Darth Vader - SW [Y/AOTC] - Movie Heroes (MH01)

Darth Vader is a master of the Lightsaber. Many years have passed since the Sith Lord has fought someone who can also wield the legendary weapon of the Jedi and the Sith. Calling upon his powerful connection to the Force, Vader ignites his Lightsaber to battle young Luke Skywalker.

It was a hit in the Star Wars [The Phantom Menace 3D] Movie Heroes line. So Hasbro thought it would make a great re-release in the Star Wars [Yoda/Attack Of The Clones] Movie Heroes line. This time Darth Vader is figure number one in the newly revised lineup. 2013 is the year that Lucasfilm was supposed to focus on Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones in 3D, but those plans got shelved. Hasbro was too far along in the process of prepping this line for sale at retail, so the basic figures line to support this multimedia event were manufactured and sent to retail. That being said, the figures in The Clone Wars and Movie Heroes line never made it to the USA. These figures were only available internationally much to the chagrin of collectors everywhere. Very few figures in the lines were all-new. In fact, most of the Movie Heroes figures were straight repacks of previous versions, just like this Darth Vader figure is. The light-up feature on Darth Vader is rather impressive, although not entirely perfect yet. The technology that is available to them has been put to good use. We’re fans of this action feature generally speaking, if not for anything more than a novelty on a classic Star Wars character. Many are concerned with the battery life. Obviously, these action figures will not stay lit forever, but the battery life seems strong judging by Hasbro’s opinions, so we hold out hope that they’ll last for a while in the figures that utilize them.

Things that still bother us, but we know are unavoidable is the inability of the arm that holds the lightsaber to rotate a full 360 degrees. You're unable to fully articulate the arms thanks to the intricate wiring inside that allows the blade to glow (brightly we might add), so breakage would occur if the arm had been given a full range of movement. We also aren’t entirely crazy with overall sculpt. The lightsaber hilt is still comically large and, the straight extension of the lightsaber-wielding arm is distracting at best. And more articulation would be wonderful, but now that Hasbro’s philosophy has changed for kid-focused action figures, it appears that we’re never going to see one of these figures with the points of articulation come to pass. That’s OK. These figures are intended for other people and purposes anyhow. Darth Vader looks nice overall. We’re impressed that Hasbro has worked in a discrete button to ignite his lightsaber. All you need to do is push in the buckle on his belt and you’re treated to a fully ignited lightsaber blade. Darth Vader is aesthetically pleasing despite his limited movement. He’s tall and his outfit looks great (specific to Episode V and VI) and the rest of his articulation suits him very well. He does come with ball-jointed knees which help tremendously with some action poses. He also comes with a ball-jointed left elbow which especially assists with recreating the awesome Bespin gantry scenes in Episode V. (“No, I am your father!” immediately comes to mind.)

Darth Vader comes with a removable plastic molded cape which is nice but not necessary. In case you’re not aware, the blade to his lightsaber is completely removable. You might be surprised how pale it is. (It’s barely a shade of pink!) This should be an indication of how bright the LED lights are in these figures. The Movie Heroes line has remained a center of debate in the collecting community. Accepting that this line was not made with the collector in mind should put things in perspective. Still, we have to wonder who are buying these figures. We often forget that buying and collecting action figures, while usurped by adult collectors, are really for kids. We don’t like hearing that as adult collectors, but that’s the way it is. Hasbro has been gracious to us catering to our needs for many years in the line, and it seems as if the platform is steering back to focus on the young generation again. We’d be lying if we said that every Star Wars action figure Hasbro makes shouldn’t be for us. But now “stuff” for us is relegated to one collector-focused basic figure line and exclusives. If Hasbro can give us a few dozen quality figures, isn’t that better than a boatload of garbage? We’re not even trying to imply that this Movie Heroes Darth Vader is garbage either because he isn’t. He just caters to a completely different market than us. You’ll just have to decide if anything noteworthy is brought to your table with figures like this.