Emperor’s Throne Room - TVC - Exclusives

Rising from the north pole of the second Death Star is a 100-story isolation tower reserved for the Emperor, from which he oversees the battle station's operations. The tower's four spokes house a throne room, Palpatine's provate chambers, and a vault reserved for Sith artifacts. This thron room was the site of a climactic showdown between Jedi and Sith at the Battle of Endor.

The Hasbro Pulse Emperor’s Throne Room is “meh,” and it’s egregious that Hasbro didn’t give us the alternate portrait with the general marketplace release of 2021’s TVC The Emperor (VC200) figure. Now that we got these two things off of our chests, we can move forward talking about the saving graces of this Hasbro Star Wars exclusive product for The Vintage Collection. For $31.99, Hasbro gave collectors a Death Star II window, a removable cardboard backdrop (to show the Rebel fleet or a plain starfield), a nicely detailed throne room chair, and a revised The Emperor figure with a different head sculpt and paint job. Of course, this version should have been the one included with the basic figure instead. At first glance, the set is decent. But as you begin to unveil the merchandise inside, you realize that we probably got sold a bridge from Hasbro. Or, another way of looking at it is that we paid $31.99 for another The Emperor action figure with a corresponding throne room chair. $31.99 isn’t highway robbery for what’s included here. It’s about what we’d expect to pay for “three” separate items in The Vintage Collection. We’re more perturbed that Hasbro decided to pair the more generic and scene-agnostic expression with the exclusive release. Why do they continue to do things like this?

The throne room chair is beautiful. If you recall, we received this “accessory” years ago when Kenner/Hasbro produced the Cinema Scenes line. One called Final Jedi Duel includes Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker. The throne room chair was permanently part of the base, and it too had a cardboard backdrop that you cut out from a part of the packaging and placed it into a slot on the base. Admittedly, the set was exquisite for its time. But by today’s standards, the detail on the figures and the throne room chair don’t hold up. So, that said, we’re thankful to see Hasbro take a fresh stab at this whole pivotal scene from Star Wars Episode VI Return Of The Jedi. We don’t think the new throne room chair is perfect. Although Hasbro gave us a place to rest Luke Skywalker’s hit on the right arm, it barely stays there. Couldn’t they have tooled a small landing or fat spot for this accessory? Still, it’s not the end of the world, and at least, with a bit of patience, the hilt will stay in place for you to complete your scene. Hasbro nailed the coloring and contour of the chair perfectly as well. Most importantly, both The Emperor action figures fit like a glove, and their heads don’t bang the top of the inside of the hair because they’re too big for it or something.

Despite our positive critique, the whole set still feels like it’s lacking a bit. OK, great. We have a Death Star window to set behind the chair. So, now we only have cardboard ornamentations to help fill in the blanks (as the packaging converts into the “rest” of the Throne Room area. The box for this set is larger than expected. And there is a lot of “air” inside of it. After you open the sides, you’ll find a “drawer” where Hasbro stowed away the accessories for The Emperor. It’s a clever way to package them out here, but it’s gimmicky at best. The new The Emperor figure is stunning. And we’re going to complain about it again. Why wasn’t this the version that Hasbro included with the basic figure? The smiling/sneering/open-mouthed version should have been exclusive. Hasbro failed collectors here, and it’s a MAJOR disappointment. Regardless, we’re thrilled to have this version of The Emperor in The Vintage Collection now. Hopefully, Hasbro will issue a running change to include the alternate head sculpt after some time. With all of the tooling costs they saved on the figure from the start, it’s rather insulting that they couldn’t give us two head sculpts with the carded version anyhow. That said, if you’re looking for the “best” The Emperor action figure from Return Of The Jedi, you’ll have to buy this set. It’s the only way.