Obi-Wan Kenobi And Darth Vader (Final Duel) - POTJ - Silver Anniversary (1977-2002)

Twenty-five years ago, we were introduced to the heroic adventure fought a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. This incredible saga known as Star Wars exploded into our lives, captivating us with its epic struggle between the forces of good and evil. As a celebration of 25 years, we offer the essence of Star Wars – courage in the face of overwhelming odds, the strong bonds of friendship, and the inevitable confrontation between good and evil – within these special figures.

It's the climactic confrontation between the forces of good and evil. Two venerable warriors – a legendary Jedi Knight and his former Padawan, now seduced to the dark side of the Force – are reunited for a final duel that will decide the fate of the galaxy.

The final Silver Anniversary (1977-2002) set that we’re looking may ultimately rank as the best. The Obi-Wan Kenobi And Darth Vader (Final Duel) set captures the moments before the shocking death of Obi-Wan Kenobi which was one of the most important scenes in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Now we have good versus evil battling in the first truly final duel of the Star Wars saga. Once again, the figures do look like revived The Power Of The Force “2” figures, but they aren’t superheroes with bulky frames. But you’ll see how much they resemble their ancestors from the POTF2 era, especially Obi-Wan Kenobi. The figures are very simply articulated and are encumbered by their molded outer robes. But these are meant to diorama pieces, and they succeed very well at doing just that: standing around doing nothing but what the pose they’re already in is doing. Each figure comes with his respective lightsaber and both look so cool wielding it. The Obi-Wan Kenobi And Darth Vader (Final Duel) set is truly an iconic representation of 25 years of Star Wars, and we think Hasbro really did an excellent job with it.

Obi-Wan Kenobi comes with his hood up. As you know, we haven’t received too many version of him with his cloak in this position. As expected, the hood inhibits the movement of the already limited action figure. It’s also removable (because it is a shell) and Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn’t looks too good without it because he will have brow arms with a the rest of his outfit being tan. The figure comes with six points of articulation. A swivel head is joined by swivel shoulders, a swivel waist and swivel hips. But not to beat a dead horse, the figure has very limited movement even within these six points of articulation. The design of the figure is just inherently immobile, so there just isn’t much you can do with it. The head sculpt looks like it was ripped right out of The Power Of The Force “2” era and aside from a thinner body type, this definitely feels like it was tooled many years before 2001 (as the date stamp on the bottom of the figure reflects). This Silver Anniversary (1977-2002) set captures the last few moments of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s life as a flesh and blood character. We believe that for what it is, Hasbro nailed it.

Darth Vader may be the star of the set however. It’s not often that Hasbro screws up Darth Vader’s screen accuracy, so we should all expect this version to rise to the occasion as well. Again, not completely perfect, but far from dreadful, this Darth Vader enters the Hasbro Star Wars toy line with merit and in many ways excellence. Clearly an Episode IV version of Darth Vader, Hasbro ensured that the figure came with slightly red eye lenses, the outer robes hang over the shoulders and the lower close-fitting robes to complete his unique “A New Hope” appearance. Like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader arrives in an action oriented pose. But he is the yin to Obi-Wan Kenobi’s yang and together the form a wholeness as the conflict between them is resolved. And this is felt and even evident in this toy interpretation. Darth Vader also comes with six points of articulation and his accessories include a removable cape and lightsaber. The paint operations are truly excellent on Darth Vader and we imagine collectors will be happy with final applications. Obi-Wan Kenobi And Darth Vader (Final Duel) is a great way to celebrate 25 years of Star Wars. It’s probably the best of the three Hasbro produced.