Kotobukiya Ep.3 Darth Vader

Next is my favorite and the most expensive Vader in my collection, the Kotobukiya Ep.3 Darth Vader. It cost me MYR330 (roughly USD110) in Dec 2006. I got it from Fantasy Toys, another well-known toy shop near Low Yatt Plaza, Kuala Lumpur,

(Photo credit : Kotobukiya)

Kotobukiya is a Japanese brand known for their quality sculpting and craftsmanship. One of their well known line for Star Wars is Art-FX. They are essentially 1/7 scale put-together model kits for beginners. Each comes with separate parts; head, torso, arms and legs. They would snap fit together in a less than a minute, to complete a non-articulated vinyl statue.

In the case of Vader, the head and upper torso are one piece. The cape is also another piece attaching to the back. Although published as 1/7 scale, I think they are compatible with those 1/6 scale from Sideshow, Kenner or Hasbro. I always hate posing two figures with different scales next to each other in the same shelf space. For instance, having a 1/6 (12") next to a 1/10 (7.2") just doesn't work for me. Must be the OCD in me. However with Kotobukiya, it is close enough not to notice. Shown here with a Sideshow 1/6 Stormtrooper, Vader towers over all his troops by an inch.

Vader itself is around 13" tall in a slight squat pose. He extends his left hand, focusing the Force,I supposed, while holding the lightsaber with the other hand. The saber can be attached or detach from the hilt for a different look. The cape itself billows to the sides extending the width of the piece to around 15".

Sculpt lines are clean and clear, detailing the seems of his leather pants and cape. The boots, helmet and black parts have a glossy look on them with silver details on the armor. It comes with a lava based platform for the piece to stand on, hence making this the Ep.3 version. Before this, Kotobukiya also produced an ESB version with Vader standing on the carbon freezing chamber floor.

There were 2 version for Ep.3 produced. Version 1 had the upside down chest piece as shown on the left below. The version I got was version 2 with the corrected chest piece. However, some movie production picture shows the chest piece having blue buttons instead of green.

This is a very impressive piece indeed. It looks high-end while being affordable and still can hold up with the latest 1/6 Vader figures from Sideshow or Medicom.  Although without articulation, the pose itself invokes a sense of control and power of the Dark Lord. Currently Vader is posed next to his troops to drive home this point.

My overall score for Kotobukiya Ep.3 Darth Vader are as follow:

Articulation - 0 ocd

Accessories - 4 ocd

Paint Job - 5 ocd

Sculpting - 5 ocd

Value for money - 5 ocd

OVERALL - 4 1/2 ocd (out of 5 ocd)

Darth Vader Unleashed (ESB version)

I bought this back in Sep 2006 from a toy shop in Kuala Lumpur, now no longer in existent (close down around 2008). For KL residents, you may heard of Toy Quest, near Jalan Bukit Bintang. The price was MYR64 (around USD20), which was close to its original retail price.

This ESB version depicts Vader as he is confronting Luke about the truth of their relationship on the Bespin gantry / platform.  While extending his clenched left fist, he tries to convince Luke to join him to rule the galaxy together as father and son.

 

The sculpt is very good and the chest armor painted black with silver details. This time they match the look of Vader's armor in ESB. The leather attire is slightly off-black (maybe greyish) to differentiate it from the rest of the black figure.

One nice detail is the burn marks on the pipes protruding from the gantry floor. In my figure, one of the pipes is slightly crooked, most likely due to being bent in the card and plastic bubble packaging.

I only wish Hasbro made a companion piece depicting Luke with his right hand severed while perched on the other end of the Bespin gantry. But I guess it is not an action-posed sculpt contrary to the Unleashed approach.

My overall score for Darth Vader Unleashed (ESB version) are as follow:

Articulation - 0 ocd

Accessories - 3 ocd

Paint Job - 4 ocd

Sculpting - 4 ocd

Value for money - 3 ocd

OVERALL - 3 ocd (out of 5 ocd)

Darth Vader Unleashed (ROTJ version)

The Hasbro's Darth Vader Unleashed 8" vinyl figure (more like a statue) was the first Hasbro item I purchased when I started collecting. I bought it from the "Star Wars Magic of the Myth" exhibit held in Science Centre, Singapore while on a holiday around Jan 2005.

Back then it cost SGD60 (roughly USD49). I really wasn't sure of the market price and was attracted by the nice plastic tube packaging. I still remember how clumsy it was to luge it around the Singapore MRT and public buses while going back to Malaysia.

 (Photo credit : Action HQ)

I believe in the US this was a Best Buy store exclusive, hence the big plastic tube packaging. There was another version which was sold with the figure dissembled on a cardback and plastic bubble. The great thing about buying the tube version is getting the packaging cardboard artwork. Cut it down to size to fit a 11" x 11' picture frame and display it as wall decoration.

 (Photo credit : Entertainment Earth)

Although the figure itself was black, it has a beautiful subtle blue and red highlights which would slightly reflect. The effect is quite faint by you can see the blue highlights on the left while red on the right side below.

This version came assembled with the figure perched onto a staircase; lightsaber waving, cloak billowing while lunging forward.

It should be depicting an off-screen scene of Vader attacking Luke in the emperor's throne room, but the body armors are covered by the black robes ,which represents the ANH look.

IMHO, Star Wars Unleashed figures themselves were an experiment by Hasbro to produce static figures which was more detailed than the average 3 3/4" figure. The selling point was the characters in action-oriented poses never seen before compared to the movies. There were some hits and misses in this line. Example of hits would be the 2 Vader version, Slave Leai and ROTJ Boba Fett while misses are Chewbacca and the short-necked red shocktrooper. This line was discontinued around 2007 or 2008 at the same time when the quality and articulation of the smaller figures was getting better and better.

My overall score for Darth Vader Unleashed (tube version) are as follow.

Articulation - 1 ocd

Accessories - 3 ocd

Paint Job - 5 ocd

Sculpting - 4 ocd

Value for money - 3 ocd

OVERALL - 4 ocd (out of 5 ocd)

Dark Lord of Sith

"A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights."

―Obi-Wan Kenobi

(Source : Star Wars, 1977)

(Photo credit : Star Wars Galaxy Series 4)

Without a doubt, Darth Vader is Star Wars. Since his first appearance as The Dark Lord of the Sith on-board Tantive IV, his the ultimate bad guy who's story is the backbone of the saga. His character is a culmination of talents that brought him alive in the silver screens. While his presence and body language was played by David Prowse, an English bodybuilder, James Earl Jones gave him the baritone authoritative voice to command his troops.

Design credits must go to Ralph McQuarrie, whom surely was inspired by Japanese armor designs. This helmet closely resembles the Kabuto, a helmet used with traditional Japanese armour as worn by the samurai. 

My favourite design elements of Vader must be his chest and shoulder armors, especially the look he has in ESB. In ANH, they were covered by part of his robes.  His lightsaber is also another iconic design. I am glad the film makers kept the design elements similar when AOTC came out. In AOTC it was more chrome while in the original trilogy, it was more black.  Of course the colour red is much cooler for the Siths.

For some Vader scenes in the movies, please check out the youtube link below.

On the next postings, I would post about the few Vaders that I kept. 

The OCD Toy Collector

OCD is an abbreviation for Obsessive–compulsive disorder. The phrase "obsessive–compulsive" has become part of the English lexicon, and is often used in an informal or caricatured manner to describe someone who is excessively meticulous, perfectionistic, absorbed, or otherwise fixated.

(Source : Wikipedia)

While I have not been clinically diagnosed with OCD, I do see myself as one when it comes to my collecting habits. Hi, I am Ian from Malaysia. I have been collecting toys since 2003. I started, yes, you guess it with Star Wars. After that I dabble with another childhood love of mine, Transformers. This is then followed by Neca, Kaiyodo Revoltech, Mattel Batman and those lovely 1/6 Hot Toys.

Early on, I must confess that I got into some credit trouble in order to satisfy my completionist behavior. I tried being a mint-on-card collector, sometimes making toy runs to multiple stores especially when searching for the TAC 2008 collection. I reached the point of spending more than 1k in three separate months in the peak of my obsession. I guess I learned it the hard way.

These days I had trimmed my collection down substantially, focusing on Star Wars 3 3/4 loose figures, 1/6 scales and kept a few Transformers.  The rest have since been sold off in a galactic purge to cover my debts. I realized that in order to enjoy collecting, one should focus on quality, not quantity. That means being practical like having a loose collection which saves more space and not being preoccupied with buying everything in a series just for the sake of completion.

While I do admire MOC collectors and completionist, I feel everyone should find a manner most suitable for themselves. Everyone collector should be proud of their collection regardless of size or how much it cost. It should be about how you feel about it, not about competing with others or a chasing a pipe dream. Every collection is as unique as the collector themselves. A hobby like collecting should always be a positive experience that should not affect our daily duties or responsibilities.

Over the course of this blog, I will archive what is in my collection.