When Hasbro put together a figure line for Revenge of the Sith, they seemed to really take the effort to learn from a myriad of mistakes they made during the toy line’s launch for Attack of the Clones. In general, Hasbro offered a mix of main characters with less “action poses”, action features were limited to hidden mechanisms that didn’t take away from the sculpt, and in general there was more of a balance between figures being kid friendly and still having some appeal to the adult market. They weren’t perfect by a collector’s standards, but Hasbro put forth a surprising effort to make sure everyone was fairly happy.
With the Anakin Skywalker (Slashing Attack) figure, Hasbro gave a fairly collector-friendly figure of the focus of ROTS, while still incorporating an action feature. Superior to the other Anakin figure in the basic line, this Anakin would see an even more collector-oriented re-release down the line that featured Anakin with "Sith Eyes" instead of the large dark circles. The "Sith Eyes" Anakin is the variant I have since I only wanted one of this figure, and judging by the paintjob of the other one I am pretty glad I waited picking it up because the dark circles on the first one just didn’t cut it for me.
But how great is the figure besides his bitchin’ evil eyeballs? Well Hasbro did make some efforts to give collectors a likeable figure with this Anakin, however they also cut a lot of corners making him anything but the definitive ROTS Anakin. Read on and you’ll see what I mean.
PROS
-Sculpt: The Anakin figures in the ROTS line have perhaps suffered more from poor decoration/paint applications rather than a lack of quality sculpting. The "Sith Eyes" Anakin is unmistakably everyone’s favorite bad boy Jedi, and with a nicer deco than his predecessor(s), but his sculpt only does so much and Hasbro’s choices in colors aren’t always the best.
The figure’s sculpt alone is fine though with a wealth of nice detail throughout it. The costume alone features a lot of realistic texturing sculpted into the fabrics to really make them stand out. The shirt and inner robes have a heavy fabric texturing/ribbing throughout, while the outer leather robe/tunic is sculpted with a feint texturing that makes it appear much smoother just as leather should look.
Anakin’s glove, boots, and belt all have lots of straps and buckles sculpted to them as they should, and the boots have lots of heavy folds/wrinkles sculpted into them for a lot of realism. The belt features all the buckles and pouches you’d expect as well, and looks very nice.
Anakin’s left hand has a lot of life sculpted into it as well, which is a neat change of pace from the regular “C” shaped hands for gripping an accessory. Instead Anakin’s hand is in a distinct force-using pose that doesn’t stand out too much if you want your figure to just be standing neutrally as well.
The headsculpt then is where the character’s likeness comes into play, and Hasbro seems to have done a good job of capturing Hayden Christensen’s look nicely. The hair is wavy and the hairline is back farther just as in the film, but he doesn’t look as though he’s really going bald or anything. The character’s face is neutral in its expression, and while I think it could’ve had a slightly more focused/angry look to it, I think that it’s sufficient for what it is and gives a nice neutral Anakin figure that fits into many scenes well. Overall, this figure’s got a passing grade for sculpt.
-Accessories: Anakin doesn’t come with a lot, but what he has makes for nice accessories for his figure, and ones that definitely enhance him compared to his counterpart Anakin figure that came out on release day. Hasbro could’ve definitely improved by including a hilt and the ability to clip it to his belt, but for what Anakin is you get the two accessories you should always have with Jedi figures.
Anakin comes with a lightsaber and a removable robe. The robe is what really gives this figure a passing grade however, as it’s big, removable, and fairly nicely sculpted. The robe features a lot of texturing sculpted into it throughout, and there’s a bit of life sculpted into it so it’s not just looking like a chocolate shell draped over the character. There’s a ton of waves, folds, and wrinkles, as well as the cape sort of widening at the bottom as if the character were walking somewhat, or a wind was blowing it. Also Hasbro painted some black weathering to the bottom of the cloak and the wear and tear look that it gives off certainly adds to the overall quality. The cloak is nice, though I think the hood should’ve been sculpted up on it since Anakin did his worst work with his hood up in the Jedi Temple as well as on Mustafar against the Separatist Leaders. Still the cloak is a nice accessory and looks good even on other Anakin figures.
The Lightsaber is a nice accessory, and about what we have come to expect from Hasbro. There’s a ton of accurate little details throughout the hilt, and a black/silver paintjob highlights some of the detailing and makes it look far superior to the early lightsabers that were just black or silver. It’s all one-piece which is ok but I stress again that a hilt that clipped to his belt would’ve been a really fantastic extra and would have earned the accessories a much higher opinion from me.
-"Sith Eyes" Paint Variation: If you are jonesin’ to own Anakin with his spooky red/orange Sith eyeballs, this is THE figure you want to own. It’s really the about only Anakin you’ll find that has him hulking … err, Sithing out I guess. Hasbro didn’t see fit to do too many figures with the eyes like this it seems, so options are limited (for now anyway). Personally I think a 2nd head for the Evolutions Anakin that had Sith Eyes would’ve been the absolute ideal situation, but that’s my opinion.
Basically though the eyes look really neat and it’s a nice version of Anakin to own just because of these. I’m not going to lie, my overall opinion of the figure is so-so at best, and I’d say I probably lean towards NOT liking the figure much for a number of reasons I’ll be sure to list along the way here, but the eyes made me want to own this one and again I’m glad I waited and didn’t buy the raccoon-eyed Anakin that came out first.
The eyes are really distinct and nicely painted. There are multiple layers including a white base, then a yellow center with a red/orange ring on the outside to form the retina. The pupil of the eye then is a simple black dot, but all these layers of paint just to highlight the eyes makes for a neat and “eye-popping” effect (no pun intended). It stands out and actually I wasn’t even really looking for this figure when I found him but it was the eyes that caught my attention while rifling through the pegs looking for something else.
If the rest of the paintjob was as nice, we’d have something to really talk about here as a nice filler figure for any Jedi Temple Assault diorama you were doing, or some Separatist Slaughtering. Unfortunately deco isn’t this figure’s strong point.
-Articulation: Hasbro’s attempt to articulation Anakin isn’t their best work in the ROTS line, and without a doubt they’re nowhere even in the ballpark of the quality they give us with their Evolutions Anakin figures. There’s just no comparison there really, but for a basic figure, and a Collection 1 figure at that, I think Hasbro did a passable job. It’s got some flaws I’ll touch on but not a lot to gripe about.
The Anakin figure features articulation at:
- 2 ball/socket shoulder joints
- 1 ball/socket elbow joint (right)
- 1 swivel bicep joint (left)
- 2 standard wrist joints
- 2 standard hip joints
- 1 standard neck joint
- 1 standard waist joint
The total articulation comes to 10 points, and overall the upper body is pretty poseable even with Hasbro’s lopsided articulation style in the arms. I’m not sure why the left arm just didn’t get a ball/socket elbow though, and I think ultimately it would’ve made at least a slight improvement.
Still the figure can hold a saber with 2 hands, and that’s without a doubt the most important pose any Jedi figure should be able to do, but he also looks good dishing out some force chokes with that left hand, or grabbing a Padawan by the throat… He also looks fairly good in neutral poses as well however the big flaw in articulation would be his legs. Hasbro saw fit to not give Anakin some knee joints which I think would’ve been greatly appreciated, especially given the “pose” sculpted into the feet/ankles.
He’s poseable though, and a superior figure to his Mustafar Duel counterpart in that regard, so not too shabby really.
CONS
-Paint Aps/Decoration: My first gripe about Anakin is that Hasbro’s choice of colors/paints on the future Dark Lord of the Sith have been sketchy at best. He’s been represented as very pale and almost sickly looking. Hayden didn’t look that bad in the film as I recall, even at his worst moments, so the awkward skin tone just doesn’t look right to me.
Anakin’s hair is also awkwardly painted and seems a lot lighter than it should be. The wash in it wasn’t dark enough, and while the hair’s sculpt is nice, the details needed a slightly darker paintjob to really be accurate. The wash actually seemed to lighten the hair too much, and was maybe just a little overdone on Hasbro’s part. The irony in the hair’s paintjob then is that Anakin’s eyebrows appear to be a proper darker paint application, but now they stand out as big and busy eyebrows since the hair on his noggin’ isn’t near dark enough. This only serves to make the hair’s paint stand out even worse.
Anakin’s face, aside from the eyes, has some awkward paint applications as well. The lips almost appear to be lipstick instead of just slightly darker skin tones than the base skin. Granted the skin’s so pale it’s hard to say if the lips are actually a good choice of paint but just contrast with the skin so much, but overall it doesn’t look irregardless of which colors are off. The scar on Anakin’s face is also a poorly applied paint, and looks almost like a neon orange similar to the shade of red/orange in Anakin’s eyes. The scar should be much more subtle as well as being a single line down the figure’s right side of his face. The scar on my figure is either misapplied or just sloppy, and it’s much too wide/large an application of paint so it stands out tremendously.
Anakin’s body has some ok paint application like a wash on the leathery boots, and the various layers of his clothing painted to show its separate layers of fabric. However little details like the pockets and such on Anakin’s belt seemed to get a lacking effort on paint, and details like the clips on the pouches, or buckles and plates on his belt didn’t get painted at all in some instances. Anakin’s costume could have stood a wash to highlight some of the sculpt as well, at least on the leathery outer layer of his Jedi tunic. Little corners cut in the paint application had a definite negative impact overall unfortunately.
The worst part is the figure’s pasty skin though, and compared to the Evolutions ROTS Anakin, there’s a distinct difference of what looks right and what doesn’t. This figure came up on the short end of the stick in that fight.
-Articulation Cuts: Hasbro didn’t give Anakin everything they should have for articulation and that’s nothing but a negative impact on the figure ultimately. The most lacking portion is Anakin doesn’t have knee joints. Action poses become much more difficult without them, so ultimately we did have to wait for the Evolutions Anakin (that’s impossible to find) before we could have a really nice ROTS Ani for all seasons. The Slashing Attack Anakin could’ve been a nice neutral figure for a multitude of dioramas/scenes though had Hasbro done the figure’s poseability some justice.
The lack of knee joints is the biggest issue, as the figure’s awkwardly sculpted ankles makes for a difficult figure to pose. The lack of a ball/socket left elbow isn’t as big of a deal, but it still stands out as something Hasbro could’ve and should’ve included with this figure. Little corners cut like this hurt the overall toy though from not only a collector’s point of view but also a child’s. Kids want figures they can pose I’ve found, so just some ball/socket knees is all it takes to take a figure like this Anakin from mediocrity to being a Collection 2 quality figure as far as poseability.
-No Saber Hilt: A small gripe but I think it would’ve been great had Hasbro included the saber hilt accessory that clips to the belt. It’s fantastic on every figure it’s available on, and something I think should be standard for Jedi figures. It’s a highlight on a great stand-out figure like Pilot Obi-Wan, so Hasbro should consider making this something they incorporate on all Jedi in the future. Not a huge deal though, just something I noticed and wish this figure had.
-Posed Ankles: One gripe I have about the sculpt of the figure is that whoever designed Anakin decided to his ankles so they are bent upward a little bit, and it’s just enough to make the figure topple forward fairly easily. This is frustrating that in this day and age a figure still floats out that can’t stand on its own without the aid of a stand (which it didn’t even come with).
There’s a way around this by boiling some water, letting Ani’s feet soak in it a minute or so, and then posting the ankles/feet “flat” and holding it while you immerse it into cold water for a time. This is called the “boil & freeze” in customizing and it (most of the time) will cause the plastic to take the shape you’ve posed the ankles in. I haven’t tried it yet with Anakin but I’m thinking that I will soon so that my figure can stand on his own here.
I think flat feet and poseable knees would’ve been the ultimate answer to this figure, and really that’s how the standard should be throughout the line. You should have the option to pose him “in action” or neutral rather than the sculptor deciding to do that for you by making the legs bent in some way, but unfortunately that’s not the route Hasbro went.
OVERALL
My opinion, as you can assume, isn’t the highest on Anakin Skywalker (Slashing Attack). The "Sith Eyes" of this figure are the reason to own him in my opinion, however I feel that neither of the basic Anakin figures in the ROTS line stood up well at all and ultimately you should hold out for the Evolutions set if you want only one ROTS Anakin figure.
The Sith Eyes look great though, and he displays well enough. I have him leading my 501st Troopers from the Battlepack, and he easily replaces the figure that came in that set. Actually this is the Anakin we should have gotten in that set if we had to get one. It’s much closer to what he was wearing as he slaughtered the surprised Jedi in the temple.
Hasbro’s efforts with the ROTS line prove they learned a lot from the 2002 Saga debacle. Figures were not all collector focused, nor were they all kid focused. I didn’t even mention the action feature in this Anakin figure’s review because frankly it didn’t impress me but it also didn’t hinder the look of the figure or the poseability enough for me to list it as a negative. To me, a non-intrusive action feature is a good enough feature so it doesn’t even get a nod from me and that’s not a bad thing at all.
At the same time though, Hasbro didn’t seem to pick up that they need to not cut articulation short at just the arms getting poseability, or just the legs. They need to make sure both aspects of the figure’s sculpt are poseable, as articulation is something that appeals to not just collectors but kids as well. It’s important enough in the overall quality of the toy that knee joints on Anakin would’ve been enough for me to give a better review here.
Besides the articulation, the paint/deco of the figure is just not on. I could’ve dealt with the little detail bits missing like on the belt, or the hair being too light, but the skin tone’s pale color just is distracting.
The “eyes” have it with this figure as they’re the only real reason I can say for owning this guy if you’re lucky enough to see this variant. They really do look cool after all, but is that a good enough reason to spend $5-$7? I don’t know that it is, and "Sith Eyes" Anakin is a figure you probably could pass on while you just try to find an Anakin Evolutions set like the rest of the collecting community.
