Darth Vader - LC - Saga Legends (SL02)

Now a Sith apprentice, Vader rejects Obi-Wan's pleas to turn away from the dark side. Instead, he attacks Kenobi in a devastating lightsaber duel on Mustafar. Destruction is Vader's only thought, but in the end, he is the one who lies near death on the black sand shores.

Probably one of the most frustrating things Hasbro has ever done to collectors is label action figures who look like Anakin Skywalker as Darth Vader. And while Hasbro isn't incorrect in this designation (after all, Darth Sidious hailed him as Darth Vader before he donned the black suit), it is a little confusing when it comes to the Hasbro toy line and looking at product lists and everything else related to it. Darth Vader is and always will be the tall guy in the big black iron lung. It sort of messes with/threatens the strength of our historical memories to refer to Darth Vader as anything but that. It may seem like a bit of an exaggeration to make such a strong claim like this, but when things as we know them change physical form but yet are still labeled the same way, it goes against the grain of our collector fiber (a little bit). While we are happy to get updated versions of Anakin Skywalker, we really don't want to refer to him as Darth Vader deep down inside. That being said, Darth Vader (who is now part of the red phase of the Legacy Collection line) was originally released as 2008's TAC Darth Vader (08 02) figure. As far as paint operation updates are concerned, Darth Vader is looking like more of the same, so don't expect significant changes here. Darth Vader is pretty much identical to the previous releases we have already seen.

This figure has additional history too. Back in the day, Hasbro took the already very good Anakin Skywalker (Clone Wars Commander) figure from the 2005 ROTS Anakin Skywalker To Darth Vader Evolutions set and added ball-jointed hips for increased optimal mobility! Unfortunately, Hasbro didn't treat his arms as well as his legs as they left swivel joints in the elbows which encumbered the movement quite a bit. Despite this oversight, Darth Vader (Sith Apprentice) can be posed in a wide array of poses and he is almost a definitive Darth Vader [Anakin Skywalker] figure for the time being. One of the finest attributes of this figure is the paint job. Hasbro has exceeded our expectations here and we are thoroughly impressed with the final product. Simply accessorized with juts his lightsaber, it is all the "stuff" he really needs. This character is intended to represent how Darth Vader looked during (or right before) his now classic duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he should have come with angry "Sith" eyes instead. (By the way, Obi-Wan Kenobi (SL03) is also now part of the 2009 Legacy Collection assortment too.) Perhaps some collectors would have preferred to have a lightsaber hilt packaged with the figure, but we are happy with the arrangement as is. As a Saga Legends figure, the ball-jointed hips are reason enough for us to pick up this figure (as a backup or whatever).

Darth Vader comes with a cardboard locker extra weapons so you can have additional play value with your action figures. We suppose he looks cool with a droid blaster, but we imagine this was just Hasbro's way of allowing kids and collectors to complete previous figures where weapons have been vacuumed up or just simply lost. Darth Vader actually doesn't suffer from any big issue really and he can balance well on his own two feet. In fact, he can be posed with a wide stance and he is even able to stand in these poses as well. We will always say this in this column that we don't mind retools and repaints as long as Hasbro makes them new enough for our collections. Straight repacks are typically a bone of contention for us, but we have grown to accept that Hasbro needs to do this to amortize costs (and keep great sculpts in the lineup). Darth Vader is really just a straight repack, but that is truly the point of the Saga Legends assortments. Expect to see this Darth Vader action figure frequently, not only in the Saga Legends line, but other multipacks and exclusives in the future. This is a solid action figure and deserves repeated attention in the toy line. Even if collectors are getting tired of him, this is a well-designed and well-articulated action figure for new fans too. We have to remember the new fans.