Earlier this summer, Hasbro wowed SDCC with an exclusive Star Wars two-pack celebrating Revenge of the Sith‘s 20th anniversary. The good news is, if you just want the figures that were included of Anakin and Obi-Wan, they’re coming. The bad news is… well, you’re losing a lot in the process if you missed out on the now-sold-out set.
Over the weekend at Fan Expo Canada, Hasbro confirmed that the newly updated Black Series figures of Anakin and Obi-Wan that were first released in the SDCC-exclusive two-pack earlier this summer will receive standard retail releases later this year. Set to retail for $25, the new Anakin and Obi-Wan figures each come with their respective lightsabers, and… that’s it.
Now, don’t get me wrong; as is, these are arguably some of the best versions of the Revenge of the Sith versions of these characters Hasbro has ever done. The new headsculpts are fantastic; the plastic material of their Jedi tunics no longer gets in the way of the enhanced range of motion given by the updated butterfly shoulder joints, so your Jedi can comfortably actually hold their lightsabers in two-handed grips. It’s taken over a decade of Black Series figures—Revenge of the Sith versions of Obi-Wan and Anakin were some of the very first in the Black Series line, releasing the year after it debuted in 2013—and there have been many Anakins and Obi-Wans in various forms in that time, but it’s great that the 20th anniversary of the film is delivering this iteration of the characters the figures they deserve.
And yet… you really are losing out on a lot more in comparison to the original two-pack. Even beyond the massive display pieces of the Mustafarian lava platforms (and that poor droid Anakin sled around the lava flow on in the movie), the SDCC two-pack came with alternate hands to recreate Anakin and Obi-Wan pushing against each other with the Force and alternate lightsaber blade parts to create the effect of them being swung mid-motion. There was even a nifty little “clash” piece that you could slot the blades into to make it look like a flash of light as the sabers landed blows on each other. I was lucky enough to nab the set earlier this month and had a lot of fun futzing around with them—not just because the figures are great, but for all the extras they came with:
Maybe the biggest loss, however, are the two alternate heads that were included. Well, one more than the other: the battle-worn Obi-Wan head was great, but it was also just a more-distressed-looking Obi-Wan with his hair not as immaculately coiffed. The alternate Anakin head, meanwhile, was full on his descent into the dark side made manifest—a proper Vader head, with the orange eyes and angry glower to match and maybe actually Hasbro’s best take on Hayden Christensen so far. Back in 2014, the first Revenge of the Sith Anakin came with a similar head, so why couldn’t the standalone release do the same all these years later?
Don’t get me wrong, in losing so many extras, you’re also getting two great figures for much cheaper. It’s $50 for the standalone Anakin and Obi-Wan compared to the hefty $110 of the SDCC; a pretty fair trade-off, especially with the platform display pieces making up the bulk of that extra price tag. And it does mean, from the point of view of certain collectors, that the SDCC exclusive set remains more “exclusive” (never mind the fact that they sold it online as well during the convention). But would any value have really been lost if the regular versions of these figures at least came with the alternate heads? In the age of tariff uncertainty, would that have been too much to offset the Black Series’ current standard pricing, or would it have made the SDCC set sufficiently less “special”?
At the end of the day, at least anyone who missed out or didn’t want to pay the hefty price tag during Comic-Con can still get the bits that really matter: the figures themselves. The new Black Series Anakin and Obi-Wan figures will go up for pre-order tomorrow, August 26, from 1 p.m. ET at Hasbro Pulse and other retailers.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Read the full article here
