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Review |
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| Sculpt: |
| After the somewhat bland and disappointing Anakin figure from series one, I really had high hopes for this second figure of the Jedi padawan. Once again, though, Anakin strikes a static pose, but at least it isn't as mediocre a sculpt as the previous version. This battle-damaged Anakin uses the same robotic arm as the series one figure, but from there on the sculpt is fresh. Stripped to just an undergarment from the waist up, Anakin shows off the muscled physique that will only grow with time as the CLONE WARS progress. After battling Asajj Ventress in the rainy environs of Yavin IV, Anakin's hair is slicked down against his head, his face set in simmering anger. (The funny thing I've noticed about almost every Anakin action figure, including this one, is that they display a greater emotional range than Hayden Christensen ever did in AOTC!) His pants show the wear of the fight, as a great slash can be seen on his right thigh. He gets a respectable 8 out of 10. |
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| Paint: |
| Anakin's torso is molded in the medium brown of his vest, with flesh-hued paint apps at his chest, neck and sides. His arms are molded in the same flesh color, with his robotic lower right arm molded in a metallic gold. His head is molded in the sandy blond color of his hair, with flesh, white, blue, and black paint apps. His lower body is molded in a dark, rusty-brown for his pants, with a medium brown for the ends of his vest and a darker brown for his boots. There is a flesh-toned paint app at the slash in his right thigh. For some reason, the metallic areas on this wave of figure's are getting more realistic paint apps than the series one and two figures; both Anakin and Asajj Ventress' lightsaber handles are painted silver, instead of light blue/gray. In total, there are eight colors used on this figure: 8/10. |
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| Articulation: |
| Anakin sports the minimal articulation that has been the norm for this line: the neck, both shoulders, the waist, and the right forearm all sport planer-cut joints, for a total of five. I still think it was a big mistake to not have any of these figures articulated below the waist, and this slightly more action-oriented pose really suffers from not having leg articulation: 7/10. |
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| Accessories: |
| Included is Anakin's lightsaber, one of Asajj Ventress' lightsabers, and a STAR WARS: CLONES WARS-logo figure stand. Anakin's lightsaber blade is in transparent light blue, with little starbursts at the bottom that were part of CLONE WARS micro-series' Art Director Paul Rudish's early design sketches, but were later abandoned in favor of the more traditional straight, white blades with a colored halo surrounding them. Asajj Ventress' blade is moldled in red. Both fit well into either of Anakin's hands, and he pegs securely to the black-molded figure stand. An average 8/10. |
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| Packaging: |
| The blistercard sports the same cartoon-inspired logo as the rest of the figures in this line, with a pretty decent image of Anakin on the die-cut insert. A clear decal has been added to the inside blisters of all the figures in this line, proclaiming them "On TV NEW! Season III": 8.5/10. |
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| Availability: |
| These started showing up just AFTER Christmas 2004 -- too bad, they would have made great holiday gifts. At the end of December, they are just starting to show up in low quantities at most retail outlets: 8/10. |
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| Conclusion: |
| Battle-damaged animated Anakin looks like his CLONE WARS micro-series counterpart, a stylized caricature of the actor playing him in Episodes II and III. Too bad they didn't opt to do the reciprocal battle-damaged Asajj Ventress figure, as they would have made a nice pair to display together: 7.9/10. |
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