Vader’s Secret Apprentice - TLC - Evolutions

Set in the dark times between the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Rebellion, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game explores the aftermath of Order 66 and the continued evolution of Darth Vader. The son of a fallen Jedi is abducted by Vader to be his secret apprentice. As a young adult, the apprentice must choose his destiny: Join Lord Vader and wipe out the remaining Jedi, or become a noble Jedi and bring hope to the galaxy!

Few fans can argue that The Force Unleashed was one of the most exciting multimedia events in a very long time and after one delay after another it final made its debut in the Fall of 2008. Thankfully Hasbro was able to get out many of their own products well in advance of the game’s release. And one focused product was 2008’s TAC Vader’s Secret Apprentice Evolutions set. The multipack proved so popular that Hasbro carried it forward into The Legacy Collection for re-release. The Force Unleashed game may have not exceeded expectations at that point and even after the game’s release many claimed it was too short, but it did however give us a whole new chapter between what we know as Episode III and Episode IV in the Star Wars saga. Seeing how Darth Vader interacted with other characters in the galaxy was something we wanted to see occur for years.... and now we can thanks to a video game. Despite that The Force Unleashed video game was delayed until September of 2008, product based on the game still hit all over from February of 2008 until the game’s official release date. The highly anticipated delayed wave of basic figures (that were supposed to be released as wave 8 in the 30 (77-07) lineup as well as some exclusives and this Evolutions set. Starkiller/Garen Malek (or whatever else you want to call him) really should have been released as a basic figure. For a main character in a game not to be related in this manner is a bit perplexing. But Hasbro saw it fit to release three versions of this character in one Evolutions package which delighted many collectors. The action figures were done quite well but they have some issues here and there. Despite the main character coming to us in a three-pack instead of a basic figure, fans of The Force Unleashed were extremely happy to get this set of very well made figures to be the centerpiece of their The Force Unleashed collections. Now they have another chance.

Galen Marek comes packaged to us in three unique designations: Secret Apprentice, Sith Lord and Jedi Knight. Let’s be honest. This doesn’t really fit the concept of Evolutions (a stepwise progression of a character of branch of military throughout the course of three distinct periods in Star Wars). No. Instead, the three incarnations of Galen Marek are based on what path you choose playing the video game. It really doesn't matter in the long run. Hasbro develops three excellent super-articulated figures that will make gamers and collectors very happy. And we must admit that there are some pretty cool versions of him in this set indeed. The “Secret Apprentice” has been designed to confuse the collector on where his true loyalties actually lie. This is effective because the other two characters in this set clearly spell out who is with the dark side of the Force and the light side of the Force. The “Secret Apprentice” has an expression of angst on his face and his outfit has been brilliantly created to show that he has seen some heavy lightsaber dueling in the course of his training. Marvelously articulated, “Secret Apprentice” would probably have been our favorite figure of the bunch had his face not been painted in a flesh tone. Something looks a bit off with this decorating approach. This is simply our opinion, but we think the quality of action figures is significantly diminished when the flesh portion of faces is painted in that awful beige color. Just look at so many of the characters in the Comic Packs line. Most of the figures with the painted faces tend to be the worst looking figures. Flesh should be cast in a beige plastic and not painted in this color instead. Until Hasbro realizes that they must case faces in flesh-tone plastic, we’re always going to have this problem in the basic figure line and in multipacks like this.

The yin and the yang of this set are clearly the “Jedi Knight” and “Sith Lord” figures. They complement each other very well and their diametrically opposite beliefs complement The Force Unleashed whole very well. The “Sith Lord” has one of the coolest looks we haven’t seen since Darth Maul (and perhaps General Grievous too). Muscular, foreboding and with tiny hints of the Kaleesh warlord are evident in his symbols, this character should be able to wreak some havoc on the many characters in the video game. His has Wolverine-esque spikes on his hand and his lightsaber collection around his waist is also very reminiscent of Grievous’ in more ways than one. When it comes to his outfit, we think he rummaged through the closet of Asajj Ventress however. It is a little too tight and a little too wrapped for our liking, but this is a small issue for us and your opinions may vary from ours. The weakest figure (quality wise – not character wise) is the “Jedi Knight”. This is solely our opinion, but he sadly and unfortunately suffers from swivel elbow joints. For us, this does nothing but frustrate the collector. We have said it 100 times and will say it again. Very few swivel joints work well enough in the arms due to the very nature of how you want to pose the arms. It would have been better if the “Jedi Knight” came without any arm articulation below the shoulders. Still, on a more positive note, he does come with a removable hood and the mixture of soft-goods looks pretty good as far as his Jedi robes are concerned. When posed together, all three figures look great, but interestingly they function independent of each other in the video game. So, the Evolutions medium looks to be the only way right now how you can have these characters interact with each other. This is a very good set, but it definitely has some a few areas that could benefit from some tweaking. It’s honestly just great to see it again in The Legacy Collection.