“It’s treason then”
While Palpatintine as seen in the Original Trilogy has had a few releases in the Star Wars Black Series to date across Single, Deluxe, Anniversary and Archive releases, his first Prequel release came in September 2024 with the arrival of the new Darth Sidious release as seen at the climax of Revenge of the Sith. Darth Sidious is part of the Galaxy Collection and released as a Fan Channel shared release alongside the B2 Super Battle Droid. This pairing are one of the last releases in the Galaxy Collection to use the older slanted side packaging.
Sidious is the first Galaxy Collection release for Revenge of the Sith, so is number 01 in the set which will feature a deeper brown accent colour on the character text and artwork. The side art, depicting Sidious in front of the window in his Senate Office, will connect to the Clone Commander Bacara release when that arrives in 2025.
The figure is designed to replicate the look of Palpatine/Sidious at the end of Revenge of the Sith following his disfigurement in the battle with Mace Windu. It is pretty much what we see him wearing in the battle with Yoda with a black sculpted body overlaid with deep burgundy soft goods robes. The Palpatine releases had always suffered where the soft goods failed to replicate his hooded look - so for this Sidious release, Hasbro has moved to a blended approach and sculpted the hood over the head and leading down onto the robes with an upper soft goods brown cowl bridging the two elements. The robes featured elasticated cuffs on the sleeves, allowing them to sit on the arms but not enveloping the arms - our figure was prone for the internal stitching and ‘fuzz’ protruding at these sleeve cuffs. The robes are not removable without significant dismantling of the figure - but the body underneath is not the same base as was used on Palpatine.
The head sculpt is excellent, capturing the maniacal grin of Sidious with the pale and folded skin of the face surrounding deep-set red sunken eyesockets and a pair of yellow eyes. Facial printing appears to be used to get into the eye details, but the skin and face itself relies more on the light and shadows created by the hood.
Sidious is fully articulated under the robes with a pinless body that has at least 16 points of articulation. These allow the figure to be posed, within the confines of the robes and the hood, into a handful of poses but perhaps not the acrobatic elements we see when he battles Yoda.
Sidious comes with his lightsaber with silver and gold hilt and translucent red blade. There is no specific feature to have this snook away in his sleeve, but the elasticated cuff allows it to be posed that way if you wish. The saber fits into the right hand with some degree of two-handed pose enabled by the arm joints although the left hand is in more of a pointing/force gesturing pose.
We also get the Force Lightning handpieces, and these are the same as included with the Deluxe Palpatine with Throne. They are cast in translucent blue with the skin tone of the hand-painted on top and blended into the lighting. The finish is much deeper blue on this pair and the effect - particularly under direct lighting - is more stark. They are quite difficult to swap in and out with the standard hands thanks to a larger plug on the end of the wrist peg - it takes quite a bit of force to get them in and out and there is a risk of damage each time the change is made. Once in situ, the figure's articulation is sufficient to continue having Sidious stand upright while the Force Lighting hands can be posed outward.
Darth Sidious feels an appropriate choice to lead off the Revenge of the Sith Galaxy Collection and is executed (pardon the pun) in a way that blends the benefits of soft goods and sculpted clothing successfully allowing Sidious to maintain a good level of movement while retaining the shape and cut of his robes. The lightsaber and Force Lightning hands give additional context and display options, both working well with the figure providing you are careful with the hand swap. The next logical step for the Revenge of the Sith collection is to provide us with a complementary Yoda to battle Sidious as well as perhaps a deluxe Senatorial platform display and accompanying aids for Sidious, particularly Mas Ameda.
Keep Track of all the Star Wars Black Series figures from Hasbro at our comprehensive
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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