Episode III Concept Art Anakin Skywalker - TLC - Basic (BD 48)

In this concept art by Sang Jun Lee, Anakin wears the "dark Jedi" apparel that outwardly reflects his inner conversion to the dark side of the Force. The outfit was designed to echo the clothing worn by his son Luke during the climactic battle with Emperor Palpatine.

So, do you want the good news or bad news first? Actually, we are quite fond of this Concept Anakin Skywalker figure, so do not fret, we will quickly alert you to its negatives first and be on our way with glorious praise! First and foremost, it is our opinion that this figure should have not been designed with Hayden Christensen's likeness. From the packaging, it is clear that this figure was based on an animated image (as seen in the book The Art Of Revenge Of The Sith) and a portrait to better match that sketch would have definitely been more ideal. Think of the McQuarrie figures as a basis to compare. It is sort of like Harrison Ford's likeness on the 2007 TAC Concept Han Solo (30 47) figure or Carrie Fisher's likeness on the 2007 TAC Concept Starkiller Hero (30 37) figure. It wouldn't work for those concept figures, so it doesn't really work that well for this one either. Interestingly, and we could be off or wrong here, but it seems if they ended up tweaking and re-sculpting the Anakin head anyhow, why wasn't it designed to look more like the portrait in the artwork? It's not a deal breaker, but rather just a mild disappointment. That being put aside now, this Concept Anakin Skywalker is really a pleasure to add our collections, and we believe the same will be true for you. Clearly reminiscent of familiar and recognizable outfits we've seen before, this figure is just a very special addition to your artwork based figures.

Concept Anakin Skywalker is super-articulated, but in order to enjoy all the points it has, you are going to have to remove the plastic cloak. The plastic cloak, by the way, is wonderfully sculpted and nicely painted. It is usually very rare to get a molded cloak or cape from Hasbro that is multi-colored. This one has two different shades to be exact and it work quite well to bring out its texture and definition. Unfortunately, as previously stated, it does limit this figure's movement a great deal. And despite its awesome engineering we think a soft-goods cloak would have been more effective. So while the paint application looks fantastic on this figure, it is really meant for display (and not play) purposes. Clearly, this can be simply remedied by removing its cloak. Based on the information in the book, the artist intended to make this concept of Anakin to look like a culmination of both Darth Vader's and Luke Skywalker's costumes from Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. Lucas apparently wanted a version of Anakin to consider that resembled Luke's very dark outfit that was seen in Episode VI. When you look at the figure, you clearly see elements of both Luke and Darth Vader. This creates an automatic sense of nostalgia. And the sculptors did a great job imitating the figure from two-dimensional artwork into a three dimensional toy. It may seem like a simple figure, but it has a great amount of detail that you can really only see once it is in your hands. For example, the figure appears shiny and nearly without any texture and smooth. And a lot of the details are not visible when you look at it through the bubble. To your delight (but only once removed from package), his costume comes to life and is actually a very well-tailored and finely detailed design!

This Anakin figure remains in scale with the other recent Anakin figures and this is a certainly a plus! He comes with the aforementioned removable cape in addition to a lightsaber hilt and a blue lit lightsaber. Interestingly, all the production photos of this figure (including the back of the package) show him with a red-bladed lightsaber. Although the figure is not loaded with tons of accessories, he is however loaded with articulation and this more than makes up for it. And to be honest, we are getting a bit weary of the over-accessorizing of The Clone Wars figures, so this one is a delight. Also, Anakin looks great next to your Concept Grievous figure (if you have picked that one up too – now is a reason to definitely get him). There are definitely more concept figures on the way, especially from Episode III to go along with these two and we can't wait to get them into our collections! We think this is a great sub-line and breaks up the sometimes wearisome uniformity of what is known as the basic figure line. These types of figures are nice surprises and Anakin was a refreshingly great choice to kick-start these concept figures back into fruition. Anakin comes with the right arm of HK-47. This figure was a bit of a chore to find at retail. We recommend that you buy him if you see him. He is definitely part of a wave of figures that are in shorter supply than the rest in The Legacy Collection and as a result will be harder to come by as time moves forward. And we really hope that Hasbro keep concept figures as a mainstay in the action figure line, because if it weren’t for all the great character concepts that first began as artwork, maybe the final versions wouldn’t have been realized. One idea always generates another and the evolution of a character is born from creativity. Concept Anakin is an action figure with a great amount of creativity!