A Note About VC08 Darth Vader - Running Change

Posted by Bret on 06/13/19 at 11:44 AM Category: Vintage Collection

Thanks to our first notification by reader The Game Chicken, and then corroboration by Redfive_cp, we were alerted to the fact that the earliest retail samples of the 2019 PhotoReal updated to VC08 contained the 3-piece helmet that was offered with the 2010 figure. The 3 pieces are the helmet, mask, and neck/chin piece. Hasbro then made a running change to this accessory, and it now includes a 2-piece helmet, with the helmet and facemask now a single piece, while the neck/chin remains separate.

The 3-piece helmet would be specific to ROTJ, when Luke removes the dome, then the mask, from Anakin. But in ESB, in the meditation chamber, the helmet/mask combo is lowered onto Vader's head as one piece.

In 2010, the figure was first released on an ESB card. This was later changed to an ROTJ card, which presumably was done to make the card match the included helmet better. But in 2019, Hasbro returned to the ESB card, and apparently initially maintained the ROTJ helmet. The running change to the ESB helmet may have been a conscious decision to, once again, match the helmet to the card.

As we stated in the review, this figure has gone through a strange life cycle, starting with the birth of the sculpt in 2005's Anakin to Vader Evolutions set. And today, we've learned of yet another detour.