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

Original Review:  Bret - 9/4/2010 01:52 PM

This is a fantastic figure.  Probably one of the best headsculpts I’ve seen, and easily the best for Anakin.  The sith eyes are painted perfectly.  One tremendous leap forward was made on this Anakin by Hasbro - for some reason they decided to sculpt the hair as a separate piece from the head, and glue it on after painting.  I say, GENIUS!  It looks amazing.  The only flaw is that perhaps they didn’t make the hair as complete as it should be, and were left scrambling to paint sideburns on the face, which make him look like his barber messed up a bit.  But otherwise - awesome.  I hope Hasbro goes down this road often in the future for human heads, because it makes and astonishing difference in both the paint and the sculpting detail. 

As for the rest of the figure, it’s very good.  Great sculpting detail, but not much new, except for the arms.  They are a bit longer than previous versions, allowing for a greater range of motion and poseability, particularly with holding the saber hilt with two hands.  Some might say they look like monkey arms when posed loosely at his sides, but they don’t bother me in the least.  A couple of limitations on the articulation: the ball jointed waist doesn’t have great range of motion, nor does the head.

Anakin comes with a lightsaber which he can hold tightly in one or both hands, a hilt which can plug into his belt, and the standard somewhat large Jedi robe.

I don’t think they could make this figure much better, other than to improve the range of motion a bit, and maybe work on getting better robes for figures.  I think for now, this is the definitive version of pre-lava Darth Vader.  9/10.

Updated Review: Bret - 5/17/18 07:05 AM

In short, this is the absolute definitive Darth Vader figure representing the time after he helped execute Order 66 and before he got housed by Obi-Wan.  That’s right.  Housed.*  This Anakin has enough articulation to satisfy a proper Jedi figure (although ball-jointed wrists might be nice).  The sculpt, details, and paint are outstanding.  The soft goods “skirt” allows for full range of hip motion.  The figure interacts well with the accessories.  The robe suffers from being balloony, but Hasbro has yet to master robes at this scale.  The real highlight is the head sculpt.  Utilizing a technique that I think was new at the time, Hasbro opted for separately sculpted hair.  As I mentioned in the original review, it looks great, although it seems there is a slight error in the execution at Anakin’s…err, Vader’s…right sideburn.  Of course, it’s a short term problem, because those sideBURNS will be gone soon anyway.  Get it?  Okay then.  Otherwise. The technique is amazing, and adds to an already tremendously painted face, particularly the Sith eyes. 

There’s not much to improve upon here.  Maybe the wrists, as mentioned, and if ever possible, a better robe.  This is the Mustafar Anakin/Vader you need for your collection.

One thing to note, the figure was first released as Anakin Skywalker, but was later “corrected” to Darth Vader.  Take “corrected” with a grain of salt, because Obi-Wan does still call him Anakin.  Chris could provide images of the Anakin card if he feels like gracing us with his talents.  He’s too busy getting excited about the Celtics right now.

*Road Housed.

Verdict:  Re-issue (low priority) 

This figure goes for a decent premium, particularly carded “Anakin” versions.  Even loose, they seem to be listed for a pretty penny.  As a definitive main character, it would seem to be a reasonable candidate for a re-pack some day, although as is the case with most figures in that category, there’s no rush.  One thing that might make it perfect would be to add a non Sith-eyed head swap option, and a cockpit headset accessory.  That would pretty much cover the entire film, rather than just the short time period towards the end.

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.