Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine And Stormtrooper - OTC - Commemorative Trilogy DVD Collection

Celebrate the legendary Star Wars trilogy that changed the universe forever, with The Original Trilogy Collection. This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. The finest recreations of the iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are back with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Original Trilogy: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. And, as a tribute to the dedication of Star Wars fans everywhere, we are re-releasing elements of the original packaging that harken back to the creation of Star Wars action figures, which began over 25 years ago with the classic trilogy.

The Original Trilogy Collection literally came out of nowhere. It’s predecessor, The Star Wars “Saga” line, was abruptly cancelled in late Spring of 2004 in preparation for the landmark event of the Original Trilogy’s release on DVD. Hasbro cobbled together a fantastic line of new and old action figures, updating some wherever possible, but generally speaking the line was regarded as a “greatest hits” sort of thing, which was fine with most collectors. The Original Trilogy Collection outperformed expectations, thanks to the inspired packaging, but overall any focus on Original Trilogy action figures is going to go over big with the collecting community. Again, the packaging of the figure was as incredible as it was engaging and collectors were treated with a fair mix of good and bad characters. They were divided up into the Rebel Alliance and the Evil Empire. (Of course some characters didn’t fit either side.) Sadly, the Commemorative Trilogy DVD Collection sets were the obvious missteps in The Original Trilogy Collection. While they could be interpreted as relevant since they supported the home video (DVD) release of the Original Trilogy Star Wars films, they’re ultimately irrelevant because most of the figures included within them didn’t ever require a re-release again.

The Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, And Stormtrooper set is a nice collection of characters. But the action figure versions of them just don’t hold up well today. Granted, two-thirds of this set were reissued as basic figures in The Original Trilogy Collection figure line, but they had packaging to their advantage. Here, we just get the same old figures in a three-pack with exclusive packaging, but nothing too noteworthy. For us, this figure selection doesn’t meet collectors’ expectations. Darth Vader is a slight repaint of the figure from 2003’s SW [S - P2] Imperial Forces Toys R Us exclusive. It’s a fine figure, but comes simply-articulated. Emperor Palpatine is a dreadful repack of 2003’s SW [S - P3] The Emperor (Throne Room) (’03 #30) figure. He still has the gigantic hood which makes him look like the Grim Reaper instead of the leader of the Galactic Empire. He has received some additional paint operations this time around, but comes with all of the original accessories. It’s time for Hasbro to put this figure to bed too. The Stormtrooper is a straight repack of 2004’s OTC Stormtrooper (OTC #16) figure, but it has been released countless times before that in the same manner too. It was a fine figure for its time, but it’s obsolete and needs to be retired as well.

The Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine And Stormtrooper Commemorative Trilogy DVD Collection set is ultimately a disappointment. We have these figures so many times each already. We imagine that Hasbro must be limited with options to created episode-themed sets like this, but why can’t they repackage some cantina aliens or Jabba’s palace aliens instead? The original Kenner line never forsook the aliens of Star Wars, but it’s a rare treat when we get them in the modern Hasbro line. And so many of them need a reissue anyway. Characters like Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers are a huge important part of the Star Wars basic figure line. But even they can be repackaged too often. Hasbro has to find a way of changing things up and making them as fresh as possible. We don’t want to criticize Hasbro unfairly. They did a great deal of good getting so much stuff out for the very rushed The Original Trilogy Collection. They did a great job with the limited tools and time in play. Sadly, some retailer exclusives suffered because of this. If there is a silver lining here, these commemorative multipacks only retailed for $9.99 each. This breaks down to each figure costing $3.33. You could do a whole lot worse than that.