Starkiller (Vader’s Apprentice) - TVC - Basic (VC100)

We never were proponents of seeing characters from the Expanded Universe in The Vintage Collection. We've softened up over time. While we're not entirely keen on the Expanded Universe logo, we've always appreciated most of the characters Hasbro chose to add from this umbrella of the Star Wars universe—plenty of fans like these characters and the corresponding action figures. But even staunch advocates of making a classic-looking line like The Vintage Collection “movie specific only” can hardly deny that the Expanded Universe-focused figures are nothing short of stellar. ARC Trooper Commander [Captain Fordo] (VC54) is one figure we loved seeing Hasbro slide into The Vintage Collection. Still, figures including Darth Malgus (VC96), Bastila Shan (VC69), and now Starkiller (Vader’s Apprentice) (VC100) – a nice figure to break the two-digit “VC” numbering – are just some of the apparent arguments that poke holes in the assessment that the EU shouldn’t be part of The Vintage Collection. Starkiller (Vader’s Apprentice) is another stunning standout in the line, and aside from our preference that we wished the figure came with ball-jointed hips, we honestly don’t have hardly any criticism for it. We’re particularly fond of anything from The Force Unleashed multimedia event anyway because of its close ties to the films, especially the Original Trilogy. So it makes loving a figure like Starkiller all the more easy. Starkiller (Vader’s Apprentice) is easily the best action figure made from The Force Unleashed, and it should quickly become one of your favorites in The Vintage Collection. Hasbro released it with updated Photo Real deco and some paint operation changes that range from slight to noticeable.

The hair color, the knee armor, and the lightsaber hilts all have varying deco updates. And the portrait looks new thanks to the technology Hasbro now utilizes. We don’t recall a figure coming with as many accessories as Starkiller (Vader’s Apprentice) does. Explicitly based on The Force Unleashed II video game, Starkiller is a gamer’s dream come true should they collect action figures. Starkiller should be appreciated by strict Star Wars toy collectors equally because the effort put into its sculpt, detailing, and paint applications are flawless. Hasbro once again created a sterling action figure with incredible precision and exactness. And the quality of this figure made it easier to accept the retail price that once exceeded the $10 mark during its original release. Now we're paying more than $16.99 for many. We’re not advocating for increased prices for our action figures, but we’re trying to make the point that if we do have to spend this kind of money on basic figures, this is the standard we want to see brought forth for all. Reduced accessories and articulation are the equivalents of salt in the wound. Hasbro did the opposite here. We should count ourselves blessed. Besides the gorgeous paint job, Starkiller comes with ten separately sculpted and individual accessories, so the versatility here is incredible. Admittedly, seeing an EU character get this much love with accessories is bittersweet, yet many classic figures like those from the OT and PT are lucky to get a blaster. Again, we’re not complaining. Hasbro has done remarkable action figures like 2011’s TVC Ponda Baba (Walrus Man) (VC70) figure, and it comes with a ton of interchangeability, so it’s not like they don’t care about the characters from the Original Trilogy.

Starkiller (Vader’s Apprentice) comes with 22 points of articulation. It includes all of the standard points here. The figure has a ball-socket head and then ball-jointed shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles. The waist, wrists, and hips have swivel articulation. It has a functional and practical articulation system, and the figure has excellent movement. At a 3.75-inch scale, it seems that not many collectors share the same opinion about how well Hasbro matches a character's likeness to an action figure, but we have to say that they exceeded expectations here. Hasbro developed a great base body here. The body is familiar and appears to be an excellent start for a refreshed Death Star Gunner figure or other Imperial Officer down the road. While it’s unlikely Hasbro would use this mold, we think they have great tooling to extrapolate more fantastic Star Wars action figures for us. Oh, and those ten accessories that come with this figure? Here we go. Starkiller comes with the following: removable chest armor, removable back armor, removable belt with a loincloth, removable belt with pilot straps, two removable gauntlets, two hilts, and two fully lit lightsabers. We’ve only captured a few permutations you can achieve with the various accessory combinations in our Photo Gallery. But you can be creative with your copy. Starkiller (Vader’s Apprentice) is a perfect addition to The Vintage Collection. The Force Unleashed fans will feverishly add this figure to their collections. And now that Hasbro re-released the figure into the line, everyone can catch up if they missed it previously. Not all of the reissues come in special case assortments. They sometimes get slotted into standard case assortments.

Editor's Note: Hasbro re-released The Vintage Collection Starkiller (Vader's Apprentice) (VC100) figure in February 2023 with a significant number of changes. Updates include: (1) new paint operations/deco including Photo Real, (2) different knee armor deco and a slightly different jumpsuit color (3) different color lightsaber blades and different hilt deco, (4) refreshed 2023 packaging, and (5) different placement of action figure and accessories in bubble.

Review Status Update: The original publication date of this review is July 2, 2012. It was subsequently updated with a new Photo Gallery and revised General Analysis and republished on August 20, 2023 after Hasbro reissued the figure.