Anakin Skywalker To Darth Vader - SW [SOTDS] - Legacy Of The Dark Side

It just flabbergasts us when Hasbro attempts to reinvent the wheel over and over again. But the reinvention typically is a significantly inferior product when compared to the original. We all knew Hasbro took a bad left turn with the Evolutions line in The Legacy Collection. The Evolutions line no longer focused on a central Star Wars character and how he/she/it transforms throughout the saga, and instead just started making variety multipacks with no real semblance of a timeline or character development. Why they felt the need to revisit the definition of Evolutions and change the platform of the line is beyond us and it slowly led to the line’s ultimate demise. Seeing that the original concept was missed, Hasbro developed a very brief line of figures that showed this character transformation again. They developed an exclusive multipack line called the Legacy Of The Dark Side (there is that word “legacy” again) which includes the same character, albeit only twice now, in two different stages of development. In a way they truly reinvented the wheel and the new two-packs are absolutely inferior by comparison.

One set is the Anakin Skywalker To Darth Vader Set. The two included figures are straight repacks of figures we have already seen at retail multiple times already. Did we need these two figures again at an inflated price? No we did not. And what’s worse is that there are no changes whatsoever to the figures making the purchase of this set totally useless to collectors that open their toys. And we’re not sure how many carded collectors will find use with these sets either to be quite frank. Anakin Skywalker is a straight repack of the 2005 Evolutions figures although we’re more inclined to say it’s a straight repack of 2009’s TLC Anakin Skywalker (BD 50) figure since the paint job is ever so slightly different. (This figure was also released as 2009’s LC Anakin Skywalker (BD14) as well.) Hasbro still hasn’t updated this version to include ball-jointed ankles and we feel the figure is in need of a new portrait. While overall a great figure, it still lacks the realism to make us believe this is truly the Padawan version of Anakin Skywalker.

This two-pack also comes with another stab at 2007’s TAC Darth Vader (No. 16) figure. This of course is a wonderful Episode IV version of Darth Vader, even if he comes with a removable helmet showing the portrait of the Prequel Trilogy Anakin Skywalker. This version of Darth Vader is super articulated and is painted very well. And most importantly comes with the straps of cloth that go over the chest armor, a very important detail for purists. The Legacy Of The Dark Side line does pair (for the most part) two excellent action figures together. But the MSRP isn’t worth it. You could easily find a TAC Darth Vader or an Evolutions/TLC/LC Anakin Skywalker for pennies on the dollar on eBay for this point. So, it gets thrown back to packaged collectors. Is the new “Shadow Of The Dark Side” packaging of two figures you have plenty of time already worth the price. That would of course have to be your call. Once again, the concept is excellent here. We have always loved the ides of packaging the stepwise progression of characters together. Hasbro obviously missed Evolutions, but we still feel that this was not the best way to introduce it back to collectors.