Darth Vader - TLC - Saga Legends (SL 13)

Vader is obsessed with finding the young Rebel who destroyed the Death Star, believing him to be the offspring of Anakin Skywalker. Following up on a probe droid lead, Vader identifies the Rebel base on Hoth but arrives too late, as the last of the Rebels flee Echo Base.

Saga Legends has been all over the place as far as being a line for kids and collectors. After the marvelous 2007-2008 30 (77-07) collection, it was a tough act for Hasbro to beat and quite frankly, they never did supersede their efforts from that line since. But even after the 30 (77-07)line came to a close, Saga Legends periodically had a few surprises added here and there. While Hasbro focused on many main and key characters and clones, some obscure choices to help balance out the line have always been appreciated by collectors. Sadly, Hasbro is continuing this path in the red phase of the Legacy Collection Saga Legends lineup. Hasbro is not picking some of the best/definitive sculpt consistently, and now the rather old Darth Vader figure (which was first released in the 30 (77-07) Saga Legends line is now part of The Legacy Collection Saga Legends lines now. Collectors are going to get bored of this figure fast. The figure had its place in the toy line years ago, but it's tired and in need of retirement.

When Hasbro developed the 2005 ROTS Darth Vader (Special Edition 500th Figure) they probably didn’t realize how useful it would be for future releases of Darth Vader. Based on his appearance in The Empire Strikes Back, Hasbro chose some of their most popular figures released previously to add to the newly hailed Saga Legends line. They chose the Darth Vader figure based on his appearance from Episode V, and originally released in The Saga Collection as 2006’s TSA Darth Vader (SAGA 038) figure. The Darth Vader (SAGA 038) figure is tooled in a way so that the removable helmet dome is glued in place (thank the Maker). If you recall, that 2006 TSC Darth Vader (SAGA 013) figure drove collectors mad because the helmet wouldn’t stay on for anything. Darth Vader comes with his signature lightsaber and a great soft-goods cape, but these things aren’t anything new and expected at this point. Not everyone agrees with us on this point, so you’ll have to develop your own opinion here. It's good, but enough is enough already.

Why Hasbro directed their attention to the 2007 TAC Saga Legends Darth Vader figure again makes sense to us, but it's really time to break the mold of this action figure now. Between the swivel shoulders and the swivel elbows, the figure suffers from its immobility and isn’t that practical of an action figure by most collectors' standards. What we do find odd is that Hasbro has yet to include a hand attachment that can hold the included lightsaber nicely. Both hands are open and make posing him with the lightsaber almost impossible. And we're still not crazy about the silver chain and shiny cape that isn't removable without damage to it. Darth Vader comes with a cardboard locker of six extra weapons. Because he can't hold anything basically well enough to be useful, Darth Vader is just paired with silly weapons for extra play value or with other action figures you own. Either way, you probably won't find them to be too useful. This version of Darth Vader is very pointless at this point. It's time to forget about it. We never need to see this figure again. Honestly.