Figure of the Day: Day 177: Darth Vader (Emperor's Wrath)

DARTH VADER Emperor's Wrath
Power of the Jedi Collection 1
Item No.: Asst. 84445 No. 84637
Number: n/a
Includes: Hand, lightsaber, cape, Force File
Action Feature: Removable hand, glow-in-the-dark skull
Retail: $6.99
Availability: Fall 2001
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: Although Darth Vader would perish without his body armor's life support system, he remains a powerful and imposing figure. His black suit and the dark side of the Force protect him from numerous opponents until he loses his cybernetic right hand in a fateful lightsaber duel with Luke Skywalker on the second Death Star. (Taken from the figure's Force File.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelf.

Commentary: Hasbro loves to do (and redo) core characters, and this Darth Vader is proof of that. There's not a lot of variety between one Vader to the next, but during Power of the Jedi the toymaker managed to find a few neat new ways to do this character differently. This release was based on his death, as Sith lightning engulfs his broken body and you can see his skull inside the helmet for a split-second. The figure has the normal six points of articulation plus a swivel around the shoulder and a wrist, and as an added bonus you can hack off the wrist. The coloring is good, but the figure is basically only good for recreating this one scene. And for nitpickers, he had neither a hand nor a lightsaber at this point. Still, the effect is interesting, and while the glow-in-the-dark functionality is weak I really do appreciate Hasbro giving it a shot. A new version renders this one more or less obsolete, but the glowing feature is cool and the way the helmet, eyes, and skull look are nifty enough to warrant a purchase at the right price, whatever that may be to you.

Collector's Notes: This mold was reused a lot. Most recently, a new "X-Ray" Darth Vader was released in Fall of 2006 with snap-on lightning, a retooled arm, and no glowing feature. The mold was colored in and released as a "normal" Darth Vader several times over, and was also painted in red as a holiday figure in 2005. It's seen a lot of action, but this was the very first release of this particular sculpt.

Day 177: October 30, 2006