Anakin Skywalker - TCW [SOTDS] - Basic (CW07)

The Separatists have stolen a Jedi holocron containing the secret names of future Jedi. Anakin contrives a daring maneuver to board the Separatist frigate and retrieve the holocron. Skywalker, Ahsoka and a team of clone troopers drop through space on AT-TE walkers, land on the outside of the frigate and breach the ship!

The three main heroes from The Clone Wars television series have all now been donned in space gear. A clever way to reissue a previously sculpted figure to make it "new enough" to purchase, we can expect Hasbro to consistently deliver us these types of figures to help pad the main basic line of action figures. Anakin Skywalker looks a lot more like his "regular" version than Ahsoka Tano (CW23) [Space Gear] looks like her "regular" version does, but it is important to note that the figure is indeed an almost completely new figure. While it may seem that there are only some differences, it is essentially a sculpt we have not seen before. This Anakin Skywalker figure is a perfect example of how fun it is to collect and how well we get treated by Hasbro. For they could have given us the old Anakin figure and repackaged it with a clear domed helmet, but instead completely revisited the character for us and gave us something essentially new. This is one of the small gifts we love to receive from Hasbro and makes another $7.99 purchase worthwhile. Heck, even the repainted colors would have honestly been enough for us, but we ended up receiving a lot more than that. We count ourselves very fortunate. And thank you Hasbro for going this route with this figure! Now we all have a second opportunity to purchase this fun figure as it is now part of The Clone Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side] lineup.

Anakin Skywalker is super-articulated and comes with a removable "space" dome helmet, lightsaber, a jetpack, a missile and a missile "tip". Once assembled, Anakin looks ready for battle in the deep stretches of space. One of the most impressive aspects of this "new" figure is his head sculpt. Hasbro has really nailed the animated likeness of Anakin incredibly this time around. He has the perfect smiling expression without looking silly, almost as if he has cracked a joke to his partner Snips. His hair doesn't look any different than what we have previously seen, but the final delivery of this portrait just looks so much better. He is a bit taller than the previous incarnations of Anakin we have received thus far and this probably was a wise move for Hasbro. Anakin is a tall dude for certain, so it is nice to get him with a larger stature. And while it may be frustrating to have multiple Anakin action figures with different heights, hopefully Hasbro will remain consistent with this newly revised scale. Hasbro has also revisited the brown color used on his boots and arms. And while we don't know if this is a corrected coloring that is series-specific or just this episode-specific, the new lighter brown color serves as a nice contrast to his Jedi uniform but works adversely against the black cybernetic hand. We must admit that the darker and shinier brown is our preference though (the original coloring).

Another change made to this figure was the chest plate. While all versions of Anakin previously released had a metallic light blue color, Hasbro has adjusted it to a silver color. And we must conclusively state that this was the right move for this figure. The figure has a beautiful wash on his metallic chest armor and our eyes are fooled to believe that there is a wash over most of his Jedi outfit. In one word, this figure is excellent. There were many complaints and groans about the first basic Anakin Skywalker figure because of its lack of articulation. This isn't the case with this figure at all. He has all the movement you could hope for and so much more. It will be an asset to your collection and if you are an Anakin fan, this is one of the better basic figures of him we have received. In summary, he has a better portrait, better coloring and better articulation. You can display him with or without his accessories, so the figure is very utilitarian. And he is certainly a figure that can find multiple uses in your collection, whether you shelf, diorama, or simply remained carded on your wall. For those that like extra bells and whistles packed in with their action figures, The Clone Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side] line brings the Galactic Battle Game to our homes. The inclusion of a Game Card, die, action figure stand and other pack-in premiums makes collecting all the more interesting in a wonderful collecting era. This game has appeared to go over well with kids, but for colectors, all we need to see is a pack-in premium and we're pretty much sold on it.