Darth Vader (Thank The Maker) - Mini Busts

Darth Vader’s iconic status has made the character a synonym for evil in popular culture. This fine collectible mini-bust boasts three pose variations and is packaged with an exclusive Star Wars comic published by Dark Horse.

Gentle Giant Ltd. really changed things up for Premier Guild Members and the annual Holiday Mini Bust they create for them for the 2011 calendar year. Instead of including some gimmicky holiday-themed interchangeable accessory to switch out, they’ve gone above and beyond to create a Mini Bust with three specific looks from three different sources. Simply put, there is something for everyone here and we have to say its probably the most versatile holiday Mini Busts Gentle Giant Ltd has created to date. Entitled Darth Vader (Thank The Maker), it gets its name from the Star Wars Tales comics where Darth Vader reminisces building C-3PO as young Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine after he finds his blown to pieces on Bespin. It’s a cool tale that helps to connect the dots and acknowledges that Darth Vader recognizes C-3PO on Bespin. So we can definitely appreciate anything that adds depth to the scenes in the films, especially Prequel Trilogy to Original Trilogy.

Gentle Giant Ltd casts an all-new sculpt for Darth Vader. Without any accessories attached to it, the Darth Vader Mini Bust can easily be sourced to The Empire Strikes Back. We love the flexibility of the sculpt, but on our sample the interchangeable hands do not sit firmly atop the attachments as firmly as we would have liked to see. There is some looseness that polystone collectibles just should not have. Movie fans are obviously going to pose Darth Vader in this position, but we bet many other collectors will choose the attachment that has Vader’s hand holding the battle-damaged head of C-3PO, as seen in the comics. We can be suckers for good stories, but there is something emotional about the grasp Darth Vader has on his childhood droid he made. But before we get too sappy we should note that the sculpt of C-3PO’s head is stunning. From the torn wires and controls to the flat look of his paint job, it is a perfect scaled replica of the protocol droid.

The dove attachment is designed to work with the glove attachment with the hole in the index finger. This accessory was inspired from a Lucasfilm, Ltd. holiday greeting card and Gentle Giant did a great job in conceiving this as a collectible piece. The peace on Earth, goodwill to the Galactic Empire is cool and ironic at the same time. But we’re thrilled that Gentle Giant opted for this holiday inspiration of Darth Vader instead of him wearing a Santa Clause hat. That wouldn’t have made us too happy at all. The bonus here is that anything and everything EU related can be removed and you are left with a movie-specific version of Darth Vader from The Empire Strikes Back. And we needed a new one because the 2002 version is dated due to its small scale. (Compare this new version of Darth Vader with the very first version and you’ll be surprised just how much smaller the 2002 version is. Gentle Giant gave this new version of Darth Vader an excellent paint job and even included subtle red details in his lenses. It’s all here and it’s a wonderful Mini Bust to celebrate a very exciting year for Gentle Giant Ltd. Happy holidays to all!