Darth Vader [Anakin Skywalker] - TAC - Saga Legends

Turning his back on his former life, Anakin takes a new name along with his new identity: Darth Vader. He has fallen to the dark side of the Force and betrayed his Jedi comrades to the evil Sith. On the volcanic planet Mustafar, he meets his destiny in a fierce battle with his former Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

We've accused The Saga Collection's Anakin Skywalker (SAGA 025) figure as being a perfect 0. In all honesty, that figure isn't terrible, but there were many other better Anakin Skywalker action figures Hasbro could have re-released instead. For the most part, The Saga Collection tried wherever possible to update figures for the better. But in the case of Anakin Skywalker, Hasbro took a few (actually many) steps backward and included a figure in a "return from the living dead" fashion back into the basic figure line that never should have been re-released ever again. With a horrid action feature and aesthetics that hurt your eyes, Anakin Skywalker from the original Revenge Of The Sith line gets another stab in the basic figure line, this time dressed up in Hasbro's love a little bit more this time. Anakin Skywalker is a slight repaint of 2005’s ROTS Anakin Skywalker (III 2) figure and you probably know all too well that it is strewn with issues. From the floppy arms to the awful action feature, Anakin Skywalker is a true mess and totally not acceptable for a collector-focused premium basic action figure line. Now sadly, Hasbro has decided to repack this figure as it appeared in The Saga Collection lineup for the 30 (77-07)'s Saga Legends line with a new name.

It's probably more than clear already that you know we just aren’t crazy about this figure. That would be true. But we should probably question whether ot not it brings any other so-called good to the basic figure line. We would have to say yes, somewhat. And while it may sound funny, the best part of this figure still remains the additional soft-goods cloak, something that worked very well to hide where the figure fails like its messy action features. Displayed in a collection, Darth Vader [Anakin Skywalker] looks pretty good. That may be hard to believe but we're not making this up. Even after a short year, age has absolutely not been too forgiving to Darth Vader [Anakin Skywalker]. The head sculpt is rather poor and while some enhancements have been made to the paint job to make it look better, it honestly just doesn’t work any more. It is time to retire this sculpt right away. This figure should not be re-released again under any circumstance. Hasbro has literally spoiled us with the Evolutions figure so it’s hard to look at an inferior version positively any more. And it is really hard to let go of the fact that Hasbro should have included the significantly updated Anakin Skywalker figure from the Evolutions set here instead.

With Darth Vader [Anakin Skywalker] you get an interchangeable hand holding a lightsaber (remember those travesties?) but on a positive note you get a separate lightsaber hilt and a cool personalized action figure stand. These extra pieces almost make this purchase worthwhile. But again, with the limited articulation as well as the inferior articulation, Darth Vader [Anakin Skywalker] is just a figure whose sculpt should be retired at this point. The point of Saga Legends is to keep Hasbro's most popular action figures in the line at all times. Darth Vader [Anakin Skywalker] is obvioulsy a major player in the Star Wars franchise. He should be part of the Saga Legends lineup. So it makes sense why we see him released time and again. We understand the need for including some of the most popular characters in these types of promotions, but we think the new and superior sculpts should also be utilized in the Saga Legends line, too. But even so, Darth Vader [Anakin Skywalker] may be a figure whose bad features you can overlook. If you’re a one of everything collector, then of course this is an obligatory purchase because it is new from many points of views. And hey, you get an Episode III coin with him this time too.