Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars Animated) - Maquettes

One of the greatest accomplishments Gentle Giant Ltd. ever made in their popular Maquettes line was undeniably their incredible Emperor Palpatine collectible. It is truly an astounding collectible and fastidious collectors of this line have a great deal to celebrate with its release. It’s exactly what fans of the line have been waiting to see get produced in this scale, and Gentle Giant Ltd. has cleverly sculpted a likeness of Palpatine that not only obvioulsy transcends his appearance from Return Of The Jedi, but also acknowledges Genndy Tartakovsky’s take on Darth Sidious from the Clone Wars micro-series (that we only saw in holographic form, mind you). A lot of various inspiration went into this piece and it’s evident that Gentle Giant Ltd. was careful to hone in on them in equal parts to bring a fair animated take on the king of evil. This Maquette captures all of that effortlessly and it is quite amazing that it looks organized as it does when it seems to be drawn from multiple sources.

Emperor Palpatine comes with an extremely gruesome facial structure. He is so evil that he almost looks more zombie than a Sith Master with a severely burned face. Gentle Giant Ltd. has added subtle color to his eyes and the coloring just accents the evil that is already there. It doesn’t brighten up the face in the least. He has a most horrifying open-mouthed grin and you can clearly make out all of the jagged teeth inside of his mouth. The hand painted details are quite astounding. The hood of his cloak does a decent job to hide his evil face, but it’s not completely covered up where it functions more like an obstruction. His left hand, again which looks like the living dead, is up at the center of his chest, and all of his figures are curled in a dark gestured manner. His finger tips are about as eerie as his expression, and he looks about ready to command the dark side of the Force at his will. Truly, Gentle Giant Ltd. has mastered this leader of the dark side of the Force. They have done a wondrous job with it.

His left hand is holding onto his signature cane. Gentle Giant Ltd. was courteous as to apply a glossy black paint to it to give it the necessary shine it has as seen in Return Of The Jedi. The rest of his outfit is really just nicely sculpted (and partially flowing) robes that have also been sculpted beautifully to recreate the simplicity of his appearance. It is quite amazing how such an evil character can be so modestly, yet mysteriously dressed, isn’t it? Emperor Palpatine stand atop of the standard Maquettes base that has been for the most part used on every piece in this long-running collection. And a primarily black character looks stunning on a black base. Sometimes simplicity is the key to making a great piece look even better. The Emperor Palpatine Maquette will be a brisk seller and we imagine that he will be harder to find over time. Not only is he a popular character with Star Wars fans, but he may be one of the best representations of this character in collectible format. That’s a powerful statement since this is an animated take on the character and we’re judging it on screen accuracy. But that is the power of true art. It overrides the need to receive screen accuracy, as long as it’s done well.