19 replies to this topic

[ILikePi]

At the LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary release event in the LEGO Store in Santa Clara, CA, I answered a question that was on the lines of this:

'Which Jedi Council member was an exceptional lightsaber fighter and had a rare purple lightsaber?'

Of course, the answer is Mace Windu.
I answered that simple question correctly, and was rewarded with a chrome black Darth Vader, which is worth $30 USD!
And now, I bring you the review of this exclusive limited edition minifigure. Enjoy!

Set: Darth Vader™
Item Number: 4547551
Theme: Star Wars (Episodes IV - VI)
Pieces: 7
Minifigures: 1
Price: Can only be found randomly in LEGO Star Wars 2009 sets, or acquired from events. Current BrickLink price is $30 USD.

Minifigure Resources
http://starwars.LEGO.com/10
EB's own chrome Darth Vader thread
BrickLink
Brickset
LUGNET
(no Peeron catalog exists)

Character Resources
Star Wars Databank
Wookieepedia

Other Reviews
I Scream Clone


"Box" Art
The package is in a bag, so that's why there are quotations around the words "Box Art."

Front

The front is very nice, with the old LEGO Star Wars logo and the 10th anniversary stamp.


The logo is gold, symbolizing the golden anniversary of LEGO Star Wars, which is very nice.


We have an updated version of the classic LEGO Star Wars picture that was on the boxes of the first sets, which is also great.


Over here, you have the set information. It is pretty hard to read, so I'll type it out for the sake of you readers:

Ages/edades
6+
Darth Vader™
Cont. 7
pcs/Stck/pzs/db
^{Building Toy
Jouet de Construction
Juguete para Construir}


On the bottom left-hand corner, we have a circular LEGO Star Wars 10 Year Anniversary stamp. It is a nice addition to the bag, and it is colored differently at different sections to give the impression that it is shining.


On bottom-middle, we have a link to a site where everyone at LEGO congratulates you on finding a chrome Vader.

http://starwars.LEGO.com/10

I have also taken a screenshot of the page in case it is deleted by the end of 2009. It can be found here.

Back

On the back, we have the usual things.


The chrome Vaders were apparently made in 2008, but of course were released in 2009 with the January sets.
There are some lines of text telling you to "please keep the LEGO address for future reference" in six languages.
Also there are pictures below telling you that:

• a green circle (I don't know what this is, can someone clarify?)
  
• this product has the CE mark, please do not complain as this product meets the European consumer safety, health (please do not eat or taste the product), and environmental requirements
  
• we beg of you to not feed the bag or parts to babies ages 0-3
  
• this bag is polypropylene, please recycle or else (who in their right mind recycle this bag?   )

Here we have the item number and a link to the LEGO website.


The parts are not made in China! Hooray!


"Choking hazard. Contains small parts" has been printed in what seems to be 29 languages.

Contents

Parts

Here all all of the parts, neatly spread out. The chrome black parts are looking very shiny already!

Pieces of Interest (Yeah, all of the parts are intersting )

Build
You didn't actually think that I was going to post pictures of the build, did you?















Oh, wait...


We start off with the torso and legs assembly, which is conveniently already attached together for us, saving us some one step of the strenuous build. However...


...the hands have been rotated 180 degrees, and the arms have been moved up for the chroming process. This adds two extra steps, canceling out the convenience above and actually adding one more step! Boo!


With that aside, we rotate both hands 180 degrees...


...and move the arms down back to the normal position.


Next, we add on the cape (which is extremely hard to do)...


...then the head (which is the new Death Star version)...


...and finally, the nice chrome helmet.


We then put that aside, and start a new sub-model with the metallic silver lightsaber hilt (unfortunately, chrome lightsaber hilts are now extinct).


The red lightsaber blade is attached, and the sub-model is complete! Phew!


After that, it is attached to the right hand of the Sith lord.


And finally, the right arm is moved up at a 90 degree angle.

Minifigure
Umm...Yeah, the minifigure is actually the whole set.


A front shot. The chrome black makes the minifigure look amazing, and I really like that new 2008 version of the torso print. A bonus is that it is printed in metallic inks, which is very cool.


Here is a mug shot (sorry, I forgot to take a picture with the helmet off).


The back of the limited edition minifigure, which shows my fingerprint on the back of the helmet. D'oh!


With the cape removed, we can see that the whole back of the torso is plain chrome black, which will probably be very useful in the making of some custom minifigures.

Other Pictures
Now we have some random (or not so random) pictures of the parts of the minifigure.

Helmet

I never knew that Vader's helmet was this big! It's very shiny (obviously ), and the detailing on the face of the helmet is amazing.

(Please ignore the reflection of the camera and my hands. )


The underside has some chrome, which becomes normal black at the part where the minifigure head just barely fits.

The chrome here is a bit rough, no idea why though.

Torso

The chrome here stops right before the neck "pole."

Arms

As you can see here, there is no number on the hand, and the arm has no indentation with numbers/letters.


On the more visible side of the arm, you can see a bit of black near the top-left of the side of the torso.

Hands

I have no idea why, but there is a chrome black "bump" on each hand.

Legs & Hips
I will not take apart my minifigure, even for the sake of the review. Sorry guys.


You may have noticed that the right leg of my minifigure has some unchromed-black. This does not bother me much, since it was free.

It's also a "mis-chrome," which might make it worth more (although I would not sell something that was given to me for free if I only have one of it). It's also one-of-a-kind, sort of like Eurobricks member menq's chrome Vader with a chrome black head (but, of course, his is much, much cooler and more valuable).


The chrome on the legs continues to the black line that is in between the tan and white line.


Over on the back, the inside of the legs are partially chrome silver, and partially chrome black.


On the bottom of the legs, one of the feet is chrome black, while the other is a sort of chrome grey color.


And when we look inside, it is the opposite. This time, chrome black is on the leg with a chrome grey foot, and vice-versa.

Also notice the LEGO logos inside there, which I have never seen before on my minifigures.


In between the legs, the chrome goes in a few millimeters, then becomes regular black.

Storage

Now to place the chrome Vader in a bag...


...and the accessories (including cape) in a separate one...


...which then go into the original chrome Vader bag...


which then go into a Ziplok Ziploc brand plastic bag, which is sealed tightly.


Ratings
First, the pros and cons:

Pros:

• shiny
  
• exclusive
  
• limited edition
  
• valuable
  
• very nice to look at

Cons:

• can not be played with, as the chrome will wear/chip off
  
• my Vader came with a leg that was missing some chrome black (chrome silver was there)
  
• accumulates dust and fingerprints very easily

Now for those totals!

Build: 10/10
Design: 10/10
Minifigures: 10/10
Playability/Play Features: 5/10
Price: 10/10
Reviewer's Tilt: 10/10

Overall (Average): 9.2/10

Wait a minute, we need a completely new rating scale for minifigures! Time to make one from scratch:

Accessories 10/10 (It comes with everything that Darth Vader has: a lightsaber, and cape!)
Accuracy: 10/10 (It looks very accurate to what Vader looks like [in terms of minifigures])
Design: 10/10 (The printing is very detailed and well made, along with the helmet mold)
Look: 10/10 (The chrome black makes it look very good, of course)
Poseability/Playability: 5/10 (You can't really play with it often since the chrome will wear off)
Quality: 7/10 (The chrome is very nice, but some parts are bumpy, and one leg is missing chrome black)
Value (for your money): 10/10 (It's free, so it obviously gets a 10!)
Reviewer's Tilt: 10/10 (Darth Vader is one of my favorite Star Wars characters, and the chrome black makes it even better!)

Overall: 9/10

Conclusion
This is definitely an amazing minifigure. It's currently my most valuable one, and will certainly be worth more in the future (if MISB). If you plan on buying multiples on BrickLink to sell in the future, I would recommend that you do now as the prices will soon skyrocket in 2010. I also believe that the value of these will rise to the current price of chrome gold C-3POs in two years.

However, if you want to purchase one to keep for yourself. I would not recommend it. It is not worth $30 USD in my opinion, as it has no playability. Sure, it does look amazing (), but there is no playability as the chrome will wear off (especially at the corners, where the color is already chrome silver) if you do so. I plan on keeping it in storage, just taking it out every few weeks to admire.

Also, I have to give thanks to JCC1004 for posting that he won a chrome Vader at the event that I went to. Luckily he lives on the Atlantic Coast of the US (while I live in the Pacific, that's a four hour difference there), so I was able to read his post thirty minutes before the event actually started (I arrived five minutes late, but did not miss anything ). Thank you so much, JCC1004! Without your post, I probably never would have been able to get a chrome Vader (and this review would never have been made).  

Be sure to vote on what you want to see next! The poll "closes" (not actually, but I will count the votes at that time) at 5 PM Pacific Standard Time (21 hours after this review was posted).


When Vader came back from the chroming salon, the Death Star crew rushed up to him poke, touch, punch, and do other various obscene things to him.


I (the shadow trooper) was smart enough to grab his lightsaber before he had a chance to retaliate.

Thanks for reading!
I had much fun writing and taking pictures for this review.

The Brickshelf folder where all these pictures live can be found here.

Edited by KimT, 22 October 2009 - 03:49 PM.

[JCC1004]

Very entertaning review. I cannot bring myself to open mine. My question was rather easy. "Who was trying to bring Leia to Alderan?" The manager wanted the full name. I felt strange being the only one to answer. I said "Captian Raymus Antillies" It's a pretty detailed review for such a big set. You loved the packaging. You were telling us every word there was on the damn thing. Honestly who would recycle that bag?   Those Stormies are forming a mob! We should make a Show Off Battalion with  Chrome Vader and his Chrome Stormies, showing off. Great review.   

Edited by JCC1004, 13 October 2009 - 10:41 PM.

[Inconspicuous]

Grrr you lucky duck.    I live in Silicon Valley, and had the day off too. Why oh why didn't I go?  

Wow, I think this goes under the category of "overly detailed". I think ~45 pictures is enough for one minifig!  

Nice review, thanks.

[BlueDragonZ]

I really want the chrome vader but its only available in random star wars sets and chances are quite low. I wish they would sell it in stores just like europe.

[ILikePi]

Thanks for all of the comments guys!

JCC1004, on Oct 12 2009, 07:59 PM, said:

Very entertaning review. Those Stormies are forming a mob! I cannot open mine. My question was rather easy. "Who was trying to bring Leia to Alderan?" He wanted the full name. I felt strange being the only one to answer. I said "Captian Raymus Antillies" It's a pretty detailed review for such a big set.   Honestly who would recycle that bag? You loved the packaging. You were telling us every word there was on the damn thing. There should be a S.O.B. Not son of a you know, but Show Off Battalion. Chrome Vader and his Chrome Stormies, showing off. Great review.   

Thanks!

I know the answer to that question, but I probably would not be able remember it at that event since I was pretty nervous (this was my last chance at getting a chrome Vader).

And about the packaging - I thought that this was a very special item, so I decided to highlight everything about it, even all of the words on the packaging.

I have also added a word of thanks to you at the conclusion.

Oh and by the way, could you consider putting your different thoughts on different lines (like what I did on this post)? It would make your posts much easier to understand.

Inconspicuous, on Oct 12 2009, 08:16 PM, said:

Grrr you lucky duck.    I like in Silicon Valley, and had the day off too. Why oh why didn't I go?  

Wow, I think this goes under the category of "overly detailed". I think ~45 pictures is enough for one minifig!  

Nice review, thanks.

Thanks!

It's rather unfortunate that you did not go. It would have been nice to meet you (although we probably would not have recognized each other [I'll be posting the picture of me and the stormtrooper later for people I know well only, including you ]).

And you "like" in Silicon Valley?

Yeah, I noticed that it was overly detailed. I took around one hour for taking pictures, and 1½ hours for the actual review post.  

BlueDragonZ, on Oct 12 2009, 08:49 PM, said:

I really want the chrome vader but its only available in random star wars sets and chances are quite low. I wish they would sell it in stores just like europe.

Yes, I know. I am pretty annoyed that there is a one in 300 chance (or close to that) of getting a chrome Vader randomly in a set. Your best bet would be to attend an big event hosted by LEGO.


ADDITIONS (to the review):

• a link to the "pieces of interest" picture ()
  
• overall rating
  
• conclusion
  
• a word of thanks to JCC1004 (thanks so much!)
  
• pros & cons
  
• many typos fixed

TO-DO LIST:

• retake 039.jpg
  
• add a mug shot without the helmet

Edited by ILikePi, 14 October 2009 - 01:19 AM.

[Brickus]

Thanks for the excellent review, I really wish people would do more photos of the packaging like you did, like saying where they were made and stuff, because I find it interesting. I unfortunately had to pay for mine as I live in Australia and as far as I know, you cannot get them in Australia. My favourite Minifigure. Thank you.

[ILikePi]

Aussie Tahu Nuva, on Oct 12 2009, 10:04 PM, said:

Thanks for the excellent review, I really wish people would do more photos of the packaging like you did, like saying where they were made and stuff, because I find it interesting. I unfortunately had to pay for mine as I live in Australia and as far as I know, you cannot get them in Australia. My favourite Minifigure. Thank you.

Yes, that is exactly why I post pictures of the packaging. Finally someone that gets me!

No problem for posting the review, it was actually my pleasure to be giving back to the EB community.

It's too bad that Australia never gets anything good.

[Brickus]

Yeah I actually paid $45 for mine, still awaiting arrival.

[pedro]

Superbly detailed but light-hearted review there ILikePi, thanks!

My lovely wife brought got me chrome Vader amongst other LEGO for my birthday - I was over the moon! I'm glad that we in the UK had the chance to get him, I was very disappointed about the availability of chrome C-3P0. He now resides happily within my Death Star in all his shiny glory! I've taken the liberty of replacing his lightsaber with a chrome version for extra, extra shinyness

I'd like to see your coverage of the DK event, I don't think they ran anything like that here...

[Commander_Rob]

Cool review, it comes across pretty well how much you like that figure.
I have one MISB which I got for free from my local TRU after spending more than 40€ on Lego Star Wars sets there. I guess that one will remain in its bag forever, unless I can acquire another one.

[BearHeart]

I got this minifig in the Battle of Endor set that I recently purchased. I didn't even know LEGO was running this promotion.

I just found it in the box and assumed it was part of the set until I did some research on it online.

I'm planning on keeping it in the bag and selling it on eBay eventually.

[Big Cam]

As an avid reviewer of Star Wars sets, I'm amazed and extremely pleased with how many pictures you took of a 7 piece set!!!

You did a perfect job of covering all the angles on this one fig polybag set, I guess you could call it.

Spectacular review!!

BearHeart, on Oct 13 2009, 08:20 AM, said:

I got this minifig in the Battle of Endor set that I recently purchased. I didn't even know LEGO was running this promotion.

I just found it in the box and assumed it was part of the set until I did some research on it online.

I'm planning on keeping it in the bag and selling it on eBay eventually.

sweet, I thought they were only in the early 2009 sets, that means I have one more chance of getting one!!

[Millacol88]

Nice little huge review you've got there, Pi. I really didn't think anyone could justify that many pictures for a single minifigure, but you accomplished that quite well.  

I'm running out of chances to get this though. I doubt I'll find one in a set, and there are no events like the one you went to in Canada, as far as I know. I'd better get hitting up Ebay for one of these, before the price gets jacked up at the end of the year.  

[JCC1004]

ILikePi, on Oct 13 2009, 01:27 AM, said:

I know the answer to that question, but I probably would not be able remember it at that event since I was pretty nervous (this was my last chance at getting a chrome Vader).

And about the packaging - I thought that this was a very special item, so I decided to highlight everything about it, even all of the words on the packaging.

I have also added a word of thanks to you at the conclusion.

Oh and by the way, could you consider putting your different thoughts on different lines (like what I did on this post)? It would make your posts much easier to understand.

Mine was the one of the last questions. The set isn't that big. Better not miss anything. I didn't even know that I helped you get a Vader. You owe me 15 bucks, pay up! You're welcome. That wasn't my best post, it has been amended.

Edited by JCC1004, 13 October 2009 - 10:50 PM.

[ILikePi]

Okay, it looks like the next "review" is an overview of the DK LEGO Store event!

Luckily I took pictures of the freebies and my purchases yesterday - today, it rained, and rained, and rained ( ), and is still drizzling a bit as I am typing this post.  

(It's really dark today, by the way.)

pedro, on Oct 13 2009, 04:50 AM, said:

Superbly detailed but light-hearted review there ILikePi, thanks!

My lovely wife brought got me chrome Vader amongst other LEGO for my birthday - I was over the moon! I'm glad that we in the UK had the chance to get him, I was very disappointed about the availability of chrome C-3P0. He now resides happily within my Death Star in all his shiny glory! I've taken the liberty of replacing his lightsaber with a chrome version for extra, extra shinyness

I'd like to see your coverage of the DK event, I don't think they ran anything like that here...

Thanks!

Now all you need for your Vader is a chrome red lightsaber blade and a cape made of shiny black fabric.

Commander_Rob, on Oct 13 2009, 06:01 AM, said:

Cool review, it comes across pretty well how much you like that figure.
I have one MISB which I got for free from my local TRU after spending more than 40€ on Lego Star Wars sets there. I guess that one will remain in its bag forever, unless I can acquire another one.

Thanks. I don't think that there will be any more chances to get the chrome Vaders in the UK, so I guess that you'll have to keep it MISB.

BearHeart, on Oct 13 2009, 06:20 AM, said:

I got this minifig in the Battle of Endor set that I recently purchased. I didn't even know LEGO was running this promotion.

I just found it in the box and assumed it was part of the set until I did some research on it online.

I'm planning on keeping it in the bag and selling it on eBay eventually.

Wow, really? That's a really rare find you got there.

Big Cam, on Oct 13 2009, 06:26 AM, said:

As an avid reviewer of Star Wars sets, I'm amazed and extremely pleased with how many pictures you took of a 7 piece set!!!

You did a perfect job of covering all the angles on this one fig polybag set, I guess you could call it.

Spectacular review!!


sweet, I thought they were only in the early 2009 sets, that means I have one more chance of getting one!!

Thanks!

Yes, the chrome Vaders are still being randomly put in summer 2009 sets. About half were put in the first wave of sets, and probably a few thousand are still in some boxes around the nation.

Millacol88, on Oct 13 2009, 01:44 PM, said:

Nice little huge review you've got there, Pi. I really didn't think anyone could justify that many pictures for a single minifigure, but you accomplished that quite well.  

I'm running out of chances to get this though. I doubt I'll find one in a set, and there are no events like the one you went to in Canada, as far as I know. I'd better get hitting up Ebay for one of these, before the price gets jacked up at the end of the year.  

Thanks!

That's sad to hear.

I hope that one day, LEGO will decide to open LEGO Stores in Canada, so you guys can get in some of the events and deals.

JCC1004, on Oct 13 2009, 02:47 PM, said:

Mine was the one of the last questions. The set isn't that big. Better not miss anything. I didn't even know that I helped you get a Vader. You owe me 15 bucks, pay up! You're welcome. That wasn't my best post, it has been amended.

Mine was the third question in the third wave of questions, if that makes any sense. There was a 15 minute break between each wave, and the number of questions for each wave was something like this:

• wave 1 - four questions (Not really sure, since the questions started right when I arrived at the store)
  
• wave 2 - two questions
  
• wave 3 - four questions
  
• wave 4 - four questions

Okay, now to make some slight adjustments to this review...

Hopefully I'll be able to start on the event review tomorrow and finish on Friday.

[CommanderFox]

DANG! you are very lucky ILikePi
I wish I could get my hands on a free Chrome vader
Great Review!

CommanderFox

[RileyC]

Man you guys are so lucky that you could get a chrome darth vader so easily. I really wanted this minifig but it wasn't even released in random sets in New Zealand and I don't want to pay for it because its really expensive. I dont think that the minifig looks as good as the golden C3PO or the chrome stormtrooper.

Great review!

[Lt. de Martinet]

LOL! I love these Vaders; I traded for mine (sans head   ) from some kid on Flickr. So happy, now I have all three chromies!

[Skipper 24]

Nice review ILikePi .

I don't think I've ever seen a review of a minifig before . Very entertainig. New rating system, genius!

[Bobskink]

Cool revieuw, but I don't like the figure, it has a weird purple shiny glow instead of black. This figure could have been so mush better.
I still prefer the original one.