Figure of the Day: Day 327: Darth Vader

DARTH VADER First Modern Release
Power of the Force Collection
Item No.: Asst. 69570 No. 69572
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber, cape, some have a Freeze Frame
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $4.99
Availability: Summer 1995-1998
Appearances: Star Wars


Bio: Once known as Anakin Skywalker, expert pilot and hero, Vader studied the ways of the Force under young Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. His impatience with the Jedi training made him susceptible to the dark side, which corrupted him as he gave in to his anger and aggression. Vader was almost killed in a confrontation with Kenobi, and was forced to adopt his current life support systems and fearsome body armor. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelves.

Commentary: A new line begins here! This Darth Vader figure helped kick off the modern action figure line, and was part of the first wave of seven action figures. (Although eight were on the cardback.) It didn't have the extra waist cape, the first release had a lightsaber as long as Darth Vader was tall, and the figure was muscular to a ridiculous extent. Still, it sold like crazy and when the variations started showing up, fans gobbled them all up. The sculpting is pretty good, the armor bits look like hard armor, the "cloth" bits look like leather (or are reasonably close), and the figure can easily sit down inside a vehicle. In many respects, this is a better toy than most later Darth Vader releases. Still, it's stylized, beefy, and not exactly what you would call authentic to any one particular version of the character on the big screen, so if you're a stickler for authenticity, you should pass on this one.

Collector's Notes: There are many, many variants of this figure as it shipped for 3 whole years. It can have a long lightsaber, or a short lightsaber. It can be on a green cardback, an orange cardback, or a Freeze Frame cardback. It might have a sticker, and it might not. There are at least seven unique packaging variants out there, and that's not counting the "grey" plastic error Vaders that were produced as well. As such, if you want to collect a lot of variants of the same thing, this is a good place to start.

Day 327: March 29, 2007