Star Wars Toy Collectors are in a flux ever since Japanese toy manufacturers were given licenses to make Star Wars action figures. This is evident in the SH Figuarts Star Wars line by BANDAI which is very robust, with upcoming releases up until the first quarter of next year, and which are excellent figures in their own right.
Medicom is no stranger to Star Wars, having made sixth-scale figures, but they too, wanted a size of the 1/12th (or six inch scale for Hasbro folks) pie. And they did just that with their MAFEX action figure line. The line that features those excellent Dark Night entries has finally released their Star Wars offering in Darth Vader. First offered for late last year, this figure’s release has been delayed for, oh, almost 9 months? But as you will see later, the wait is very much worth it!
If Hasbro’s Black Series is a high-end action figure line for kids, and SH Figuarts Star Wars is a high-end action figure for collectors, MAFEX tries to give the feeling of a miniature Hot Toys figure, with their Dark Knight Joker being a really good example. But how does it translate to Star Wars? To be honest, I have my doubts. Some friends of mine cautioned me against MAFEX because of durability issues, as they use “green” materials (whatever that means) for their figures. Indeed, I was all set on getting the SH Figuarts one because of the favorable reviews it was getting. My only hesitation was that Figuarts Vader is too short.
One of my biggest considerations is authenticity. Accuracy in an action figure is subjective, but authenticity isn’t. If I am going to get a Darth Vader figure, it’s supposed to feel Darth Vader. This is one element that MAFEX has done right: from the moment I took it out of the box, I knew it was Vader. He is tall compared to the Figuarts Vader, and his soft goods cloak does not look like a joke like the Black Series one. The cape has a wire on the edges to help in holding it in place which actually helps the figure look “cleaner”.
The sculpt as well as the paint apps are great. The helmet looks off in promo pictures, but are really great when you have the figure in your hand. The figure seems to have been based on his look from “Return of the Jedi” and it accordingly includes a “cut hand” piece. It is also interesting to note that while a cloth was used for the cape, his inner robes were made of soft plastic which is divided into three parts to better facilitate action poses. Again it helps in making the figure look clean. Paint apps on Vader’s front console and utility belt are expertly done, as is the lightsaber which has a removable blade, as well as being able to be hooked on the belt. My only problem with the sculpt is that Vader’s chest armor seems to be too big: it wasn’t supposed to “touch” the console area. But that’s nit-picking.
The figure, as expected, loses some points in pose-ability. Make no mistake though, you can definitely pose this figure in many ways. Not as many as SH Figuarts Vader, but it is enough. For one, there’s the perceived fragility that may contribute in people settling for static poses. Another is, of course, the by-product of the Vader’s design itself: the armor is just too restricting. You can’t put Vader’s arms upward all-the way because the shoulder pads seem to get in the way. The soft plastic inner-tunic might also restrict leg movement because, well, it is plastic.
But to be fair, Vader was never the acrobat Darth Maul, or even Luke Skywalker was, so I am good with it. The important thing is that the figure has other hands in various poses you can swap with. So if you want his right hand to grip his lightsaber hilt, and the left hand doing a Force-push or a Force-grip, you have the freedom to do so. Just be careful when swapping hands, as the wrist-peg seems a bit small.
While Vader’s legs might be a bit encumbered, the legs and the feet are articulated enough to give you the ability to do various poses. Handy for when you figure out how to pose him despite the plastic tunic. I didn’t experiment a lot with the legs because I am being careful. I wouldn’t want this figure to be handicapped by the time my SH Figuarts Luke comes (if it DOES come. I’m starting to lose hope).
My favorite design point was the cape. An all-important factor in having an “authentic” Vader figure. Hasbro has used cloth in their figures for ages, but they’ve never really managed to “control” it in a way that is worthy of the elite Black Series line. Most other manufacturers have settled with a plastic cape. MAFEX, however, had experience dealing with soft-goods as with their excellent Dark Knight figure. As I mentioned earlier, the edge of the cape has some sort of soft “wire” to keep it in place, and by golly does it work wonders! The effect is good especially when you make the kit do action poses, like that Bespin duel scene from Empire Strikes Back. I could almost hear James Earl Jones’ voice saying “The Force is with you young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet”.
So how does it stack among 6 inch figures? Pretty well, I suppose. I have to knock off some points because it is definitely not as durable as both SH Figuarts and Hasbro, but it is just as aesthetically pleasing as Figuarts which means that it looks better than 80% of Hasbro’s. Not a bad start for MAFEX. Hopefully they’ll continue the line, make a Jedi Luke, and give BANDAI a run for its money.