Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Figure of the Day: Day 1,310: Emperor Palpatine

EMPEROR PALPATINE Final Jedi Duel
Power of the Force Cinema Scenes Collection
Item No.:
Asst. 68650 No. 69783
Manufacturer: Kenner
Number: n/a
Includes: Display base, additional figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $14.99
Availability: 1998
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: Under the evil gaze of Emperor Palpatine, the lightsabers of two Jedi Knights - a father and son - clash furiously in a final duel between the light side and dark side of the Force. Slowly, the young Skywalker is lured closer to the rage of the dark side, and Palpatine sits confident of the Rebellion's defeat and the acquisition of a new emissary to fulfill his evil legacy! But the young Jedi's resistance appears to be growing... (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' desk.

Commentary: Many have complained that we have never received Emperor Palaptine with a throne. These people are wrong-- this figure has one, stuck to the display base of the Cinema Scene set. The figure itself doesn't do much, after all he's posed with "sitting" legs and his arms are designed to be placed on the armrests, but the sculpt is pretty good and, to date, this is the only way you're going to get a) the seated Emperor and b) the throne accessory. He's more of a statue than an action figure, simply because once he's in that chair, he doesn't do much. And outside of the chair? He looks pretty goofy. Kenner's designers did a good job with him and he was far and away the reason to buy this set back in 1998, and, believe it or not, still is.

Collector's Notes: This one went from a pretty great set to clearance fodder in under a couple of years, and could be had for under $10. Today, you shouldn't pay more than $5-$10 for it, and because of the throne, I'd suggest you get it. If the long, retangular base which the chair is stuck to bugs you, you can just slice it off and end up with a throne on a square base. You should do that. I consider this a required purchase for fans of Return of the Jedi unless Hasbro does a better one, and I suspect it will be tough to do since this figure was specifically made to sit and only to sit.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 1,310: June 22, 2010

2 comments:

Philip Ayres said...

It's a shame the throne can't be removed from the base :-(

FreeTheBirds said...

He can also sit at the Cantina bar sections and looks pretty decent. For a while I had him sitting there nursing a beer among the Tatooine commonfolk on my desk at work.