DARTH SIDIOUS HOLOGRAM with standThe Legacy Collection Basic Figures
Item No.: Asst. 87535 No. 92951
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #BD10
Includes: Walking stand
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $7.99
Availability: August 2009
Appearances: The Phantom Menace
Bio: Darth Sidious uses holographic technology to discuss the invasion of Naboo with Nute Gunray. The Sith Lord encourages the Viceroy of the Trade Federation to eliminate anyone who resists the Federation's occupation of the planet. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)
Image: Adam's TV tray.
Commentary: It's extremely rare for a figure to have fewer points of articulation than its accessory, but you'll see exactly that with the Darth Sidious Hologram from 2009. The figure is a solid, non-articulated bluish creation with a really nice sculpt and a slightly pearlescent sheen to it. After years of clear versions of this character in various sizes, this may be one of the best-sculpted incarnations in terms of detail, but it can be tough to tell as clear plastic tends to suck the texture right out of a mold in a visual sense. Measuring about half the size of a full action figure, the rest of the figure's mass comes in the form of a walking base with articulated legs. Sadly it doesn't actually walk (what a great wind-up toy that would've been!) but it does move and has a good amount of detail present. Each leg has multiple points of articulation, and there's much to enjoy in the way of grooves and sculpted detail. If futuristic furnishings are your thing, this is a true delight.
I opened this one and it went from "neat" to "eh" in about ten minutes. This is in no way a criticism of the amount of work that went into the product-- I can see Hasbro did a bang-up job making this the best-possible incarnation of this particular character that they could. It's just that as a thing, it's not as thrilling as a new Luke or a Chewbacca. Big props for a job well done, but with the level of weirdness we're getting to in this line, a figure being fantastic may not be enough to warrant your buying it-- you should personally want to own this one, rather than just go on the advice that it's very well-designed.
Collector's Notes: Despite being a really boring idea on paper, this figure sold incredibly well and quickly in the markets I watched. It never shipped past the first assortment, and on eBay loose samples go for about the original retail price or a little less. At press time, carded samples were a little tougher to get. The figure came with pieces to build a L8-L9 droid figure... which you should totally make sure you get, too.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 1,535: May 3, 2011
3 comments:
It's a nice item for variety and dioramas, but I really consider it an accessory rather than a figure (unless the walking stand is actually a droid).
This is one of my favorite figures ever. I just love the oddball stuff and am always excited when Hasbro steps out of the traditional box of a humanoid character with a gun plastered on a card back. I welcome more of this stuff and since it sold so well I suspect there will be.
It's nice they made that given how little attention TPM receives, thought I had no interest in it since I don't collect hologram figures or TPM characters per se.
Maybe someday they'll make Nute Gunray on his walking throne, but they've yet to even make ROTS Gunray, and that's after years of milking that movie for a lot of figures.
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