Darth Vader - Star Wars Toybox (4)

The Disney Store is proud to introduce the Star Wars Toybox range of action figures, bringing adventures to life with characters from across The Walt Disney Company.

If you’re not a fan of Disney Infinity, it’s a good bet that you’re not a fan of the Disney Star Wars Toybox figures. Not all collectors are willing to accept artistic interpretations of their favorite Star Wars characters, but we find them charming and are thrilled to see this line produced. The opening wave of figures focused on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, but now the Original Trilogy lid has been removed, and classic characters like Darth Vader and Boba Fett are entering the line making longtime collectors very happy. If you think of the days when Gentle Giant Ltd. produced their Animated Maquettes or the days when Hasbro produced the animated Clone Wars [Animated] figures line, Disney is following in similar footsteps. They're hoping that the interest in the canceled Disney Infinity line will entice those fans and continue collecting through this medium instead. After all, these figures look identical to those static miniature statues from the Disney Infinity game. Darth Vader is #4 in the Star Wars Toybox line. He turned out well, but surprisingly different than we expected. Let’s take a close look at him.

Darth Vader is significantly chunkier than we anticipated. He is bulky, solid, and possesses great heft. Because of his larger and thicker frame, the super-articulation isn’t as utilitarian as hoped. Don’t misunderstand us, please. Darth Vader has a wide range of movement. We feel however that more movement would exist if his limbs weren’t so thick. Following in the same footsteps as figures before him, Darth Vader shares the similar articulation approach. Loaded with plenty of ball-jointed articulation, Darth Vader can move in some impressive ways and attain poses that are not only iconic, but scene-specific. The sculpt of Darth Vader is very nice. He has many angular shapes and contours, giving him a geometric feel. There isn’t too much detail in the figure, but the detail that is there is done beautifully and captures the traits of this dark Sith Lord. His head sculpt of course is a helmet, but you can see and feel the anger he possesses thanks to smart use of flat and shiny mattes decorating the portrait. Everything is topnotch here. We love it.

Darth Vader comes with only a single accessory; his lightsaber. It’s well-proportioned and nicely decorated too. Only his right hand can hold onto the hilt, and even then, the grip is so loose it can easily fall out if you’re not careful. His left hand is opened, conjuring some aspect of the Force, so that hand is not an option sadly. We love the ability for Darth Vader figures to come with both hands that can accommodate a lightsaber. An interchangeable hand would have been a very nice step up here. We’re disappointed to realize that his cape is not removable, but there is some saving grace here. Often, the cape weighs too much and thrown the figure down. But in this case, it has been tooled in a way to not interfere with figure’s center of gravity. We had no issues whatsoever displaying and posing this figure in a variety of ways without compromising its balance. Also, what Darth Vader figure ever looked like WITHOUT its cape anyhow? We’re excited for whatever other Original Trilogy characters enter this line. This 5” line of figures hits all the right spots for us.