Scale: 6 1/2"
Price: $19.99 in store, $27.99 - $81.99 online
Box Bio:
After Darth Vader and Luke join forces to defeat the Emperor, Vader asks Luke to help him remove the mask that covers his face.
"Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes."
The Packaging:
This is the new "Black Series" packaging style for 2015 with the blue highlights replacing the orange.
Sculpt and Paint:
This figure, is my second figure purchase from this line. Not because I don't like the others, but because if you go to any local store in my area you will find 20 Greedos and 3 Slave Leia's clogging the pegs. No, this isn't leading to a "the force was with me and I found him one day" joke, because it wasn't, and I didn't. I had to order him online, which is something I hate doing with Hasbro figures because their QC is not always that great. That said I lucked out with this guy as he is near perfect. I say near perfect, because I don't really care for the brown/burgundy eyes he has , but that's nothing paint can't fix. Now as for the sculpt and paintwork here, it's top notch. The suit itself is sculpted very well capturing all of the wrinkles and creases in Lord Vader's suit. His control box has all of the buttons in place with perfect paint apps. His chest armor and belt are separate pieces put over the body, and his belt is painted exceptionally well, with all of the paint on the buttons nice and crisply painted. His shoulder armor is also well done, as are his gloves.
One thing that's really cool is that his left hand is sculpted in that "I am your father" pose. The only downside is he can't dual wield, but hey, it's still really cool. His boots look great with all of the buckles on there, and to be honest, he is primarily hard, so how can you really screw up his paint? His helmet has a removable function allowing your Vader figure to "look on you with his own eyes". And he. Looks. Menacing. The sculpt looks perfect and nicely depicts Sebastian Shaw (the actor portraying Vader at the end of ROTJ). His scars are all there with some slight paint work on them, and his eyes are really well done.
All of the buttons and do-dads on the lower helmet portion are picked out in paint as well. The two issues that divided a lot of collector's on this figure are the soft goods, and helmet size/sculpt, The cape is long, but I personally like it long.
It flows over him really nicely, has a real metal chain attached, and looks menacing. I do agree the way it's attached is a bit odd, it's sown onto the chest armor, but that's nothing a pair of scissors and some crazy glue can't fix, though it doesn't bother me at all as mine is on really well. Check out the cape in packaging though because some have it sown on well, while others don't. Luck of the draw i guess...or will of the force....yes it's going to be one of those reviews. The other soft goods are the robes he has over his torso and under the belt/over the legs. It's all one piece so it does slightly limit the torso movement. I can get him to do a full left and right, as well as slightly past that, but he won't do a 360 at the waist. Not that he'd need too....because he is human...are they called humans in Star Wars?....huh....anyway. I like the look, and while some have said it looks odd on the figure and lacks detail, well, cloth can't be super-detailed all the time..it's cloth...that's how cloth works, plus this isn't a Hot Toys or some high end brand, it's a 6" Star Wars figure from Hasbro, the fact that we have it at all is amazing.
Articulation and Accessories:
For articulation, Lord Vader has a ball-joint at the neck which allows for some surprisingly good movement. He has swivel-hinge shoulders which are slightly limited going up due to the shoulder armor, swivel-hinge elbows, swivel-hinge wrists, ball-jointed torso (concealed very nicely I might add), ball-jointed hips, swivel at the thighs, double-hinge knees, and hinge-rocker ankles.
For accessories Vader comes with his light saber and like other Black Series figures, the blade can be removed from the hilt BUT unlike other Black Series figures it cannot be clipped to his belt. That's not really a problem for me because, well, I would never pose him without it in his hand. Only the right hand can hold it.
Then you can remove the front of the helmet, which is where there's a problem. It isn't fit to Vader's head as securely as the dome is to the helmet. So if you try to move his head, chances are you'll pop off the helmet in the process. Now here's a top secret trick to avoid this. Ready? You sure? Positive? Okay. You hold the helmet on his head, as you turn it. Revolutionary right? HahahahaIsensedeaththreats. Seriously though. I understand it's a bit frustrating, but the fact that IT'S A 6" VADER FIGURE, makes it a lot easier to tolerate. Yes some are arguing they could have done two separate heads, but that would have meant more money, and let's be honest. The amount of Vaders we've gotten in the 3" line over the years, we're bound to see more 6" Vaders, some probably without the removable helmet, so it's a non-issue in my book. That said, the interior of the mask is LOADED with detail begging for paint, but it would probably scrape against the face if it is constantly being pulled on and off.
Overall:
This is a REALLY well done figure. There are things that have collector's divided, which again, I understand, but I don't agree with. I think this is one hell of an action figure, that should be in every Star Wars fans collection. So do the right thing here. Give yourself to the dark side and get this figure.
10 OUT OF 10!!!!
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