The search for the perfect 6-inch Darth Vader figure has been a surprisingly difficult one. Even though Hasbro, S.H. Figuarts, and Mafex have all tossed their hats in the ring, none of them have nailed it, which is somewhat disappointing since Darth Vader is the tent pole around which the entire Star Wars universe has been built. All of them have their positive traits, but they all also have their drawbacks, some of which have been flat-out deal-breakers for some. When Hasbro’s first Black Series Vader hit the pegs, I was totally fine with it. Until I got the Mafex Vader. And I was totally fine with THAT until I took a paintbrush to the new Walgreens-exclusive “Emperor’s Wrath” Vader. And now I’m wondering if THIS is my preferred 6-inch Darth Vader. So let’s take a look and see how it compares to some of the others.
The standard version of the Emperor’s Wrath Vader is an awesome choice for a store-exclusive variant because it’s not “essential,” but there’s enough in the design to appeal to collectors and fans of the movies. It’s such a scene-specific figure, and I assumed that, at best, it would serve as a nice complement to Hasbro’s previously released standard Darth Vader. That was until some Fwooshers took a closer look at this new head sculpt and discovered that it’s pretty darn good, maybe even better than the first release.
Among the chief complaints with the first release was Vader’s eyes. They’re big and somewhat “droopy,” especially when compared to some of the other Vaders that have been released. This new head sculpt corrects that and tightens up a couple other areas as well, and all of this is made plain with just a little bit of black paint. It’s difficult to see the improvements when looking at just the translucent purple plastic, but once the paint is slapped on there, what is possibly the best Vader head sculpt we’ve gotten so far is made plain as day.
When painting my figure, I used Citadel’s Chaos Black acrylic paint for the majority of his head beneath the upper helmet and face. For the upper helmet and eyes, I used Testor’s Gloss Black acrylic paint — this stuff goes on as smooth as glass. If you’re going to do this paint job yourself, I highly recommend it. It adds a wicked gloss sheen to the helmet. It’s beautiful. For the silver bits around his mouth, I used Citadel’s Mithril, but any silver paint will do. The whole job took about 15 minutes. I’ve never been much of a customizer, but I get all excited about quick, simple jobs like this one. Anyone can do it and there’s virtually no margin of error.
I cannot stress enough how happy I was with my Mafex Vader until I painted this one. I forgot how nice the heft and girth of the Hasbro Vader body is — it makes the Mafex Vader seem absolutely scrawny. The head is also a more satisfying size and fits in better with the Black Series as a whole. The small size of the Mafex head was just one of those things I’ve convinced myself to live with, but having this repaint in hand made that impossible to do. Now, I do still display the Mafex Vader, but I do so with the unmasked head in place.
While this Vader head sculpt is beautiful with some paint slapped on it, the figure itself still has all the same drawbacks the standard Vader was saddled with: poor range of motion in some joints, a curious cape configuration, soft goods robes (a drawback for some; not me), and a giant silver chain around his neck. But I love this head sculpt and the general size of this figure, so this one is going in my main display.
I’d imagine/hope Hasbro has more in mind for this head sculpt. Like, maybe there’s a multipack coming with a Vader sporting this head cast in black. But until that happens, if it ever does, grab an extra Emperor’s Wrath Vader from Walgreens and grab a paintbrush — you won’t regret it!