Anakin Skywalker (Episode III) - Mini Busts

While infiltrating General Grievous’ flagship, Anakin was confronted once again by Count Dooku and engaged in a fierce lightsaber duel. Urged on by Palpatine’s goading, Anakin sliced off Dooku’s hands, rendering the Sith Lord harmless. At Palpatine’s insistence, Anakin killed Dooku, decapitating the Separatist leader. He instantly regretted the decision, despite the surge of power he felt in doing it. Palpatine tried to reassure Anakin that it was necessary – Dooku was too dangerous to be taken alive.

Are we off base with our assertion that Gentle Giant Ltd. seems to pick the worst characters for exclusives? Fan favorite clones and main Jedi heroes seem to be the first choice for Gentle Giant to release as very difficult to obtain exclusives. Anakin Skywalker (Episode III) is a perfect example of this argument. How could the lead character from Revenge Of The Sith get relegated to a 2008 Convention Exclusive, specifically a San Diego Comic Con exclusive for American collectors. A pretty aggressive sculpt for Anakin, it portrays him while he was still good, but when we saw that he was headed down a dark path. He went against his instincts and followed Emperor Palpatine’s orders by chopping off Count Dooku’s hands and beheading him in the earliest moments of Episode III. The final Mini Bust came out splendidly and admittedly we have to state that the likeness of Anakin came out better than expected. He is a perfect example that Gentle Giant is really tightening up human characters and making them as screen accurate as possible

Limited to 3500 pieces, Anakin Skywalker (Episode III) seems as if it would have been more successful as a mainstream release. Just like the clone commanders released before him, widespread availability would have translated into more units getting sold and a wider range of people reached. Typically, those that do indeed want convention exclusives become so frustrated by the impossibility availability that these pieces possess. Even if plenty of units are made, it’s the difficulty in obtaining them that frustrates collectors and makes them want to pass on them in the end. For Anakin Skywalker (Episode III), this is definitely a piece you won’t want to skip over for your Mini Bust collection. While Gentle Giant Ltd. has released a fair amount of clones from Revenge Of The Sith, they really haven’t focused on that many of the main characters and it definitely feels like products based on Episode III are schizophrenically released without rhyme or reason. Anakin Skywalker (Episode III) nicely adds a main character into the already established Revenge Of The Sith mix and the great sculpt and even better painted details make it a worthwhile purchase.

As stated, the paint job is excellent. While a great base sculpt is the foundation to what makes a phenomenal Mini Bust, it’s really the art aspect of them that makes or breaks them. Anakin Skywalker (Episode III) easily has a sculpt that ranks around excellent. But it’s the paint job that knocks it up a bit more. Anakin is holding his head down, almost as if he doesn’t want to make direct eye contact with the soon to be beheaded Separatist leader. While he is definitely looking downward, his posture is upright and he is holding both Dooku’s and his own lightsaber hilts with upward strength and endurance. The Mini Bust comes with two removable lightsaber blades (blue for Anakin and red for Count Dooku). They loosely sit on the lightsaber hilts yet look fantastic when displayed together because of the “x” shape they form crossing each other. The leather tabards on his costume have been given a very glossy paint finish. This nicely contrasts with the much duller garments underneath of them. The scar on his face and the rest of the details in his facial paint job have been done with precision and overall excellence. We thoroughly enjoy this piece. We hope you do too.