Darth Vader - ROTS - Special Edition 500th Figure

Celebrate a very special moment in the history of the Star Wars 3 ¾” action figures, with the introduction of the 500th figure in this legendary collection. No character is more fitting to mark this significant event than the ultimate villain of all time, Darth Vader. Designed with incredible detail and superior articulation, Vader comes with his famous meditation chamber where his menacing helmet is lowered onto him. Own a piece of history as a cornerstone to your Star Wars collection. Star Wars – Live the legend... Celebrate the saga!

It’s always exciting when the Hasbro Star Wars basic figure line reaches a landmark/milestone. The first time that Hasbro actually acknowledged one of the said landmarks was in 2000 when the Power Of The Jedi line brought us the 300th figure in our collections: Boba Fett. That Boba Fett figure was quite an accomplishment from a sculpting point of view. It didn’t have world-class articulation, but the sculpt was so dynamic that not many fans and collectors minded it all that much. Now a half a decade later Hasbro celebrates another milestone with the Darth Vader (Special Edition 500th Figure). Reaching 500 figures honestly came at an oddly curious time in 2005. At a time when Revenge Of The Sith was all the rage, Hasbro wisely chose to make a new Darth Vader figure the focus of this celebration, but they based him on The Empire Strikes Back when everything else was consciously focusing on his appearance from Revenge Of The Sith. Even more odd was that Hasbro packaged him in the Revenge Of The Sith line look which came across as a little bit confusing. We’re nitpicking freely here because there is a lot more to critique. You’re probably going to be just mildly mused with this release. There is certainly a lot more Hasbro could have done to pad this release. Any 500th figure is a big deal. Hasbro should have made it bigger.

Darth Vader (Special Edition 500th Figure) is a bittersweet release at best. We don’t deny the excitement surrounding its release. After all, it’s not everyday that we reach 500 Star Wars action figures. And we’re certainly thankful that Hasbro bravely chose to base him of off an Original Trilogy appearance. But this figure is so far from perfection that it may have been better if Hasbro just waited a little while longer until they could have made a more definitive version of Darth Vader. Clearly based on the blueprints of the 2004 VOTC Darth Vader figure, but NOT the actual figure itself, Darth Vader (Special Edition 500th Figure) is an all-new figure which takes a few steps back in terms of articulation and aesthetics that we frankly feel overall disappoints. Darth Vader is always a great choice, but when the latest Darth Vader figure is inferior to ones already available, you have to ask yourself why a toy company is reverting the quality of their figures at a time where technology should be blowing our minds. Darth Vader (Special Edition 500th Figure) isn’t archaic by any mean, but he is certainly dated and in our opinion already obsolete to what is already available on the market right this moment. We do love the removable cape and the interchangeable lightsaber hand, but the physical figure itself could be more impressive.

Darth Vader (Special Edition 500th Figure) has mostly swivel articulation. Save for the ball-jointed knees, every last area of articulation on this figure is swivel based. Even the 2004 VOTC Darth Vader figure came with ball-jointed shoulders, so we’re not exactly sure what is going on here at all. Darth Vader (Special Edition 500th Figure) also has some other issues. He has an awkward lean to the right. We don’t think that his symmetry was properly calibrated before it went into mass production. And he appears a little too short. Darth Vader had a tall and commanding stature in all of the films. But this figure, while still taller than many other action figures, doesn’t seem to possess that same intimidation stature. Thankfully, there are some great points to this release. The meditation chamber is a lot of fun and has an amazing amount of detail. (It too is much smaller than the actual prop in the film.) The packaging is actually part of the lid to the chamber, but you can keep it after you throw away the paper-based packaging to keep it looking more whole. A lever exists in the back of the chamber that lifts and lowers the dome from Darth Vader’s head. The functionality is beautiful and seemingly screen accurate. Darth Vader also sits in the chamber very nicely. We’re impressed to say the least with this part of this release.