Today I've got a figure I've been searching for literally for over a quarter of a year: Star Wars Movie Heroes Anakin Skywalker! You'd think for all the effort I put in, the figure, would be, well... good. But, well... read on...
- It's the first 100% all-new Tatooine Anakin Skywalker released in a decade! I bugged Hasbro for years--years--to give us a new kid Anakin in their now-defunct Q&As, so it's pretty exciting that we got not one, but two kid Anakins this year! (I reviewed Vintage Padawan Anakin back in January.)
- The head sculpt on Anakin is the polar opposite of the awful Vintage Padawan Anakin we got earlier in the year--while that figure didn't look anything like Jake Lloyd, this is one of the best Jake Lloyd likenesses we've ever gotten.
- The new Podracing helmet released earlier in the year with a multipack is repackaged here. I didn't need the figures in that expensive multipack, so I'm really pleased to get the Podracer helmet here for cheap.
- Anakin's Podracing helmet is highly-detailed and has a ton of sculpting intricacies and paint deco on it. This is unquestionably the best Podracing helmet Hasbro has released.
- The paints on the Anakin figure itself are absolutely terrific. His skin, hair, and clothes all look exactly as I picture them in my mind, and Hasbro used just the right amount of paint wash.
The Wrong:
- The main gimmick of this toy is that lil' Jake Lloyd Anakin can now fly around space, blowing away all manner of Sith Lords, women, children, and Jedi younglings with his missile-firing jetpack! I must have missed this scene in my many, many viewings of The Phantom Menace. This is just so ridiculous it defies words.
- Lil' Anakin comes with the game die and card game card that get packed in with all the non-Vintage Star Wars figures. I just don't believe that children care enough about the Galactic Battle Game that resources are still being used on it three years later. I'd rather the MSRP on the figures go down by a dime than we keep getting these little inclusions.
- Because of the jetpack, Anakin has a big peg hole in his back, which unfortunately ruins him for a lot of positions in dioramas. I wish the jetpack strapped on or something so it didn't damage the integrity of the figure itself.
- It can be a real pain getting Anakin to stand up in your display. He just doesn't want to stand up stably. But that's probably because of...
The Ridiculous:
- Kid Anakin has five--count 'em, FIVE--points of articulation. Yes, in 2012, a year where a single Star Wars figure will cost you a $10 bill at Target, all Hasbro is giving us is 5 points of articulation. Ball-jointed head with swivel hips and shoulders. Unbelievable.
- $10 (~$9+tax) is a pretty high price for what you're getting here. This figure would be a whole lot more appealing for $6-$7.
Overall: The best things I can say about this figure are that it really looks like Jake Lloyd, the Podracing helmet rocks, and the paint deco is well-done. But that's all this figure has going for it. His missile-firing jetpack is downright ludicrous, the peg hole in the back limits his diorama usefulness, he's expensive, and his articulation is straight out of the POTF2 days. Even as a huge fan of Jake Lloyd Anakin Skywalker, even I kind of regret paying $10 for this figure, and I really can't recommend him.