Square Enix has taken their Play Arts Kai line of figures into new territories with their Variant theme over the last couple years. They’ve taken existing characters we all know and remixed them so to speak, giving us completely new and alternate takes on them while still staying recognizable. SE has done it with DC Comics properties and even their own Final Fantasy characters. Marvel is coming.
Square also has Star Wars – the first round of pics showing these guys off got picked up by tons of entertainment and movie sites because they just look damn cool. Movie accurate, heck no. Cool? Yes. Well, the first of the Star Wars Variants is out and it’s none other than Darth Vader. We’ve got ours in hand and have done up a gallery of over 70 HD shots. Read on to check out our thoughts and see the dark lord of the Sith in action!
Play Arts Kai Star Wars Variant Darth Vader
Pros
Big
Fantastic sculpt
Paint apps are plenty even on the dark palette
Construction is best PAK to date, no breakages or weak points, smooth full range of movement
Alt hands and accessories all work
Cape system works better than on Variant Superman
Cons
None.
Overall
Wow. I am blown away by this figure. I am all about new takes on old characters, so long as it doesn’t bastardize them for quick coin. This is a modern artistic vision of Darth Vader, and I’m completely down with that. When you take it out of the “that doesn’t look like the movie” context, and just look at it for what it is, IMO it works. The figure keeps all the key Vader points – black, glossy helmet, silver plating, chest box, layered cape and cloaks, light saber. All that’s been tweaked and flipped from the original design to just be bad ass. Standing at a whopping 10 inches he is a menace on the shelves next to (most of) your other Vaders.
The joint system is well done, peg based with strong clicky joints in all the right places. The torso connects to the legs via a big double ended ball joint, and the crotch is actually a hollow softer plastic, allowing for a wide range of movement while posing. Chest flex and twist, shoulder and elbow, wrist, double jointed knee, a form of ankle rockers and even a mid foot twist all allow great poseability. He’s sturdy too, heavy in the hand. Previous issues with Play Arts Kai fragility seem to have been worked out, I twisted and turned and swapped parts on this guy for a couple hours doing the pics and nothing even came close to breaking. He’s still in perfect shape after the session.
Bottom line, this thing is worth the coin and the upcoming Trooper, Boba Fett and Darth Maul look just as great. If you dig the alternate look, definite pick up!
Check out some key shots below and the rest after that in gallery mode!
Play Arts Kai Variant Darth Vader In Hand Gallery - The Toyark - News
Absolutely epic figure, glad I pulled the trigger.
Damn that's gorgeous. I have Boba coming inbound, can't wait!
Looks freaking amazing. The SW variant reveals have been top notch so far. Vader and Boba are figures I'd love to own, but the price is just a bit too much for me.
Want so BAD
Did somebody leave that light saber out in the sun?
Ugh, why does PAK have to paint so weird?
Besides that it's kinda cool. Reminds me of the Darth Vader images used in the marketing for Episode 3. He has an expression through the helmet. The light saber in motion looks like fire, cool anyway.
It looks glorious!!!
I can'wt wait to have this in hand!!!
Fantastic pics Tony!
I can'wt wait to have this in hand!!!
Fantastic pics Tony!
It is glorious.
Seriously, this is the first PAK figure I've gotten where something didn't break, or I was afraid of something breaking. My PAK adventures have included:
Play Arts Advent Cloud & Bike
Play Arts Sepiroth
Play Arts Zacks
Play Arts Kai SF Ryu
Play Arts Kai GOW Kratos
Play Arts Kai Variant Flash
Play Arts Kai MoS Zod
Play Arts Kai Robocop (new, 2.0)
Play Arts Kai Variant Superman
No breakages on Flash, Robocop, Superman, but I was worried. Everything else, something snapped. On this Vader, no snaps and no worries.
It is a big, heavy, articulated, well painted piece of plastic. The only complaint one could have IMO, and I don't, is that they don't like the alt look.
Oh man, this Darth is quite spectacular. Thank for taking the time to photograph these.
I've only bought two PAK figures, the first being the Sneaking Suit Snake, the second being Garrus. Even with those two, the quality difference is vast. Neither broke but there are just things that are off about the Snake, but Garrus I basically a perfect figure in my opinion, with perhaps the only complaint being that he has trouble standing by virtue of his design. Still a great looking figure.
He looks great. Sadly, due to shelf space and annoyance with the price, I cancelled my pre-order. Seriously, these PAK figures are far too expensive.
The halo figures I got rid of all seamed pretty cheap is this leaps and bounds above in quality? Would be pretty dissapointed if I got the quality of a $40 toy and paid $100
I have several PAK figures and have never had any problems with breakage except for the left butterfly joint on my Dark Knight Returns skin Arkham Batman. That was totally my fault though because I was hammered drunk when I opened it and tried to force the shoulder joint too far. The butterfly joints in the shoulder can be a little delicate but other than that, they seem like they are good quality to me. My Variant Wonder Woman, Variant Harley Quinn and Anne Hathaway Catwoman have all fallen from a 5 foot shelf at one time or another because their high heels make them hard to stand and none of them sustained any damage. I think as long as you are careful you will probably not have any issues. PAK figures aren't any more fragile than others kinds of figures.
My only problem is the increased price. If they were still in the area of $50 - $80 I would have ordered this Vader already. He looks badass though!
Quality control experience will vary from person to person but at least it usually gets better in general with time.
Regarding figures like Garrus or people with high heels, it always amuses me that either people complain to the toy company as if it's their fault the design is unstable in static plastic or that a company didn't see this coming and usually doesn't include bases.
Does anybody know if this figure was discontinued?
If it is, is anybody selling one? or even just the box? I might just go with a chinabay seller who doesn't have the box.
Thanks!
Man, they can't even get Vader right
Does anybody have this figure in hand from a US seller yet? I ordered one back in April and it still hasn't shipped.
Full Thread: Toyark's Play Arts Kai Variant Darth Vader Images
Not a member yet? Join Toyark Now!