Sunday, March 17, 2013

Terrible Proportions And Balance: The Power Of The Force Darth Vader Is Not Worth Hunting Down!


The Good: Decent detailing, Good accessories
The Bad: Less articulate than later versions, Terrible proportions, No collectible value
The Basics: Despite a slight lack of articulation, the Darth Vader realistically captures the final moments of Darth Vader in an action figure!


When Kenner began with the Power Of The Force Star Wars toy line, the figures were created with a very awkward sense of proportions. They were designed to look like the characters were exceptionally buff, like bodybuilders in Star Wars costumes. This made them very tippable and easy to replace with better sculpts later on. One of the big pegwarmers was Darth Vader.

Darth Vader, of course, is the armored, cyborg villain of the original Star Wars Trilogy (reviewed here!). The enemy Sith, armored and in control of the empire had iconic black armor and helmet and not even a hint of human skin.

The 4" Power Of The Force Darth Vader figure is a disappointment in that it is not nearly as articulated as later versions of the same figure.

Basics

The Darth Vader is the buff, black-clad servant of the Emperor. The figure stands a full 4" tall to the top of his head. This version of Darth Vader has a significant amount of surface details and coloring details, from the reds and blues of the chest panel to the green lights painted onto his belt (very subtle in the film!). Even the helmet has the slight silver accents to the nose that the actual character had. As well, it has both the full cape (from the shoulders) and the waist-length cape (like a skirt).

This toy is a decent sculpt, save the proportions that make him look like he has been doing some serious heavy lifting. Outside a few surface accents, it is solidly black and the hands are molded to hold the figure’s lightsaber.

Accessories

The Darth Vader figure comes with one accessory, his lightsaber. Darth Vader, as an experienced Sith, comes with a lightsaber - which, unlike Anakin, he never seems to lose. This is a two and three-quarter inch plastic red lightsaber that is translucent like the one in the movie. It easily fits into Vader's right hand only as the left hand is molded in a motion Vader makes when doing his Force choke.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and Darth Vader is decent in that regard. The figure is poorly articulated, but could be better (and later was). The figure also has a wide stance for poor balance. Even flatfooted, Darth Vader tips over ridiculously easily. Fortunately, he has peg holes for both feet to keep him solid on playsets.

Darth Vader is fairly low on articulation, which was comparable to the other Kenner figures in this regard. The Darth Vader figure has six points of articulation, all of which are simple swivel joints, at the shoulders, groin socket, neck, and waist. The legs have a ridiculously low range of motion due to Darth Vader's "skirt." That lower cape may help the figure stand up, but it also makes it impossible to sit the figure down or do dramatic leg poses.

Collectibility

Darth Vader is part of the Power Of The Force four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was incredibly common. Most figures were incredibly overproduced and Darth Vader was one that ended up as a pegwarmer and could easily be found cheap. It can still be found inexpensively because it was on multiple cards with the identical figure.

Overview

Because of the articulation, balance, and proportion problems, the Power Of The Force Darth Vader action figure is very much not worth picking up.

For other 1995 "Power Of The Force" figures, please check out my reviews of:
R2-D2
Stormtrooper
C-3PO

3.5/10

For other toy reviews, please be sure to visit my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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