Anakin Skywalker (Jedi Knight) - Order Of The Jedi - 1:6 Scale Figures

As the bitter Clone Wars drag on, a weary galactic public looks for heroes to deify and in return be succored with hope in the long, grim darkness. Seemingly invincible and without fear, the Republic's poster boy is young Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. Of humble birth and childhood, Anakin was a slave on the Outer Rim backwater world of Tatooine before his discovery and subsequent induction into the Order of the Jedi. His has been a remarkable journey, from slave to Jedi knight, and in his few years he has lived and fought more than almost any Jedi alive. Amphitheatres of battle on a hundred different worlds have been the classes of Anakin's schooling and tested his character like no training the ancient Jedi could have devised.

But within the heart of the Republic's favorite son, a growing firestorm is gathering strength. The corrosive effects of the conflict have tarnished the idealism of the Jedi way. Anakin has seen death and suffered often in the long war. His duel with the would-be Sith assassin Asajj Ventress, and the dismemberment inflicted upon him by Count Dooku, have left him scarred, but his inner wounds are more extensive still. Misgivings and doubt, fueled by fear of loss and by pride, gnaw at Anakin Skywalker. His secret love and marriage to Senator Amidala fosters a quiet resentment of the stark law of the Order, which forbids such attachments. The fear of losing those he loves, a seed planted with the death of his mother and nourished by prophetic nightmares, begins to drive Anakin's actions. And ever in his ear, the softly spoken praise of the Supreme Chancellor stokes the fires of a young man's vanity, insidiously wilting his Jedi humility, burning a wedge between him and his dearest friend and mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he not the Chosen One, the greatest Jedi to have ever lived? Why then, should he be bound by rules designed to limit his power.

As the war enters its final, dramatic days, the fiery turmoil within Anakin Skywalker gathers strength and threatens to consume him. Loyalties and agendas tear at him from all sides. Conflicting demands are made of him and sacrifices begged. Though he knows it not, the slave-become-savior holds the fate of the galaxy in his artificial palm. His choice governs the coming storm. The tempest will either be tamed, or it will be unleashed upon the galaxy as an unstoppable scourge, binding all under the tyranny of the Sith...

After Sideshow Collectible announced acquiring the Star Wars license from Hasbro to produce 1:6 Scale Figures, they immediately developed tunnel vision and focused on characters that would fall under the newly hailed Order Of The Jedi sub-collection. No Jedi was off limits, but obviously one of their main goals was to quickly bang out the core characters. And with very few exceptions, that’s exactly what they did. Anakin Skywalker (Jedi Knight) is another great progression in the Order Of The Jedi collection, but he seems to lack in some areas more or less than many of the other characters in this line. They of course don’t fall short in the development of the outfit he’s wearing, but just as any other licensee struggles to master human likenesses, so does Sideshow unfortunately with Anakin Skywalker (Jedi Knight). We should probably set the record straight right away and state that this figure doesn’t have a terrible likeness, but it is definitely off and not entirely favorable to the character we saw in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. Anakin Skywalker (Jedi Knight) does succeed in many areas, but we have to say that a little more trial and error should have been executed in order to ensure collectors would be treated to an incredible likeness of him. There is some room for improvement and we bet that many collectors have already noted this.

The head sculpt doesn’t really share the features or the hairstyle of Anakin Skywalker from Episode III. His eyes look too squinty and his hair color is much too dark. The parting of his hair doesn’t remind us of any style we can recall from Episode III and the ultra smooth texture of his skin is borderline alarming. Anakin definitely appears to us and if he’s been smattered with way too much makeup. What’s worse, it appears that he is wearing lipstick as well. We know that this figure is an early release in the line and Sideshow Collectibles will obviously need to ride a learning curve to perfect these, but with great figures like Kit Fisto (Jedi Master), Plo Koon (Jedi Master) and even Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Master), it is slightly (or more than slightly) disappointing that the finished product doesn’t feel…. well, a finished product. Too much time, planning and development goes into the manufacturing of a 1:6 Scale Figure and we have to say that Anakin Skywalker needed more time in development. But despite its shortcomings, there are a few cool additions to this figure that have made us happy, and should bode the same for you. The outfit on Anakin Skywalker (Jedi Knight) is awesome. It doesn’t look as fitted as it should be, but the detail in the fabrics used and the combination of layers are stunning and Sideshow should get proper credit for that.

The interchangeable cybernetic arm is just simply amazing. The incredible details will leave you shaking your head in disbelief and the flawless paint operations are just the icing on the cake. We do have to say that although this accessory is and incredible enhancement to the figure, it’s very difficult to roll up his right sleeves (there are two layers you need to hold back) to attach the arm. But this problem is only worsened by the fact that the arm attachments have no ribbing (or resistance) to stay on with the force of gravity (or even simple movements of the arm). This will no doubt be maddening for some collectors who like to achieve very action-oriented poses with their 1:6 Scale Figures and they likely will go crazy trying to make the arm attachments stay in place. The other accessories are also beautifully designed and complement Anakin Skywalker perfectly. You’ll start to notice that the same accessories are showing up again and again. But this makes sense since these are all Jedi we are receiving. Exclusive collectors are treated to a holographic Darth Sidious figure which is cool, but not something to get excited over because most of us are exhausted with anything holographic at this point. Anakin Skywalker (Jedi Knight) is probably a necessary purchase for your collection. It’s obviously better than Hasbro’s 12 inch figure, but this one isn’t ready to be called definitive yet.