Review: 75111 Darth Vader
Posted by CapnRex101,
I typically have little interest in Constraction sets but the Star Wars Battle Figures range has piqued my curiosity. I was particularly excited to take a look at 75111 Darth Vader, the second largest of the six figures and arguably the most appealing given the character's status as an icon in the world of cinema.
The CCBS (character and creature building system) lends itself well to recreating armoured figures like that of this menacing Sith Lord, who consists of 160 pieces in this set and is priced at $29.99 or £24.99. For a licensed Constraction set that seems like good value to me, at least in comparison with similarly sized Bionicle and Hero Factory sets.
My expectations for this figure are high, so let's see if it can match up to them.
Box and Contents
I was pleased to find that these sets are packaged in boxes, unlike the majority of CCBS figures which come in bags. The artwork features Darth Vader standing with his fist raised in front of a shot of he and Luke duelling in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. I don't think this pose is particularly flattering as Vader rarely stoops like that, but he still looks very menacing.
The back of the box shows Vader in a couple more poses along with advertisements for the other Battle Figures available in the current range. Inside are four bags of pieces, one of which contains Darth Vader's helmet, a single element packaged in its own little bag.
The Build
I am not used to this kind of CCBS build so found the experience very interesting. Construction begins with the torso, which consists predominantly of Technic elements. Some of the ball joints used seemed oddly placed at first, nowhere near the arms, legs or neck, but they are ingeniously used to mount panels on either side of the torso. The inner workings of the model are therefore almost entirely covered which is pleasing.
As you can see in the photo above the torso construction is incredibly intricate, although I don't wish to spoil some of the surprising and impressive techniques. Sufficed to say that even a seasoned CCBS builder will enjoy constructing this set.
The arms and legs are more typical of Constraction sets, consisting of a skeletal frame which is then covered with a variety of panels. Most of these panels are new and some are printed with a detailed fabric design replicating Darth Vader's attire in the films.
Once the head and cape have been fitted, all that remains is the lightsaber. The hilt elements are brand new and will be useful beyond this theme as they would look effective as part of an engine or similarly mechanical assembly. The blade is slightly rubbery but conducts light very nicely, so you can make it look as though it is glowing in the right conditions.
The Completed Model
As soon as I finished building the model I was immediately impressed, even more so than I had anticipated. Although there are undoubtedly areas which are inaccurate to the movies the general appearance of the character has been recreated brilliantly and he looks just as imposing as he did when he first strode onboard the Tantive IV at the start of A New Hope.
The head sculpt is perhaps my favourite part of the figure, with a fantastic level of detail and perfect accuracy. It is fitted using a ball joint so is highly poseable, as is the rest of the model. The cape is attached with a couple of Technic pins which looks a little awkward from behind but still works well as it is kept firmly in place even when the figure is being played with.
The arms and legs articulate on ball and socket joints at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles, thereby allowing you to pose the figure in a huge variety of ways. For me this is one of the most appealing aspects of the set and I thoroughly enjoyed posing the figure for photography.
My main criticism of the figure is the inclusion of several dark bluish grey pieces which look out of place in my opinion. Those on the ankles are particularly irritating, although they don't yet exist in black and a number of other elements are new in their respective colours, so I expect there simply wasn't room left in the budget to cast these pieces in black for the first time.
Overall
It would be easy to overlook the six Star Wars Battle Figures, especially when they are on the shelf beside the sets based on The Force Awakens, but I certainly recommend 75111 Darth Vader. This is an excellent model for display, with impressive articulation and lots of detail, although it lacks playability unless you have a second figure to accompany this one.
However, if you purchase another set then you can create some dynamic battle scenes. 75110 Luke Skywalker is particularly appropriate for this role as you can then recreate the climactic duel between father and son at the end of Star Wars Episode VI. Although the Luke figure is less impressive than that of Darth Vader in my opinion, they look fantastic when displayed together.
They scale very nicely together too, with Vader measuring almost 29cm in height while Luke is only 24cm tall. As you can see the Darth Vader minifigure doesn't look quite as intimidating when compared with the Battle Figure version.
Stay tuned for reviews of more Battle Figures over the next week, as well as our first Star Wars: The Force Awakens set review which will be posted tomorrow.
Thanks to the CEE Team for sending us a copy of the set to review.
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49 comments on this article
Cool
Awesome. I really want this set!
Darth Vader is Luke's father?!
Now you've spoilt it for me! :-)
I had to look up Constraction - "LEGO®'s internal name for the building method used for buildable figure ranges such as BIONICLE and HERO Factory."
On another note, I hadn't realized they were so big. It actually has me rethinking if I want any of them.
I think I will definitely be picking it up at some point, along with commander cody
Impressive. Most impressive.
"....unlike the majority of Bionicle figures which come in bags."
I think you mean Hero Factory since no 2015 Bionicle so far has come in bags (except for the polybags) :)
A cool figure but TLG still hasn't resolved what to me is a major drawback of the Constraction concept: the lack of articulated fingers. You can't recreate the iconic moment Vader reaches out to Luke with an open hand in EST for example. At best, the figure can offer a fist bump.
Whoa - I was not expecting such an intricate build for these guys. I was expecting a simpler, Hero Factory torso inside. Now I'm reconsidering my decision to forgo these sets, but this has me interested.
@Zander now I'm picturing that scene in my head, only with a fist bump. Instant improvement! XD
"Join me. I'm cool, I'm hip...FIST BUMP."
I was excited about this set, until I read this review. Now I'm extra excited about it. :) Might have to get the Luke set as well, which I was originally planning on passing up, to recreate some of those battle scenes!
Interesting price difference between humans and robots(obvs robots will be more popular)
@huw
the last aricle about the star wars reviews says that the reviews may contain spoilers, so you were warnd
"Luke, i am your father, give me a fist bump and come to the dark side."
Great review! He's tempting but I promised myself that I would only buy Commander Cody... Cant wait for that review!
I will buy Vader and Luke, not sure about Jango Fett, would be a wanna-be Boba. Im not interested in stuff from Ep I-III but in this case…
j.
Except based on the hand Vader puts out for Luke it would be a Stump Bump.
I am still on the fence on these. Maybe someone will get them for me as gifts. I still like all of the Star Wars Technic line better.
http://brickset.com/sets/theme-Star-Wars/subtheme-Technic
Why are all reviewers doing this first? JangBricks and so on? Is it because it is a quick and relatively easy build to review quickly? Added to that the fact that it is probably the most well done and desirable figure?
Thanks for the review I will wait to see if there is a boba fett one latter in the series.
@freewheelbricks - That was precisely the logic behind my decision to review it first.
Great review! Vader is perhaps the most outstanding of these sets in terms of being both an imaginative build and a great likeness of the character. Grievous is also quite imaginative but ends up looking considerably more gappy than the character from the movies and Clone Wars TV series. The others' builds feel reasonably accurate to the characters, but are more conventional and sometimes a bit gappier.
One thing that's impressive about all the Star Wars "battle figures" is their height. They're all at least 9" tall, whereas the tallest Bionicle figures this year (Tahu and Skull Grinder) are less than eight and a half inches tall. Of course, the Star Wars figures are pricier on average than this year's Bionicle sets, and don't have to devote any of their piece count to play features like a gearbox. I think I'm happy with the main Bionicle heroes, villains, and supporters being the height they are (smaller figures are often easier to play with), but it wouldn't be a bad thing to have at least one taller $30 or $35 "titan set" in future years of Bionicle.
The lighsaber in not transparent?
This kit is sold out on Lego.com in the US.
I picked up the Jango last night and I was thoroughly impressed. It was much bigger than I had anticipated, too.
Got this and Grevious on a whim, both immediately earned a place for semi permanent display, both are fun to build, my only criticism of Vader is the cloak attachment I used the larger hole over the neck ball joint, the cloak is a tad shorter this way but IMO appears more realistic, as it can be tucked around the shoulder armour.
Went into the Glasgow store today to see the new sets, and fair to say I was much more impressed by these than I expected to be, particularly Vader and Grievous due to their height (Aanchir makes a great point here).
They just look really imposing and well as posable and hence like they'd make a great display piece. I wasn't intending to buy them, and haven't yet, but definitely increases chance that I will do!
Thanks Capn. Can't wait for these to reach South African shores.
Can anyone tell me why these are called "Constraction" sets??
@LegoDonJuan
It's because they're constructable action figures!
@FreewheelBricks
Aaah.... off course, duh; constr*a*ction
Thanks!
Picked up all 6 today. Built Luke and Vader so far. Luke is a pretty standard build and does look a bit 'floaty head', but Darth is fantastic. Both figures pose perfectly. Expensive here in Finland, but definitely must have :-)
Lol, seeing baby Vader at his feet, all I can think of is *STOMP!*
@kyrodes: It's translucent, but I believe it is molded in a softer material that doesn't allow for the same clear, glassy look as the polycarbonate used for minifigure lightsaber blades and System windscreens.
I definitely was planning on Vader and Grievous. I am a casual SW fan, but these seem worthwhile. I haven't been a constraction fan before though, so this review helped a bit. Granted, I agree and would have preferred more black.
Darry Vader, bringing back the padded-shoulder suits of the 80's.
Can the width of those shoulders be reduced or lowered in to chest area at all? He's not a GI Joe on roids, or a Transformer.
I had no interest in these until I saw this one and the General Grevious model on the flesh. Impressive, most impressive. So I picked up the Vader one and will get Grevious in a couple of weeks.
I just got this dude built, and he's the first constraction set that ever had any Wow moments in the build for me. Some very zany stuff going on in the torso.
I removed the ankle stiffer joints, to get rid of the grey blotch, and shorten up what are otherwise almost TOO long legs, and he's pretty perfect now. No real compromise of his standing ability.
Vader's helmetted-head just looks significantly too small.
He's very buff, reminiscent of the Power of the Force Kenner figures. You can remove the round shoulder armour and it really does a lot to 'normalise' his silhouette, if that's your wont.
^ You could, but you'd lower his accuracy to Vader's film appearances. He actually does have round gunmetal shoulder armor, albeit somewhat smaller.
Built my this morning great set shall be getting them all.
I was able to see a built Darth Vader and General Grevious yesterday. They were both impressive. I did not realize how big they were until I saw them. I picked all six up yesterday from Target. Great review, thanks!!
I love the little shot of Vader with his minifig. I kind of wish they included the minifigs with the constraction figures as a bonus, like they do with the old watches. I know it might sound like a step back from the Constraction point, but...
I like JVM's idea. They should include the minifig with each constraction figure.
This set far exceeded my expectations. I feel that it is so impressive when built that any Star Wars fan would consider this an amazing action figure even if they were not a fan of LEGO. I have the old Vader techic figure from somewhere in the 2000s that is significantly taller then this figure, but not nearly as nice. The pose ability of this figure combined with its retro-futuristic look make this figure both fashionable and practical. I also have the large General Gervious UCS that falls apart to the touch. I only wish it was like the new general Grevious from this line which I love. But the Vader really wins the prize for being the nicest LEGO action figure ever made.
Before building these I wasn't even considering any of the other figures but now that I've seen how amazing they are in person I plan on purchasing Commander Cody and Jengo Fett as well. I also want to get another Vader to keep sealed in the box because it is just that nice with not a single sticker in sight!
Got Cody because of the great details in the printing and head sculpture and because the regular Star Wars series sets are so expensive I can't afford any of them. But after building and messing around with posing, I had to add Jango and now I want them all. You got me Lego. I had no interest in this series before.
Would have been great if they had included a scarred Anakin Skywalker head so that you could re-create the end of ROTJ. Thanks for the in-depth review. I may have to pick this one up!
Mine came with the instructions and cape in really bad conditions, with a lot of folded marks... Anyone knows if the cape can be ironed?
I want more of these! Give me Darth Maul! Boba! And Jar Jar Binks! Yeah I said it.
I added Furno XLs cape around back to give Vader his skirt, and the whole thing looks very nice now.