Darth Vader (Death Star Hangar) - OTC - Basic (’05 #10)

The evil Sith Lord Darth Vader enforces the Emperor's will throughout the galaxy. He captures Princess Leia to discover the location of the heroic Rebels' secret base and recover the Death Star plans, which have been stolen by a Rebel spy. Vader is strong in the ways of the Force but has gone over to the dark side and is using this power to do harm.

It doesn’t need to be verbalized, but Hasbro spoiled collectors rotten with The Original Trilogy Collection “Vintage” Kenner line. In fact, we’ve been spoiled so badly that the line has effectively set our expectations for what Hasbro should release as basic figures where the price point is significantly less than premium action figures. We tend to want it all. This includes flawless and super-articulated action figures, but for a low MSRP. And that’s not going to work any longer, not unless there is new media to support the toy line. It’s going to be hard for Hasbro to continue bringing us all-new figures that are all-new sculpts and have premium features or improved details. As a result, we have to expect some of their greatest hits to be issued over and over again. Hasbro has to keep popular characters at retail. And they do this by releasing the “next best thing” which are repacked figures in updated packaging. Never settling and always innovating, it seems that Hasbro will only continue to bring excellence in action figures forward. So, with the good comes some bad: repackaged figures. In the case of Darth Vader (Death Star Hangar), however, they re-released one of their finer figures here. In 2005, Hasbro needed to cull together a “transitional wave” of Star Wars action figures to have products available for a couple months while they prepped the Revenge Of The Sith line. They did this with The [Post] Original Trilogy Collection which included all-new figures and some of The Original Trilogy Collection’s greatest hits. Some re-releases weren’t wise choices. But other, like this figure, were excellent decisions.

There are some older action figures that should still rank as excellent in our minds. And Hasbro agrees that Darth Vader (OTC #34) from The Original Trilogy Collection was a worthy candidate for re-release in this “transitional wave.” Keeping in mind that this sculpt originated back in the year 2000, Darth Vader still holds up incredibly well as one of the best versions based on his A New Hope appearance. And the figure still looks great today. First released in 2000’s POTJ Masters Of The Dark Side two-pack, Darth Vader has also been released as 2003’s SW [S - P3] Darth Vader (Death Star Clash) (’03 #32) and then almost immediately again as 2004’s SW [S - P3] Darth Vader (Death Star Clash) Hall Of Fame release. Every new release of this figure to date has been slightly different from the last. For example, a critical and discriminating eye can see that things like the soft-goods cape and the smallest paint details have been changed here and there. You’ll also see varying degrees of flat and glossy paint used throughout too. Are the differences noticeable? They’re barely noticeable. But you’ll find with each release something different enough that you will want to either note or roll your eyes over because depending upon who you are will or will not make a difference. Darth Vader (Death Star Hangar) is a fantastic sculpt. Some collectors will believe the figure is limited in articulation, and that is true from a certain point of view. But Darth Vader (Death Star Hangar) can attain some incredible positions and achieve poses that are so impressive that you have to give credit where credit is due.

Darth Vader (Death Star Hangar) comes with seven points of articulation. Appreciating the figure for what it is, the only setback for us is the plastic molded skirt because it inhibits a large percentage of his hip movement. But this is true of any molded skirt. Aesthetically however, Darth Vader (Death Star Hangar) looks rather remarkable. He is tall, muscular, foreboding, and has an appearance that satisfies his overbearing stature. Hasbro added a swivel elbow to his left arm. This joint was added to give him a little bit more movement for lightsaber wielding. It’s not ideal, but it’s good enough for this release. He can hold the included lightsaber with one or two hands which is a very nice feature too. We’re perhaps most impressed with the type, quality and drape of his soft-goods cape. It’s realistic, curls around his frame and hangs at the right length as well. Soft-goods tend to have a pass or fail grade from collectors, with very little opinion in the middle. You will be hard pressed to criticize these soft-goods however. We’re thoroughly satisfied with how well they were done for this figure. Darth Vader (Death Star Hangar) may not be the most definitive Episode IV version of the character we have seen in the basic figure line, but he still looks great nonetheless. The portrait is also very well done and we don’t think too many collectors can find fault in the way Hasbro mirrored the onscreen prop. If you have a figure that looks like a perfect miniature match to an awesome onscreen character, we feel strongly that Hasbro has done their job. In the case of this figure, Hasbro has certainly done their job.