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'07 | #45  Anakin Skywalker's Spirit - Return of the Jedi (Reviewed 2-22-2008) 

Includes:
• Removable Robe
• Commemorative Coin 

Click thumbnail for large image Spice: As the thirtieth anniversary collection would near fifty, they pulled the old two-bit stunt of the "spirit" figure. Even though some of the more recent ghost action figures haven't been a total train wreck. The O.T.C. Obi-Wan back in 2004 was probably one of the more notable. As the translucent paintjob really did wonders in creating the "shimmering" effect of the Force that surrounds the Jedi who have passed into the nether world. Would the Anakin spirit be able to follow that same trend? Although Hayden didn't deliver any dialogue in his brief DVD inserted cameo, Hasbro felt it quite necessary to deliver those few seconds in plastic for those of us who screamed for this one to be made?

Click thumbnail for large image We can almost be guaranteed this will be long for the pegs. As this is purely a collector driven character, as I can't see a child wanting a "dead" action figure! The most disturbing aspect is they really missed the facial expression bad on the head sculpt. You can see clearly on the back of the package the near smirk of knocking poor old Sebastian Shaw out of the final frames of Return of the Jedi! You do not see any of that here; in fact you could really say it's a smile or a baby face.  It's almost as if he were to wimp out any minute and start spattering more of that "because I'm so in love with you" garbage!

Click thumbnail for large image Another interesting aspect is the massive amount of articulation offered on a version that has so little screen time. You'd think they'd cheap out all the way and generate the true one-pose wonder so they can avoid having to file for chapter 13 in 2008. You know how bad this tooling stuff can set the big H back! The knees, feet, shoulders, elbows and wrists all move great. It's too bad they could offer this much in earlier versions of Anakin! While as much as I like the paintjob something just screams Tinkerbelle and I don't know why in the hell someone would need to spend around seven dollars for something like this. If it is to make one use the imagination, then why not include more than a removable robe?

Spice - It just seems like there could be someone, anything you could create that'd fill the void at number forty-five. I just can't see why a someone could really enjoy this. Most collectors couldn't stand he was dubbed into the scene in the first place!

(Figure '07 | #045, Asst. No. 87500, Item No. 87410, Backing Card P/N 6606728800, Window Insert P/N 6685060500) 

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