Darth Vader - TSC - Basic (SAGA 045)

Once in a while, some action figures come across as sympathetic. There is this generic phenomenon that a few older figures remain cool despite not aging that well due to their limited articulation and slightly inferior sculpts. But that about sums up how we feel about The Saga Collection’s Darth Vader (SAGA 045) figure. This action figure certainly has history in the basic figure line. It was first released in 2001’s POTJ line as Darth Vader (Emperor's Wrath) figure and it was a hugely popular figure for the time. And maybe that’s why Hasbro thought that they could squeeze it into the basic figure line again five years later to make a slightly revised version of this action figure. Darth Vader certainly lacks the articulation and sculpting finesse of many of the other figures in The Saga Collection, but as we have said, you’ll likely find one or two reasons to develop a fondness to this action figure while still admitting it could be better.

Hasbro did make some significant improvements this time around. Not only do we get the partially translucent plastic that was used back in 2001, Hasbro has somehow updated it to look ore effective. In particular you can see the skull of Anakin Skywalker below better than ever before. And certain points even look like the burned head of Anakin Skywalker. (This is likely just a coincidence because it’s meant to be the skull underneath and not flesh.) The paint job has been cleaned up tremendously and Hasbro also added a Force lightning effect that nicely fits over Darth Vader’s helmet like a glove to represent the residual damage he sustained from overthrowing Emperor Palpatine. But perhaps the nicest update to this figure is the removable right arm which houses a nicely designed cybernetic attachment. It’s highly detailed for what it is and the “glove” easily slips on and off of it while remaining able to stay in place too.

We even think that Darth Vader has a nice sculpt for what it is. Obviously you’re not going to have much flexibility with this action figure. It essentially is what it is. But it was well done from the start and we think it almost passes with flying colors as an acceptable addition to The Saga Collection. Besides, you get a personalized action figure stand with Darth Vader. This way when you get what you feel is a definitive version of Darth Vader, you can place that figure on this stand. The Saga Collection is a line that brought a lot of new stuff to collectors, but it also brought a ton of reinvented “old” stuff too. And we are particularly thankful that Hasbro put the time and effort into adding things to the older sculpts to refresh them. Straight repacks may serve a need, but they are most boring to collectors who already have purchased them. We would absolutely love to see a super-articulated update to this version of Darth Vader, but until this comes to pass, this is a figure that we’ll particularly enjoy despite how peculiar that sounds!