Another Figuarts Star Wars figure is always a joyous occasion. I am not what you would call a strict prequel fan nor am I a fan of how Anakin was treated, but I am a toy fan, and a Figuarts fan, and a Jedi fan, so when taken together this figure kind of balances things out. Which is what Anakin was supposed to do to the Force, so I guess job well done, because this figure makes it hard to give in to the hate.
Speaking of balance, this review is a double-decker review of Veebee and myself, so we’ve both got some words, some pictures, and some gushing to do. Veebee is easier on the prequels than I am so again, there’s a balance. Ain’t it all cosmic? It’s like George knew what he was talking about!
Despite my lack of appreciation of Hayden, a cool figure is a cool figure. If you’re like me and a bit less rigid about your canon, then this could even be a random Jedi. Make up a name for him, make up a history for him, or if you’d like, keep him as Anakin but set him in an entirely different movie. Don’t let your disdain for the prequels keep you from getting a kickass figure. Let’s take a look at all the parts that make up fun.
If you are strict about your canon, then this is the version from Attack of the Clones. No longer a boy, not yet a Jedi Knight, he was still learning, still growing, still wearing a tiny little hair braid dangling off the back of his head. He hadn’t gone full-on Sith yet, but there were seeds of the dark side somewhere in there amidst the whining and the aversion to beaches.
Anakin’s head(s)
Anakin comes with a pair of heads representing the two moods that he had through the film. There is a happier, smiling head for when he was either wooing Padme or thinking about wooing Padme, and an angrier, scowling head, for when he was not currently in the process of wooing Padme, or was thinking about all the sweet sweet Tusken Raiders he was going to slaughter like animals. Also to be used when Obi-Wan wouldn’t let him stay out past curfew. Aww, Unca Obi!
Both heads continue the Figuarts trend towards strong likenesses combined with their particular paint application that lends a lifelike feel that really needs to be admired in person. In fact, Anakin’s paint apps seem to be a dramatic leap forward in quality from previous figures, furthering the evolution of this particular process. The shading is subtle, the eyes are warm and lifelike, and the “dot-matrix” effect seems to have been blended much better, holding up even under closer scrutiny. If this represents a continuing improvement that will be carried forward I can’t wait to see some of the upcoming figures.
Anakin’s torso
Like previous jedi, due to the complexities of Anakin’s layered look all torso articulation is accomplished by a ball-jointed waist. My first instinct is to be all “no you son of a bitch I want articulation everywhere I killlll youuuuu.” But having fiddled with previous figures I knew the range of motion is is still pretty great. You’re missing just a bit of crunchy time but not a lot, and I’d definitely feel it if he did. It all feels very natural and the lack of break in his “look” ends up being a plus, not a minus.
Anakin’s arms
Anakin has droopy swoopy sleeves because Jedi tailors like the arms to breathe. This means the arm has a lot more room than your standard arm, so you get some extra little touches. Carrying over elements from Mace Windu, in addition to the standard discball shoulder with a butterfly, the elbow is a single discball with an extra balljoint that plugs up into the bicep. This essentially means you get a full double-jointed range along with the swivel commonly attached to an “elbro” style joint setup, along with extra range afforded by a ball-joint. The the end result is a huge range of motion. Some may have an issue with the gap caused by extreme bends. Some.
Anakin’s hands
Anakin features three sets of hands: fists, saber-gripping and open hands. While the fists and lightsaber are fairly use-specific, I love the addition of open hands, which are good for force pushing, force-pulling, gesturing or Padme groping. Padawanna touch the hiney.
Anakin’s hips
Anakin features the drop down hips that have made their way across Figuarts and other lines. The high flexibility of his dangling Jedi bits do not impede his hip articulation much if at all. Leg goes out, leg goes to the side, he gets a decent lateral spread that doesn’t quite reach full split, kneeling the works. Love.
Anakin’s legs
Anakin gets a typical figuarts single balldisc with a double jointed range of motion. The ankles are ball-jointed and have a nice range, allowing him to stay flat-footed or mostly flat in a wide variety of poses.
Anakin’s accessories
In addition to the second head, Anakin comes with his lightsaber, an unlit hilt that plugs into his belt, and two extra lightsabers, one green and one blue, used in his duel with Dooku. His Dookuel, if you will. And yes, that absolutely means we need a Figuarts Dooku, because that means a Figuarts Christopher Lee, and if that’s not the most awesome thing ever, well, then I just don’t get life.
By now, if you’re a regular Figuarts consumer you know what you’re going to be getting. You know the excitement of the promo images, and the eager key-humping when a preorder goes live. Anakin lives up to the hype.
“Ani? My goodness, you’ve grown. Ani, you’ll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine.”
Oh, but he is not that little boy from Tatooine – lil’ Ani has grown up, and is a love-struck Padawan learner champing at the bit to become a real Jedi Knight, and get with a high profile Galactic Senator. Yes, all of the dreams of that little podracer on a forsaken desert planet seem to be coming true by the events of Attack of the Clones, but (for some reason), no one saw the brutal consequences of those realized dreams, and soon enough, everything just fell apart.
You know, for all of my Star Wars action figure collecting across multiple lines and companies, I think the most satisfying part of this whole thing is when I can recreate iconic Jedi battles and duels with SHF figures. AotC had a lot of action set pieces (when stilted attempts at romance were not happening), and having this new Anakin to fight alongside Obi-Wan and Mace Windu (Padme coming soon!) gets me closer to a cool Geonosis Arena battle, and if we can hurry up and get a freakin’ Count Dooku, that fight as well. Clashing sabers always makes for good figure fun, and Anakin is right up there with the venerable Master Windu as one of the best SHF Star Wars releases thus far.
Benty did a great job with the rundown of the actual makings of this figure, I really have little else to do except to gush and communicate my continued appreciation that Bandai is supporting the Prequel Trilogy. I know, it is not as popular with the overall fan base, and it certainly has its flaws (as do ALL Star Wars movies), but there is plenty of stuff I enjoy about them, so I will happily continue to build my Figuarts PT collection. Like I said, I find this Anakin to be one of the very best Star Wars figures ever, and that comes from the overall quality, sculpt (especially the likeness on both heads), and extras. I know that the “intense” expression head, and back up lightsabers are not included in all the releases, but this figure has everything going for it to justify the price, and I would love to see SHF trend more towards lil’ Ani here in terms of accessories, than last month’s more limited Chewbacca.
So, while we have covered the virtues of this figure on its own terms, what is really exciting about it that Anakin joins the rest of the AotC crew, and when lined up with Obi-Wan, Mace, the Clones, Battle Droids, and (soon) Padme, you can see that AotC has gotten a lot of love in SHF, and I could not be happier. Sure, I am probably looking forward to the RotS version of Anakin and Obi more, but boy, this Anakin figure is going to be tough to beat. I know a lot of people got pretty down on the Jedi after the Prequel Trilogy, but I really like imagining Jedi missions and duels, training and trials, and all of that. So bring me all the Jedi you can, because there is a lot to do, especially with how Clone Wars brought many of them to the fore.
I am so pumped for this release. Bandai is absolutely tearing through AotC, and I hope they give us guys like Count Dooku, the Super Battle Droids, and others. Oh, and then charge right into RotS, even though I have a theory that Bandai is holding back on that and Empire due to the generally held opinion that they represent the best of their respective trilogies. This is my favorite line to collect, so I am in for EVERYTHING SHF wants to give us, and that covers the entire spectrum of Star Wars, from The Phantom Menace, to The Last Jedi.
