Emperor Palpatine - TBS [P2] - Six Inch Figures (#11)

How is it possible that after more than 30 years since the original “The Emperor” figure was released in 1984 that we still don’t have a definitive modern 3.75” version of him? Yet the new 6” The Black Series line has just been active for less than two full years and we already have Emperor Palpatine done up very nicely?Is it even worth wasting our breath asking these questions? Or should we just be happy we have a pretty decent representation of the king of evil in the Star Wars line in any scale? Well, that question, friends, is not so easily answered. Lovers of all things 3.75” have a really hard time accepting what Hasbro has done to their precious Star Wars basic figure line. It’s almost as if the super-articulated 3.75” line is just supplementing what they see as their primary line, the 6” line, instead of the other way around. It’s frustrating on all levels. So why should we steal the thunder away from The Black Series 6” Emperor Palpatine with complaints of how we don’t have a modern and definitive 3.75” version? Yeah, it really isn’t fair, but that’s how egregious this oversight is and until Hasbro brings us what we want, it may just force us to look a gift horse in the mouth.... which is equally egregious. The long story short is that The Black Series 6” Emperor Palpatine is a pretty darn nice figure and it is one that you shouldn’t punish because you don’t have your 3.75” equivalent.... yet.

Emperor Palpatine breaks ground in one major way. Hasbro worked in almost perfect soft-goods into the figure’s aesthetics, something that hasn’t been done much or at all or anywhere successfully in the line to date. The removable cloak not only has a nice and screen accurate clasp which keeps it closed and close to his body, but the tailoring is simply stunning and the drape is nearly flawless. The texture of the fabric is premium as well and has a very nice touch to it. We are quite impressed with how well it turned out. We didn’t expect to be this impressed with it but we are. What complicates the figure however is the lower plastic molded skirt. While Hasbro had added splits to both sides of the skirt all the way up to the waist, you are still limited with how much movement you can get out of his highly articulated legs which is a shame. And even if you can spread his legs wide open, the plastic molded robe prevents you from crouching him in various positions. It’s a bit of a disappointment. Other than that, Emperor Palpatine looks and feels great and has a nice range of articulation for the most part. You will be bothered by some of its limitations, but we still feel that you will be more pleased than unimpressed. Even Emperor Palpatine’s hood has a nice fit and shape, albeit not perfect, that should make you happy. They really did a decent job on him.

Emperor Palpatine has a surprisingly excellent head sculpt and paint job. We are always on the offensive with this line, but it seems that Hasbro may have done all that they could without doing too much to Emperor Palpatine’s paint job. His skin is grayed and his eyes are yellowish orange, so most of the details are in place. He has a rather generic expression on his face which is good. This way Emperor Palpatine will fit into most of your displays quite nicely. He comes with his fancy walking stick/cane which has been case in a shiny plastic. What’s more, the cane fits beautifully into either hand which provides some alternate posing of the figure. The Emperor can be posed hunched over with the cane touching the ground, but we feel it looks too exaggerated to be effective. Your opinion may be different about this, so definitely give it a whirl and see what you think. With the release of Darth Vader (#02) and Luke Skywalker (#03), Emperor Palpatine completes the trio of characters that played a pivotal role in the climax of Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. it’s nice to have them all together in the same scale with relatively good to excellent sculpts (despite their respective shortcomings). Emperor Palpatine is a relatively good release in The Black Series 6” line.