Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader And Count Dooku (Sith Lords) - ROTS - Commemorative DVD Collection

The Dark Lords of the Sith show no mercy as they carry out their plan to destroy the Jedi Order and seize control of the Republic. Led by the evil Emperor Palpatine, these deceitful villains use the dark side of the Force to enhance their fighting skills and crush all enemies who oppose their plans for galactic domination.

The Revenge Of The Sith Commemorative DVD Collection sets weren’t too consistent. Figures in these three-packs were mostly harvested from the Revenge Of The Sith line, but Hasbro also reached back to the Star Wars “Saga” era to complete the Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader And Count Dooku (Sith Lords) set. The multipacks retail for only $9.99 each, so when it comes to a set like this, it does feel like you’re getting your money’s worth. But our opinion remains strong that Hasbro picked some of the worst figures of their entire catalog to put these sets together. Hasbro created this line of multipacks to support the release of Revenge Of The Sith on DVD. We suppose the Commemorative DVD Collection three-packs do this admirably, but hardcore collectors will likely find the three-packs in this Walmart exclusive line a bit disappointing because they don’t add anything meaningful to their collections, exclusive packaging aside of course. The Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader And Count Dooku (Sith Lords) three-pack has some cool characters “on paper,” but the execution and what is included here may have collectors wishing for more.

Emperor Palpatine isn’t the greatest action figure in the Revenge Of The Sith line. (Is that a nicer way of saying that it’s not very good?) What is most frustrating about it, however, is that it has some excellent points that are completely lost in an action figure that serves the collector more accurately as a statue than anything else. Emperor Palpatine only comes with disappointing articulation, but his design inherently works against any additional articulation Hasbro might have brought to this sculpt. Hasbro interestingly decided to waste ball-jointed articulation in the neck of this figure, and it’s something that perplexes us. He also comes with ball-jointed shoulders, but other than that, there isn’t much more in the form of premium articulation. Sadly, Hasbro worked in an action feature into the figure’s right arm. They have added a spring for a “pull and release” feature that was created to “fire” two different projectiles: “Force lightning” and “Force push” effects on the original figure. But for this release, Hasbro only included the removable hood and lightsaber accessories instead. It fits very nicely into his left hand.

We’re surprised that Hasbro decided to release this Darth Vader action figure once again. It isn’t the greatest form of Darth Vader by any means, and while the figure has great proportions, the stance, the lankiness and the inability to keep its cape on its body makes the figure more of a nuisance than anything else. Interestingly, Hasbro recast this figure in solid black plastic. If you remove the hood, Anakin Skywalker’s face is black plastic. See that HERE. (Special thanks to Rebelscum.com for the image.) While tall enough, the figure suffers from too many aesthetic problems to be considered a good figure at this point. Count Dooku is the other figure from the Star Wars “Saga” lineup. Frankly, Count Dooku has a nice sculpt and is aging gracefully. The figure, of course, lacks in premium articulation and suffers from an annoying action figure, but the figure isn’t terrible at all. He comes with a removable cape and lightsaber to complete his look. Still, with a fantastic Evolutions version of him out on the market now, it’s hard to look at this version of the figure with the same eyes we utilized in 2002. Overall, the Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader And Count Dooku (Sith Lords) isn’t the worst of the Commemorative DVD Collection sets, but it still could use some work.