July 2005
Story and Images by David Syczylo (Boba Binks)

THE REVIEW
At the Star Wars Celebration III that was held in Indianapolis, Indiana April 21 – 24, 2005 the most sought after item is the Exclusive Darth Vader Action Figure.

Many of thousands of Star Wars fans stood in line for many hours in hopes to acquire this piece of history. Reports say that many fans stood in line for up to eight hours just to get this Darth Vader figure while others just said to forget it and not spend the time in line.

None other than James Earl Jones, the legendary voice of Darth Vader, recorded new phrases exclusively for this special figure. The figure, a commanding Vader, is mounted on an exclusive base and in exclusive Celebration III packaging, and it ... speaks!

James Earl Jones' recorded lines for the figure are:

“Welcome to Star Wars Celebration III, never will you find a more retched hive of scum and villainy.”

“Your journey to the Dark Side is now complete. Prepare to experience the Revenge of the Sith, it is your destiny.”

“The Dark Side of the Force is strong with you.”

And Darth Vader breathing sound.

The figure is especially appropriate considering the May 19th premiere of Episode III Revenge of the Sith, in which Anakin Skywalker makes his transformation into Darth Vader, the villain whose chilling presence helped make the first Star Wars trilogy so memorable.

"Darth Vader is the villain everybody loves to hate, and hates to love," says Derek Stothard, Director of Toys at Lucas Licensing. "He's coming back in Episode III and we're telling his story. We are closing the circle, and bringing the saga back to the beginning of A New Hope."

When Hasbro and Lucasfilm started planning the new figure for Celebration III they considered a number of ideas, including producing another George Lucas -inspired figure based on the popularity of "Jorg Sacul" at Celebration II. They also considered producing a talking C-3PO.Figure for Celebration III.

"We discussed using a voice chip in that figure, because C-3PO has such funny and memorable sound qualities in his dialogue," says Stothard. "But as the project took shape, it became obvious that this would be the 'Year of Darth Vader.'"

The team decided to see if James Earl Jones would be available to provide new lines for the toy, providing a landmark collectible for Star Wars fans at Celebration III. He was.

"To have James Earl Jones’ voice in this figure speaking directly to the fans at Celebration III ... that is really something special," Stothard adds.

Darth Vader comes in a unique Celebration III package, mounted on a stand reminiscent of the interior of Cloud City. The packaging reflects well-thought engineering with collectors in mind. The voice mechanism can be operated without opening the carded figure. But even more important, the batteries that power the speaking voice can be changed from the back of the stand without disturbing the packaging. This is a Vader for the ages!

While he's pleased with the special battery feature, Star Wars collecting authority Steve Sansweet is reminded that there is far more to this Vader than just a great presentation.

"This figure takes one of the best lines of the movie and makes it into a virtual souvenir of Celebration III," says Sansweet, Head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm. "It will remind people of the wonderful time they had at the show, and of the sense of community that permeates Star Wars."

Considering the "hive of scum and villainy" remark Sansweet adds "And fans can laugh at themselves, too."

In response to the "feeding frenzy" over the Jorg Sacul figure at Celebration II, Lucasfilm, Hasbro, and Gen Con LLC, which runs the show, have devised plans to try to make sure that the new Vader figure is easier to purchase and more fairly distributed. Each admission badge will have a place to punch for each Darth Vader figure purchased at Celebration III. Each badge will allow the buyer to purchase up to four Darth Vader action figures. If you have more than one badge you can get up to eight Darth Vader figures. If you are smart enough to figure it out there are ways to get more than the allocated eight figures if you want to stand in line again.