Anakin Skywalker - SW [TPM 3D] - Movie Heroes (MH14)

Though still just a boy, Anakin Skywalker is already a gifted mechanic. He builds devices like a jet-powered backpack using bits and pieces thrown away by Watto, the junk dealer who owns the young slave. Anakin uses his mechanical ability to construct his own Podracer and rebuild a discarded protocol droid named C-3PO.

Where do we begin? It’s not like the all-new Movie Heroes Anakin Skywalker is a terrible figure. It’s not. But the approach for this version by Hasbro isn’t that much different now than it was during the Episode I/Power Of The Jedi toy lines which ran between 1999 and 2002. The updates here include a ball-socket neck and slightly better proportions. But the greatest update perhaps is the superb likeness to young Jake Lloyd. You may not care, but Hasbro definitely did this figure justice in this department. Anakin’s paint job isn’t that bad either and worth noting as well. Because Anakin Skywalker is a Movie Heroes figure, he comes with “off screen” accessories and as much as this bothers us, we have to admit that they complete Anakin in a very respectable way. You probably shouldn’t get this version of Anakin Skywalker is your looking for the quintessential update or upgrade. Don’t waste your time with that because you’ll be left feeling very disappointed.

But if you want a fun new action figure based on what Anakin looked like in Episode I during the Podrace sequence, then we have something to talk about here. Anakin Skywalker comes with only six points of articulation. His head is ball-socket articulation but the rest of him contains swivel articulation. When we first removed him from the packaging, we became instantly concerned about his wide forward-stepping stance. Surprisingly, with a little patience, Anakin still attains a good center of gravity. It becomes trickier when you attach his backpack. This well designed (yet silly) accessory looks almost as if if could be an extension of his podracer. Its design is very nice and very believable (admittedly). Hasbro designed Anakin’s hands well to hold onto the handles. And if you spend a few minutes to appreciate the detail that went into the sculpting of this accessory, we bet that you will be asking yourself why didn’t Hasbro expend this energy on the actual action figure because the intricate detail should have been sacrificed their first.

Anakin Skywalker also comes with a newly designed removable podracer helmet. It’s new for the 2012 product year, but it was first packaged with the Anakin Skywalker in the Mos Espa Arena Battle Packs set part of the Walmart exclusive Discover The Force promotion. It makes a return appearance here and it fits like a glove on this version of Anakin Skywalker as well. if you’re an adult collector, you know how frustrating it is to get all-new sculpts with minimal articulation, especially since we have been waiting for modern updates to these figures for nearly a decade and a half now. Most collectors will not find this version of Anakin Skywalker a suitable definitive update to a “podracer” version of him. No, collectors are going to want a figure that’s on par with 2012’s TVC Anakin Skywalker (VC80) figure instead. And we want to see the same thing. Movie Heroes is taking Star Wars figures into dark times. We hope a turnaround is imminent. If not, we are worried for its future.