage with his treatment of Nicky Tas, Chris was right on with his assessment of the figure.  The rocker ankles are nothing short of revolutionary, and take posability to a whole new level.  We’ve both done many reviews where we talk about “Jedi level articulation” (JLA), which starts with typical super articulation, but then goes up a notch by adding some or all of the following: ball-jointed wrists, ball jointed hips, ball jointed waist/torso.  Such articulation is highly desirable for figures that are particularly action oriented, such as Jedi and combat troops.  But with the release of this Anakin Skywalker figure, Hasbro upped the ante.  JLA standards should now also include these rocker ankles.  Posing this figure was a joy, and I ended up taking several more “diorama” shots than normal because of this.  In fact, I went ahead and did the shots Chris had decided against due to the incorrect accessories.  Anakin had on his robes when he was slaughtering the Tuskens, as well as when he was marrying Padmé  (Only for special occasions, apparently.). I also gave him the random blue and green sabers so that he could fight in the Arena and take on Dooku.  But I digress.  We were discussing the amazing rocker ankles.  Figures that don’t include any ankle articulation might as well not include any lower body articulation at all.  It’s a must for any “SA” figure.  But if Hasbro could standardize rocker ankles for their action-oriented main characters and troops, it would really kick the line up a notch.

As the for the rest of the figure, it’s an excellent sculpt overall, with the exception of the head.  It’s not Hayden Christensen.  I agree with Chris that the poor likeness is enough to counterbalance the rocker ankles.  As for the accessories, the lack of an unlit saber and a robe are negatives.  Otherwise, the sculpt, paint, and articulation are very good.  This really is the best AOTC Anakin we should get, weird face and all.  Unless Hasbro wanted to re-release this at some point with the FACE! technology, there’s not much more to do here.  And I don’t even know if that would help much, because it may be more about the actual sculpted plastic of the head, rather than the way the face itself is painted.

We’ll call this figure definitive, even if not perfect.  It maintains the score of 9.

Verdict: Re-Sculpt - just repaint/resculpt the face (Very low priority) 

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.  It can be obtained on eBay fairly inexpensively.  If you can get one, do so.

Verdict Guide:
Re-sculpt = The figure is not definitive, and a new version should be developed.
Re-issue = This version is definitive (or close enough), and shows sufficient secondary market demand to warrant a straight repack.
No Action = This release does not require new attention.