Editor’s Note:  This review has been updated with our second look at TVC…

Original Review:  Chris - 08/05/2012 2:32 AM

By virtue of this assortment also being used for the San Diego Comic Con exclusive carbon freeze chamber set, each film is represented.  The absolute most logical figure to represent Return of the Jedi in such a commemorative set AND one of the last two Vintage Collection waves is an Episode VI Emperor Palpatine.  Naturally Hasbro selected a highly scene specific version of Darth Vader that exactly no one requested.  And people wonder why the last wave of Vintage Collection was forced to online only distribution due to the glacial sale rate at brick and mortar retail.  Even if it was an absolute must that Vader represent the final chapter, why not include a second head like Shae Vizla so that the figure can represent the character for the entire film and not just a few seconds.  For the record, the head from the VC08 Vader does not fit on this figure’s torso.  The neck post is smaller on the earlier figure causing the head to pop off with the least provocation.  The photo above required some precarious balancing.

I try to do my best to evaluate figures on their own merit and to not unfairly critique them because I don’t think they deserve slotting at the time.  This is a long roundabout way for me to say that despite thinking there were many Episode VI candidates that should have been included in the line-up before “Emperor’s wrath” Vader, it’s going to get (spoiler alert) a decent grade. 

Before moving onto the figure, the Vintage Collection card itself deserves mention.  This card represents a true card variation that existed in the vintage line commonly referred to as the “pointing” variant.  At New York Toy Fair 2010 when an audience member asked why didn’t they take advantage of the second incarnation of a Vintage Collection Bespin Luke to introduce the “looking” card variant, Hasbro seemed genuinely taken aback at the notion of card variations in the vintage line.  With the literal last figure in this iteration of the Vintage Collection, Hasbro finally came to the realization that the inclusion of vintage card variants might have some appeal with their consumers.  Yet we’ve had 657 Vintage Collection Boba Fetts and I’m still waiting for a desert scene card (see previous comment about the last wave).

The figure itself is should be largely familiar to you.  It’s basically the 2010 VC08 Darth Vader which itself was a tweak of 2008’s BD08 Darth Vader which in turn descended from the 2005 Anakin to Darth Vader Evolution set.  It’s a near biblical genealogy.  This time the figure gets a new head, a removable hand and some Sith lightning.  Also the paint application on the chest box, shoulder armor and chest armor are different from the 2010 figure.  All of these figures make for swell Vaders.  In this specific case it adequately fills the role of a Darth Vader on the business end of some Emperor wrath.  I would have liked this figure to include perhaps a second hand that could hold the saber and a second non-electrified head so that it would have greater versatility.  But again for its narrow purpose, it’s suitable.  8 out of 10.

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

As he is the resident Darth Vader Fanboy, I’m deferring to Chris’s original comments on most of this review.  He nailed all the points, and went into great detail about the cardback and the geneology of this sculpt.  Make sure to read it.

I will add that it is interesting that Hasbro selected this figure to end the Vintage Collection line (or so we thought).  I’ll never understand why stupid Dengar (DENGAR!) was VC01, but at least they ended it more logically.  Since this figure is actually based on VC08, it would have been kind of fitting if that figure was actually VC01, and the collection was bookended by Vaders, but alas, the “Dengar Decision of 2010” can not be undone.

And to hammer home Chris’s observations, if Hasbro had included an alternate regular head (since the “skull” head is the only part of the figure that is scene-specific), it would have been a much more versatile figure.  Also, I’m not a fan of the removable gloved hand.  Why it was sculpted into a closed fist is beyond me.  This Vader is unable to perform a THWG, which is a sin.  As it is, it doesn’t really make sense to even have the gloved hand, because it was chopped off before the skull effect.  So leaving the glove on the figure is a bit of an anachronism.  You really only get a few frames worth of screen-accuracy here (the moment right after Vader tosses The Sheevster down the shaft).  I’m normally very enthusiastic about screen specific figures, but it would have taken very little effort for Hasbro to make this a much more versatile Vader. 

One last note about the fure.  The cape has a silver thread that is meant to be his chain.  It sticks out weirdly, but if you put the neck peg through the chain instead of through the hole in the cape itself, it kind of fixes the problem from the front (photo 15), although you then have to compromise with the original hole in the back of the cape (photo 16).

Chris originally gave the VC08 Darth Vader figure an 8 back in the day.  In his revisiting of the figure, he dropped it to a 6 because all the faults just got worse given time.  That figure has an open palm, preventing a THWG.  The sculpt lacks ball jointed hips.  The removable helmet isn’t executed well enough.  In essence, Hasbro effectively created a scene-specific helmetless death scene Vader.  That wasn’t the goal.  Nevertheless, both that VC08 and this VC115 could be salvaged if Hasbro gave us a basic ESB/ROTJ Vader sculpt, to go along with the nearly flawless VC93 ANH Vader.  If they did that, than VC08 and VC115 could serve perfectly as very scene specific figures for your dioramas, and then you could just buy a bunch of this theoretical basic ESB/ROTJ Vader for all of your other scenes.  I’m leaving this as an 8, because it works very well for what it was designed for, flaws and all.

Okay, while this figure could be improved upon, there’s no reason to do anything with this “Emperor’s Wrath” version.  As mentioned, it can serve its purpose.  As for eBay, it is moderately to highly expensive, due mostly to its hard-to-find nature, and because it’s Darth Vader on a great TVC cardback.  In the end, Hasbro needs to focus its energy on a definitive ESB/ROTJ Vader.  They already nailed the ANH version, so this needs to be a priority.  Like, a top priority.  Like Palpatine-level priority.