Darth Vader and Stromtrooper (Jedi Force)
I was somewhat puzzled when Hasbro announced that they were going to stop making the Galactic Heroes line in favor of the new Jedi Force figures. I was never a big Galactic Heroes collector, but since I ended getting quite a few of them over the years (mostly when there was nothing else Star Wars related to buy at local stores), I kind of expected the line to go on for quite a long time still.
That said, I do think that the new Jedi Force figures are better. The sculpting and the articulation are clearly too similar to Mattel’s Imaginext action figures, although the Hasbro figures have better detail.
Of course, the new design aesthetic works better for some characters rather than others, but on Darth Vader and the Stormtrooper both came out looking great, while the characters found in the prequel trilogy sets, don’t fare quite as well. The style is very similar to what the older Jedi Force 5 inch figures used to be, with large hands and feet and just as much detail as you can find on the more elaborate Galactic Heroes. Darth Vader is made slightly taller than the Stormtrooper and both have their weapons molded/glued onto their hands.
Vader has a black fabric cape made from a material that looks actually nicer than the regular black cloth Hasbro has been using in their collector-oriented lines, and his lightsaber blade is cast in a translucent red plastic. The Stormtrooper, on the other hand, is much simpler and has an E-11 blaster molded on his right hand, painted black.
Both figures share the exact same articulation model, consisting on:
• Swivel neck.
• Pegged hinge shoulders.
• Swivel wrists.
• Swivel hips.
Both legs are molded as one single piece on each of these figures, so there is no separate articulation for right or left side, but I find it that this works just fine for this line.
Even though paint in general is good, the thing about figures like these packed together in open boxes, is that more often than not you have to juggle around the available sets in order to get a set where both figures are painted well enough or have the least shelf-wear. I spotted more than a few that had slight paint issues whether on Vader or the Trooper, but in the end I went for the better painted Vader paired with the one Stormtrooper that needed a bit more touch-ups of the lot.
The paint application on both figures are fairly minimal, Vader has some small accents picked out in red and silver on his body and with darker red lenses on his mask; the Stormtrooper has the black paint applications for the undersuit and the helmet details, so there was actually not a lot to fix on him.
I found both figures to be quite nice. They have more articulation than GH, and way more detail than Imaginext, while remaining compatible with both lines, thus opening a whole new world of options for play and display for both kids and collectors.
Errex Score: 80/100
Category: Featured, Star Wars, Toy Reviews