Impressive. Most Impressive. Hyper Real is Hasbro’s new take on adult collector action figures. It features a metal skeleton under a seamless silicone body to give us the characters with no visible joints. Coupled with higher end soft goods, attention to detail with the paint, these are upper tier offerings. They are in the 8 inch scale, so they won’t work with existing Star Wars Black Series 6 inch figures. Hasbro sent through a slightly early copy of Darth Vader, their first release in this new format. We’ve run him through the motions and have over 80 images showing off what he can do. Read on for those and some thoughts after the break!
Overall Thoughts:
It’s nice, really nice, in hand. But it is a big departure from traditional Star Wars Black Series figures. The construction is different, so it requires different levels of posing attention. Most everything you need to do with this guy requires a full 2 hand action. No quick posing changes. No quick swapping of parts. You are committing to a change, foregoing any fine tuning you had going on with the pose or the cape, and starting over. This is more in line with 1/6 scale figures and how they handle, the little I have done that. The skeleton is also very stiff, so arms and legs aren’t moving with one hand and some downward pressure like Black Series would. Plus side, this guy is keeping his stances once there.
Articulation is good, great range in the shoulders and elbows. Rocker ankles go flat without fuss. Hips and knees are average range, no Spider-Man poses though. The hands pop onto a metal ball, the end of the skeleton. And that does move around, but due to Vader having long gloves and them being hard plastic, the range in the hands are limited. Head pops onto a big plastic ball joint, range is good for a big helmet. There are ratcheting swivels above the elbow and knee allowing for stance adjustment after you get the bend right. The one surprise for me was the lack of range in the torso. There is no ab-crunch, or equivalent, under the rubber body. And the connection of the torso to the legs is a single metal ball joint. This just slightly moves around, there is no ratcheting or clicking involved. So having him hunch over, or even stretch backwards to the side, which I do a lot in action poses, is not there. He’s pretty much looking straight forward unless you really work it. The small peg, thick rubber, and robes just limit that type of posing in the mid section.
Overall sculpt is 10 of 10. The helmet, which is hard to nail the smaller you get, is sharp AF. In close up shots it’s hanging with the 1/6 and prop helmets. The body, which is silicone/rubber, is all sharply molded and slightly squishy. One thing I am concerned with long term, the silicone/rubber body parts attract dust and it sticks to it. Think of the phone grabber things for your dashboard. For those that shoot photography outside – may require a bath and scrub down afterwards. The layered armor pieces and boots are hard plastic and also clean. So from a sculpt and materials, paint execution standpoint, it’s perfect. The robes – better than SWBS6 by miles, but still not there. They fray out and lay in unnatural ways unless you really focus. Any slight bump or movement can nuke what you’ve done. Now, one thing I did here and it helped A LOT – I ironed it with Spray Starch. That got the flap on the inside of the cape where the stitching is to lay flat, and added a bit of heft to the cape overall. I may actually do this again with more starch, I just didn’t want to go nuts the first time around in case it made it weird. Do it in rounds if you try, and evaluate after each round.
Accessories are cool, the Lightsaber and it’s blade work well, it pops in and out easily without threat of breaking the connection point. Hands are good, there are 9 total. Force effect is cool but I didn’t find myself reaching for it much. The base is awesome and I hope they add one into future figures and complete the Carbonite Chamber ring.
Scale – it’s just it’s own thing. Doesn’t pair with anything on the market, any brand. So, these guys will be standing solo, they have to live or die on their own merits. No “I’ll slide this guy in here with these others” thing happening.
Bottom line – it feels great in hand, looks sharp in core stances. It’s a higher end piece, worthy of shelf focus. This one has some mid body articulation issues which limit dynamic posing, a key feature for me in the photography. Is that due to Vader, or the line overall? Will have to wait and see what happens with the next one, Luke. I’ll reserve judgement for then. For now, it’s a great step up centerpiece for those who can’t, or don’t want to, jump into Hot Toys scale and price.
I didn’t know what to expect here, but I was pleasantly surprised and happy it’s here in the world. The key will be how Luke, a non armored person with a human face, his clothes, and articulation is handled. And if that’s done well, how deep are we going, is the line focused on themes and teams, etc. So time will tell on all that. Great start and I’m looking forward to it.
Star Wars Black Series Hyper Real Darth Vader is out now and/or shipping soon. You can grab him here at Amazon, and check our sponsors below as well. Thanks to Hasbro for sending through this copy to review!
OK, we are live: Hyper Real Darth Vader In-Hand Review
I actually did a bit of a review this time too. LMK if you guys have any questions or need more pics.
Hm... just a short insight on the overall feel of the figure in hand would be nice. Like the quality of materials used and the heft of the figure compared to mainline Black figures. The teasers of the pictures already cover most angles I would want to see.
Also, is this an articulation demo or a reference to his first clunky steps off of the operation table?
Gallery is up:
Hyper Real Darth Vader In-Hand Review
There are some beautiful shots and in final delivery this piece is impressive but with its price and longevity concerns I won't be picking one up at anything close to full price.
Up next: the leg drop for the 1, 2, 3!
Wonderful photos. How does the silicone body feel in hand? Does the figure feel solid?
Also, is this an articulation demo or a reference to his first clunky steps off of the operation table?
Up next: the leg drop for the 1, 2, 3!
Oh wait, I mean Hulk Boot. Definitely Hulk Boot.
I really love the pics man. The scale doesn't bother me at all personally as there's plenty of Vader in any other scale you can imagine. I kind of want to grab this as just a random, nice looking Vader.
Some of the poses in this review are outright bizarre and out of character for Darth Vader
But they also show how unbelievably dynamic the figure is.
Hasbro has not done a very good job of convincing me that this is anything more than a larger, more expensive Black Series figure.
This pictorial did just that. Well done.
I was on the fence before I saw these pics and read your review, but now I 'm pretty sure want one. I have kind of a "Vader shrine" in my collection, but there's nothing close to what one would consider high-end. This doesn't exactly fit that bill, either, but it's well above anything I do have.
I'm not crazy about having to starch and iron the cape myself, but I'll do it (Do it!) if I have to. While I'm at it, I'll probably hit those gloves with some dull coat. Based on these pics, they're just a teensy bit to shiny for my taste.
The fabric is iron-able, and the starch seemed to work, so it was worth it to me. I'd suggest non-steam medium-low heat tho, it's synthetic.
Meh, im happy with my Black series vader, ill pass.
These photos are very helpful to me. It looks like they did a fine job with the helmet sculpt, and I wondered if the arms had enough articulation to make them to look like they're gripping the belt: they do, evidently.
Did you have to prop the figure somehow to prevent it from falling over in image 12, where Vader is down on one knee?
Medicom and Figuarts look crummy by comparison. I'm sold. I wonder what other characters are planned for this scale. Given the slightly larger scale and improved soft goods, I would anticipate more unmasked characters with fabric outfits. If Luke's headsculpt looks reasonably good, I could go for a entire line.
Thanks for the great shots.
At a similar price and gimmick to mezco, this figure is a rip off, they still cant mould and paint a lightsaber properly, or the chest details.
while the 1st figuarts vader is a little skinny etc compared to later releases by mafex for example.
you should look at their new release
https://tamashii.jp/item/12972/
you should look at their new release
So yeah, I have a riser under his knee and wrapped the cape around.
I am not sure about the pure capabilities of the skeleton, but it is possible that the silicone body overlay reduces it's range.
More skeleton pics here
This looks like a fantastic figure for $80. I'd imagine if this proves to be successful for Hasbro, they'll try it in other lines. I'd love to some MCU Avengers in this style, but only if they had super accurate costumes and accurate face printing.
While it certainly looks good, I wonder if Darth Vader, a character constantly covered head to toe in his outfit, is the best first release of a series of figures touted for a seamless, silicon skin overlaying a metal skeleton. This could have had a traditional action figure body under a cloth suit(like Mezco's One: 12 Collective and NECA's 8 inch clothed figures)and there wouldn't be much of a difference.
I’m interested but the fact it attracts dust is an absolute no-go for a guy who lives in the desert. Dusting your collection is bad enough, but washing? I’m out.
I have a couple of Phicen figures, and they don't attract dust any more than your standard silicon placemat in the kitchen: a non-issue, especially if you have them in a display case. Anyway, we're talking about silicon, so no big deal even if you DO wipe it occasionally.
Awesome figure! but 8" would be an oddity not scaling with anything in my collection... If only it was in 6"!
I have a 1/12 (6") Phicen figure which is great in that scale.
8" feels like the mistake Bandai made with ThunderCats Classics Lion-O and Tygra. To start a new line in an odd scale is a disappointment imho.
If this was in 6" I wouldn't need a 2nd thought to get this.
My main reason to not buy it is it would break my collecting rules which I had to make to prevent the hobby from getting out of hand and keep things more organized. I'm still going through the horror of having to sell half the collection because it got out of hand without clear rules.
I'm not sure why people keep saying this needs to be 6" scale. If you're not into 8" scale, that's cool. That's understandable. But there are numerous 6" scale Darth Vader figures available. MAFEX has done at least 3, at least 2 SH Figuarts, a Revoltech Vader, and 3 or 4 Black Series. So it's not like 6" collectors are starved for an articulated Darth Vader.
I also think the size is actually where it should be. I'm not sure Hasbro would have been able to make it as effectively in any smaller size and going bigger would just continue to inflate the price even though it would benefit the cape. I've already got my ideal 6" Vader with the black series vintage/RO figure so if I'm going to pay a premium I'd rather it be something bigger.
Keep reading: Toyark's Hyper Real Darth Vader Gallery / Review - Page 2
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