Sidious Vs Mace - ROTS - Battle Arenas

Re-create the battle between Jedi Master Mace Windu and Darth Sidious in the Chancellor’s office on Coruscant! Only the winner remains standing when the fighting ends!

Bittersweet is a word that often gets used incorrectly, but in the case of the Sidious Vs Mace Battle Area, we believe it aptly applies. More times than not, the figures in the Battle Arena line are often superseded by their basic figure counterparts. But in the case of the Sidious Vs Mace set, we believe the converse is true. It’s not that the figures in this multipack are superior action figures. They’re not. But this assertion should paint a picture of how badly 2005’s ROTS Mace Windu (III 10) and 2005’s ROTS Palptine (III 35) figures are when compared to the figures in the Battle Arena pack. With limited articulation and action-oriented poses, both Sidious and Mace overshadow the basic figure version of them because of simpler sculpts, the absence of action features and a general scene-specific look and feel. Are the figures in the Battle Arena perfect or even decent action figures? We’ll leave that up to you. But as far as we’re concerned,, they’re infinitely better and we have used them in place of the basic figures from the Revenge Of The Sith line for the reasons stated. The Sidious Vs Mace Battle Arena captures the intense scene from Episode III where Mace Windu confronts Chancellor Palpatine. As we know, things don’t turn out so well for the Jedi Master, and Sidious comes out of the closet as the evil Sith Master who has been orchestrating all of the events and turmoil inflicted upon the universe, as well as the Jedi Order.

Sidious, known as Darth Sidious, is available in the basic figure line. But he functions like a salt shaker with spring-loaded feet more than anything else. Action features have riddled figures in the Revenge Of The Sith line with negative results. So right now, this is the best Emperor Palpatine we have in this outfit. He comes with a ball-jointed right shoulder which gives some nice movement for wielding lightsabers, but there is minimal movement elsewhere on the figure. He comes with a swivel left shoulder and a swivel head, but he is essentially statuesque from the shoulders down. Thankfully, Sidious looks pretty good as a pre-posed action figure. Hasbro could have done a lot worse here. He’s not definitive, but there are worse action figures in the Revenge Of The Sith basic figure line that pale terribly by comparison. Mace Windu also gets a revisit in this set. Simply called “Mace,” the figure also has a pre-posed action stance and a lit lightsaber permanently affixed to his right hand. A major problem with permanently attached and lit lightsabers is that they bow and bend thanks to the way the figures are packaged. Things get worse when you attempt to store these figures in collectors’ cases or storage bins. Mace’s lightsaber is also bowed thanks to the packaging right out of the gate, so it’s a major setback for this figure. His likeness is decent, and his costume is screen-accurate. His pose isn’t terrible, but it severely limits how you can use him in your displays.

Both figures are displayed nicely in dioramic packaging. Each Battle Arena set is based on a specific battle that occurs within the timeframe of Revenge Of The Sith. For the Sidious Vs Mace set, it’s based on the Chancellor’s quarters on Coruscant. The display bases are literally sections of the floor of his office. The epic clash of Mace Windu and Darth Sidious is a huge plot point in Episode III. It’s cool to see them engage each other in this manner in the toy line. The two figures each come with a quarter moon display base with a lightsaber controller that moves a base around an arc and then twisting the lightsaber handle allows for functionality to spin the figure around as you move it up and down the arc. The two bases connect to create a half moon shape and you get a nice and complete surface area on which to build a great background of the interior of Sidious’ legislative chambers. But we don’t think this set was used to the fullest, as it doesn’t introduce us to another world within the film. Why didn’t Hasbro institute concepts of clone commanders versus their Jedi generals across the many galactic planets during the Order 66 sequence? That may have gone over much better with collectors. It’s important to note that each Battle Arena display can connect with another to create a full circle of action, but because each Battle Arena is based on a different scene or battle in Revenge Of The Sith, it’s a relatively useless addition or feature to this run of toys. Each Battle Arena has an MSRP of $19.99, which is a steep price in our opinion.