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INTRODUCTION
San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Anakin Skywalker 12”
figure from Sideshow Toys… where do I start? Before I get to the
“actual” review, I just want to rant about something real quick.
Exclusives…. Why? Why do these companies feel the need to make items
that are so limited that they sell out in 5 minutes? And doesn't it
bother them that at least 30% (and that’s a low estimate, I’m sure…
it’s probably a lot more) of these items will be on ebay before the
buyers even have them in hand, and selling for 10 times what they
were sold for? Why should these "customers" make the money when they
can make it themselves? If they were to produce enough of these
"exclusive" items to satisfy the needs of every customer who wanted
one, it would cut down on scalping, and would more than likely stop
the people who have no interest in these actual items other than
pure profit from ordering them. Sure, it wouldn’t be worth as much
as it is (or will be down the line) but honestly, anyone that is
buying these for a collection isn’t as concerned about the value of
these items as the people who buy them strictly for re-selling them
are.
As I write this,
these are fetching around $110 - $125 on ebay right now. Slightly
off the subject of this character (but continuing with the same
rant), I saw an auction a few days back where someone actually paid
$76 for a Kit Fisto Exclusive empty box that came with the Exclusive
Droid Head. $76 for an EMPTY BOX! That’s more than the figure
originally sold for just a few months ago. They are even still
taking wait list reservations for this figure as of this writing.
Again, if Sideshow were to produce items like this in larger
quantities, it would cut down on this sort of thing and every
collector who actually wanted this figure could own it affordably. I
applaud them for coming up with the “Inclusive Editions” idea, where
they allow a pre-selected time slot for people to pre-order the
figure in question and produce just that many. But they turned
around and started offering the “Exclusive Editions” again with the
pre-sale of the new Bib Fortuna and Leia as Boushh figures.
Now that I’ve got
that off my chest… I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of
these “Exclusive” Anakin 12” figures from Sideshow. After checking
it out for a few minutes – and I mean that literally, as I just got
it into my hands – these are my thoughts about it. Is it worth it if
you already own the Order of the Jedi version of Anakin? Does it
come with any extra accessories that the Order of the Jedi version
does not? Read on for all the answers.
PACKAGING – 9.0
The first obvious difference is the packaging. This
version of Anakin Skywalker comes packaged in the red and black
Lords of the Sith packaging as opposed to the green and black Order
of the Jedi packaging that the regular version of Anakin is housed
in. As a matter of fact, this box doesn’t even say Anakin Skywalker
– it reads Darth Vader, Sith Apprentice on it instead. The box
itself is identical, the way that it folds out and the window areas.
Of course, the graphics are different, this time depicting Anakin
after his fall to the Dark Side, with his Sith eyes, painted in the
familiar red and yellow paint scheme.
SCULPTING – 8.0
From what I’ve seen so far, the sculpting on these
Sideshow figures is so beyond what we got from Hasbro, there is
absolutely nothing to complain about. Nothing. Now, that being said,
I think this is the first time that Sideshow dropped the ball a
little. Not too much, it didn’t hit the ground… it just fell out of
their hands a bit. To me, it just doesn’t look like Anakin all that
much. The hairline looks a little off, and the lips look… odd. But
even with those minor complaints, at least this one looks human when
compared with Hasbro’s Anakin figure.
PAINT – 9.0
The paint job on the face is very well done as well, and if you
place the two Anakin figures side by side, they almost look like 2
different sculpts, although they are not. It’s just the paint job on
the eyes of the Darth Vader version that give it an evil look,
especially if you pose the figure with the head slightly bent at a
downward angle so he is looking up at you. Eerie. The only thing I
wish they would have done with the face was to give the scar a
slight bit of highlighting, or make it a different flesh tone shade
so it would be more distinguishable.
ARTICULATION – 9.5
It’s a Sideshow figure. It comes with a bazillion
points of articulation. This figure can move body parts that I
can’t. That’s just not fair. Two handed grip on his saber? Yep, can
do. Single handed grip while using a force push on some Battle
Droids? Yep, he can do that too. Standing on one foot while holding
his other foot straight out and using both hands to hold his
holoprojector and aqua breather? Not that you would need to, but
yeah, he can do that too. If you really wanted him to.
ACCESSORIES – 9.0
Again, he’s a Sideshow figure, so he comes with a bazillion
accessories. Pretty much the same accessories as his Order of the
Jedi counterpart – the only difference being that he comes packed
with a Mustafar Lava Droid base instead of the generic Star Wars
logo base. He also comes packed with:
- Belt with Lightsaber hook and
opening pouches
- Lightsaber hilt
- Lightsaber hilt with ignited blade
- Jedi food capsules
- Jedi Aqua Breather
- Jedi holoprojector
- Jedi Communicator
- Force wielding left hand
- Lightsaber grip left hand
- Robotic right hand and forearm
- Gloved right hand and forearm
OUTFIT – 9.0
The costume is very well made, from nice fabric and
what feels like real leather, although I’m pretty sure it’s not. And
the belt pouches? They actually open so you can store some of his
accessories in there, which is a nice touch if you ask me. The outer
robe is another fine piece of work, and made from very nice cloth as
well. The hood fits nicely over the head, it’s not too small and
it’s not too big. It also has a small piece of wire running through
the edge of it, so that it can be shaped and positioned with ease.
VALUE – 7.5
Just about the only con I can find with this figure
is the cost. And I’m not talking about the aftermarket, ebay cost.
I’m talking about the cost direct from Sideshow. I know it’s a very
well made figure. The costume is amazing. The likeness is almost
dead on. But $54.99 for a 12” figure? I don’t want to compare this
with anything that Hasbro has done, but I still feel that Sideshow
is taking advantage of some of the collectors out there by charging
so much for these figures. I know that no one is forcing me to buy
them. I understand that. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to buy
them, because they are nice. But I would much rather see these
coming in at a $30 price point. Maybe they should cut back on the
packaging. It’s nice, but I am a loose collector, so paying extra
money for the nice box and all is a waste of money to me. Maybe that
should be the next line of exclusive figures, they can sell them
loose for $30 plus shipping.
OVERALL – 9.0
After all is said and done, was it worth buying this
figure? Well, if you’re like me, it doesn’t really come down to
that, does it? All that really matters is that I need to have
everything that’s produced. But if I had to answer that question, I
would say yes. Even if you have the Order of the Jedi version of
Anakin, you would still do well to have the Lords of the Sith Darth
Vader, Sith Apprentice figure in your collection. You can make him
duel with your Obi Wan Kenobi. You can pose him with your 501st
Clone Troopers. Oh wait, those figures don’t exist. Don’t fret,
there’s always a Celebration 4 exclusive to look forward to along
with next years San Diego Comic Con exclusive. I’m sure we’ll see
them popping up real soon.
RATINGS RECAP
Packaging - 9
Sculpt – 8
Paint - 9
Articulation – 9.5
Accessories - 9
Outfit - 9
Value- 7.5
Overall - 9.0
PHOTOS
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