Hot Toys Anakin Skywalker Revenge of the Sith Review

If I only have room for one Anakin Skywalker in my display case, I want the guy who flies in to rescue the Chancellor and the guy who turns around on Mustafar with those yellow eyes. I always hated having to pick between the two. With this sculpted-hair Anakin from Hot Toys, I can have either look, and the funny thing is, the part I like best is a little curl that hangs over Hayden Christensen’s forehead.

I’d take this head sculpt over the rooted-hair Artisan. I love how real hair can look on a sixth-scale figure, but I also know which way I want Anakin’s hair to fall, and Hot Toys gives me that look right out of the box. My one big complaint? Somebody found room for an entire Mustafar panning droid and couldn’t squeeze in the guy’s Jedi robe.

The Hayden Christensen Likeness Is All in the Eyes

With the blue eyes in, look at the scar through his right eyebrow and the way his upper lip lifts just enough to show his teeth. That’s Hayden as Anakin. He already looks a little pissed off, which is exactly why the Sith eyes work so well in the same head sculpt. Turn his eyes to the side and tip his chin down a little. Suddenly he’s giving Obi-Wan a look that ought to tell him how the rest of this conversation is going to go.

I’m glad Hot Toys kept some color in his face. The Sith Apprentice Artisan has a paler paint app that works for a guy who’s already turned, but I prefer this skin tone with the blue eyes. There’s a bit of darkness under them, the scar has some depth, and you can still see the skin texture across his cheek. Then the yellow eyes go in and the thin ring of red around each iris is enough to change his whole expression. I wouldn’t want the face painted any paler just for that one look.

You get two actual pairs of rolling eyes and a little tool to swap them. That matters if you’re picky about where your figures are looking. I want Anakin looking straight at Obi-Wan, and if Obi-Wan stands a little lower on your shelf, you can aim Anakin’s eyes down at him without burying his chin in his tunic. You can also adjust the height of his neck. I’d give him a little space above the collar so you can see his jaw when you turn his head.

I’d Go With Sculpted Hair on This Anakin

The older sculpted Anakin still looks like Hayden, but the hair on that one falls in thick chunks. Look at the little ends curling away from the side of this head sculpt and the fine hairs along his forehead. Even where the hair has some real volume, you can see the individual strands. My favorite of the two front pieces lets a loose curl hang over his brow. It actually casts a little shadow on his forehead, and I love how scruffy he looks wearing it.

The other fringe sweeps more of the hair off his face. I’d use that one with the blue eyes if I were putting him next to R2-D2. For Mustafar, give me the messier piece every time. I can see why you’d prefer an Artisan if styling the hair yourself is part of the fun. I’d be the guy who gets one side looking perfect and then wishes he’d left the other side alone. Being able to change Anakin’s whole hairstyle at the front with one piece of plastic sounds pretty good to me.

Anakin’s Tunic Looks Like He’s Been Through the Fight

The weathering on the sleeves surprised me more than the scuffs on the boots. You expect the boots to be dirty. On the brown fabric, the lighter wear catches the raised threads, so you can still see the weave underneath. It’s especially good around the cuffs and along the edges of those dark strips that run over his shoulders. He looks like he’s been fighting in these clothes for a while, which makes him a much better match for a weathered Mustafar Obi-Wan.

The tunic sits fairly flat across his chest. I like that you can see the width of his shoulders without making him look thick around the middle. The wires in the tabards give you some say in how they sit over his belt. I’d bring them in at the waist and let the ends hang down. If you flare them straight out over both shoulders, he starts looking a little too dressed up for a guy who’s about to jump onto a lava droid.

The boots and tabard are leather-like. I wish Hot Toys had used genuine leather here, especially on the boots. If you’ve had an older pair of Hot Toys boots start flaking in your display case, you’ll understand why I care what these are made of. I do like the finish they gave them. There’s lighter wear across the ridges and even on the soles. The buckles on his glove look dull and worn, too. The trousers are a lot cleaner, though most of what you see between the tunic and those tall boots is a fairly small patch of brown.

I’d Trade the Red Blades for Anakin’s Jedi Robe

For the duel with Obi-Wan, I’m giving Anakin the blue blade. He fights him with a blue lightsaber, and I love that you can give him Sith eyes and still get that detail right. There’s a regular hilt you can hang from the belt, plus a USB-powered hilt if you want the blade lit. You’ll need your own cable and power supply. I’d use the regular hilt for a display where you can see Anakin from the back, because then you don’t have to figure out where to hide the wire.

The straight blue blade is the one I like best, although I wish the tip were rounder. The red looks a little pink to me, and I can’t think of a spot in my Episode III display where I’d use it. You also get the wide blades that make the saber look like it’s moving. I like that effect with his arm pulled across his body halfway through a swing. In a museum pose it looks a bit odd to have the blade going full speed while the guy holding it is standing still.

I’d happily trade those red blades for a hooded Jedi robe. Anakin wears one on Mustafar before he and Obi-Wan fight, and that’s the look I want with the Sith eyes and the saber hanging from his belt. The box also skips the exposed mechanical arm. I can live without that because I’d leave the glove on anyway. The robe bugs me because it would give me another whole scene I could put in my display case with the head sculpt I already paid for.

Of the spare hands, I like the open left hand with the fingers curled in. Put that arm out in front of him and lower the saber in his right hand and you’ve got Anakin using the Force. I do wish the gloved hands had more detail across the fingers. The little buckles and worn finish on the gauntlet look great, and then you get down to the fingers and the glove looks pretty smooth by comparison.

The Mustafar Panning Droid Deserves the Shelf Space

Look underneath the droid. The orange paint app makes the metal look like it’s picking up the glow from the lava below. Up top you’ve got chipped paint, little cables and those beat-up metal panels Anakin plants his boots on. Even the droid’s little arms are articulated. I’d spread a couple out at different angles like it’s still trying to do its job while this idiot fights a Jedi on its head. I’d be tempted to keep the droid on the shelf even if I moved Anakin onto the smaller stand.

My gripe is that nothing on the droid or the lava lights up. That surprised me because the Mustafar Artisan Anakin had a light-up base. The translucent orange on this one gives you something to work with if you’ve already got lighting in your display case. I’d put it where the light can reach the lava from behind. Still, I would’ve loved to switch it on and see that glow under Anakin’s boots, especially with Obi-Wan across from him.

If that whole setup eats up too much of your shelf, you get a second, much smaller stand with its own support. The sand looks more like Tatooine than Mustafar to me, but I wish more of the figures I’ve covered in my Hot Toys reviews came with a small stand like this. A few figures down the road you might need to make room, and it’s nice to be able to pack the droid away and still have somewhere to stand Anakin.

How I’d Pose Anakin Beside Obi-Wan

Anakin’s shoulders can come forward and the elbows bend far enough to bring the hilt across his chest in both hands. The sleeves are long enough to cover the wrist pegs, although I’d pull the cuff back a touch so you can see the fingers on the hilt. There’s less movement through the waist once you’ve got the tunics, tabards and belt layered over one another. I’d turn his shoulders into the swing and let the head and eyes follow Obi-Wan.

The padding in his thighs and the trousers tucked into the boots make a deep lunge harder to pull off. The ankles do have enough tilt for a wider stance, so I’d bend one knee, plant both boots on the droid and keep the blue saber out to his side. From the front of your display case you’d still be able to see that face. If you already own the armored Vader I covered in my Revenge of the Sith Darth Vader review, I’d give him the shelf right below Anakin. I love the idea of being able to look from Hayden’s face down to that helmet.

Is This the Anakin I’d Buy?

If the rooted hair on your Artisan already looks exactly the way you want it, I wouldn’t buy another Anakin just for the droid. If you’re picking your first Episode III Anakin, though, this is the one I’d tell you to get. The one thing I keep coming back to is that loose curl over the yellow eye. Put him beside Obi-Wan like that and I wouldn’t trade the head sculpt for any of the rooted versions.

I give the sculpted-hair Anakin Skywalker a 9.2 out of 10. Hot Toys got Hayden’s likeness right and gave me both sets of eyes I want for that face. I’m still going to want that damn robe.