Review: 75111 Darth Vader

[VBBN]

Set name: Darth Vader

Set number: 75111

Pieces: 160

Price: $29.99 | £xx.xx | €xx.xx

Release date: 2015

Darth Vader is one of the most iconic characters in Star Wars history, if not the most iconic next to everyone's favorite day-saving Astromech droid, so it's appropriate that he was given the second largest set of the wave. As a big fan of Vader's design, I was quite happy to see we would finally be getting a more modern version of the character, to take a step away from the rather poor Technic Vader released many years ago. But is this Vader worth the hefty price tag? Read on to find out.

Packaging and Contents

Box Front

Well would you look at that, Darth Vader is on the box. I was expecting Yoda or maybe Darth Helmet. Other than Vader striking a "come at me bro" inspired pose, we have a graphic of Luke and Vader fighting in the background (boy Vader is good isn't he? He can fight Luke and say hello to the audience while being in two different places at once!), the Lego, Star Wars and Disney logos, as well as the "buildable figures" icon, in case you thought these were buildable vehicles or maybe sandwich condiments.

Box Back

The back of the box pairs off the other figures in the wave, shows Vader's height, and of course highlights some of the set features/details, which in this case includes his ability to hold his weapon and his breathing apparatus control panel, or...whatever important device is placed in a very strange and obvious part of his body.

Contents

We are greeted with instructions, three bags of parts and a bagged cape.

New and Interesting parts

Vader bits

First up in interesting parts we have got some printed pieces to bring Vader to life, including a printed torso plate, a flat plate with a clip on the back as the control panel, his breastplate, and the 6m armor piece with a sort of clothing pattern on it.

New pieces

I'm not entirely sure about those Technic panels, I think they exist but I'm not sure of what colors as of the time of this writing- but many of the sets use them and well this is the place for me to highlight interesting (not just new and recolored) bits, and those are interesting to someone who only collects Action Figure themes, so there. Also we get the new shin armor in black, the new lightsaber blade in a flexible red plastic, and the new lightsaber hilt. While I do not have a separate photo of it, Vader's cape is a black version of Obi-Wan's.

Head

We could play a game of "what's being reflected" in his helmet because it's very smooth and shiney- and extremely well detailed. I would say Vader's headsculpt is the best of the wave without a doubt.

Building Process

Torso

There isn't a whole lot to say with his torso. It's wonderfully custom, and while it may seem fairly basic to the more seasoned Technic builders, it's one of the most involved torso builds we've had as far as I know. Of course it's not finished yet, but we will get there. I really like how this build contrasts with Greivous, who takes the opposite route of a Technic oriented torso and instead utilizes a CCBS-inspired one. The only problem I have with this build is the odd gray constructs near his hips, as they do restrict leg movement and I'm not entirely sure what they are supposed to be representing.

Legs

We add his legs and arms- note that calf armor is in fact added, similar to Luke and Obi Wan.

Armoring

Vader's design is difficult to pull off in Lego, and these armor shells don't do a whole lot to convince you at first- but once the cape is added, things start to look a lot better.

Finished Build

Front View

Once the cape is added some of the complains about his armoring go away as he ends up looking more full and shaped out and they begin to look more like his actual outfit. I also really like the molded neck piece on the headscupt that hides the connection to the neck.

Profile View

One of the best profile views of the wave, he looks fairly well proportioned here.

Back View

Right so here's the other problem I have with him, the way the cape is attached. Since Vader and Obi Wan utilize the exact same cape, Vader has to be more creative with it in order for it to be the appropriate length. Instead of tucking around his torso armor, it's placed on vertically along his back, and...well it looks weird and flops around a lot more than I'd like. it looks good from the front, but from everywhere else not so much.

Rear without cape

From here you can see more of that lovely custom torso, although it's not the best looking of all things, so I think we will stick with the cape being on.

All too easy

Now let's get something straight here, Darth vader isn't known for his dynamic action poses in the media, so for the most part you're going to be posing him something like this, which works very well.

Join the Dark Side

As strange as the cape's connection is, it does flow surprisingly well when posing. And those gray things on the torso don't look bad, they fill him out nicely- they just conflict more with the thigh armor than I'd like.

I have you now

Once again I placed the lightsaber in his hands in a strange way, it would make more sense to put his hands together with a 2m axle and then the lower half of the hilt underneath that. User error on my part!

Size Comparison

Vader ends up being quite tall when complete, and not only towers over Tahu but does stand taller than most of the other Star Wars figures in the wave.

Overall

At $30, Vader feels like a set that is worth the money with the additional licencing cost. You get a very involved build, a decently sized figure, and it's Darth Vader- what reason could you have for not wanting him? (Contrary to popular belief, Vader is not threatening to force choke me right now.) I think the saving grace here is the cape, because it really helps to take what ordinarily wouldn't look like Vader's armor and it brings it to life. If you are buying Luke, a fan of the Dark Side or Vader himself, this is an obvious pickup- and even if you aren't a big fan of Star Wars figures, the custom torso is a fun build and there are quite a few useful pieces here to be re-used for further purposes, so I would highly recommend grabbing Vader.

[VBBN]

The Dark Lord's review is now ready.

[DraikNova]

I've noticed one major problem with him: his lower arms are way too short. They'd be acceptable if his upper arms weren't huge, but with the 1.5 times larger upper arms...just no. And, on a more minor note, what's with the gunmetal armor add-ons? Apart from that, pretty nice, although as always the SW license leaves the set somewhat overpriced, at least compared to, say, Queen Beast. Thanks for the review VBBN!

Edited September 4, 2015 by DraikNova

[TwistLaw]

Well, the 20$ BIONICLE sets were overpriced themselves, so I'd say 30$ for this big meaty boy is a even fairer trade.

Oh, and thanks for the review mate!

[lockdownTF]

needs more black but I definitely want it. that head alone is awesome.

[MontyPython]

Interesting build. Great review!

[mike_mcbam]

This has been my first ever constraction set, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. When building the torso I wasn't really sure what was going on, but it all came together rather marvelously in the end. As you say in the review (great work by the way), the cape really ties it all together at the end.

[VBBN]

"No, I am your father"

"U WOT M8?"

I've noticed one major problem with him: his lower arms are way too short. They'd be acceptable if his upper arms weren't huge, but with the 1.5 times larger upper arms...just no. And, on a more minor note, what's with the gunmetal armor add-ons? Apart from that, pretty nice, although as always the SW license leaves the set somewhat overpriced, at least compared to, say, Queen Beast. Thanks for the review VBBN!

Well, his upper shoulder armor is actually a gunmetal color, I think the fact that the printed chestplate is a bit smaller than it should be might be throwing it off and making it look like there's too much gunmetal.

[DraikNova]

Great, now I want to see Star Wars as imagined by Salvador Dali. At any rate though, in that picture of Vader, his upper armor actually appears to be silver.

[VBBN]

Actually I do believe it's silver, although I can see why Lego would rather go with gunmetal than to recolor two more parts- and I think it might be for the better, since silver would be a bit too overpowering. (Normally his cape covers a bit of it and wraps around with it and there is more black, in this case it would just be an overload of silver)

[TheOneVeyronian]

Actually I do believe it's silver, although I can see why Lego would rather go with gunmetal than to recolor two more parts- and I think it might be for the better, since silver would be a bit too overpowering. (Normally his cape covers a bit of it and wraps around with it and there is more black, in this case it would just be an overload of silver)

Only one part would need to be recoloured silver actually - the round shell detail add-on. The shin add-on and chestplate have already come in silver, though the former only appeared in one set 2 and a half years ago so is probably considered retired. I myself don't mind the gunmetal - it's the dark bluish gray that is my biggest bugbear in what is otherwise a perfect model.

[PaddyBricksplitter]

I bought this guy yesterday and I must say it's looks much better than I expected. The cape and the head piece really sell the Vader "look". I never bought any Hero factory or related themes as I'm a system guy but this set changed my mind. I poses and displays fantastically. I'm loving it.

Regarding price I'm not sure how it compares to non licenced sets of similar size.

I would defiantly recommend it for fans of TOT.

[VBBN]

I tried to see what would happen if you used the new shoulder add ons, but some more extensive modding is going to be needed here- with these pieces its not possible to move the arms outward, otherwise the piece will go flying off.

Although, if you flip the shoulder piece and put them onto the silver armor bits I put near his neck, that seems to work a bit better..

[MarkSurge9411]

Could you take a picture of him standing next to Griveous (spelling?)? Thanks!:)

"No, I am your father"

"U WOT M8?"

Talk about a plot twist!

[Alternator]

I'm getting this set - though (based on the pictures) I think they made a bad call with the grey parts.

And I don't really get it since Luke seems to have black leg parts, why the greys for Vader... I'm almost wondering if grabbing a luke to swap in some blacks in those places would be a good idea or not?

[Aanchir]

I'm getting this set - though (based on the pictures) I think they made a bad call with the grey parts.

And I don't really get it since Luke seems to have black leg parts, why the greys for Vader... I'm almost wondering if grabbing a luke to swap in some blacks in those places would be a good idea or not?

Generally in today's sets, the black and grey beams are different sizes, same as how differently colored Technic axles are different sizes. So the 7M beam with a knee joint like Vader uses is Dark Stone Grey by default, while a 6M beam with a knee joint like Luke uses is Black by default.

[YellowCorvette]

Thanks for the review. Vader is my favourite Star Wars Ultrabuild set this year because of the the way the torso is built and how Vader designed. The only thing I dislike about this set is the cape been a little undersized. In the film, Vader is wearing a cape that big enough to cover his arms . But in this set, the cape seems a little small and not big enough to cover Vader arms. But however, Vader is a very good Ultrabuild set and I recommend every Star Wars fans at here to buy one.

Edited September 6, 2015 by ArmstrongYong

[Tremah]

Man I really want the "newa" shoulderplates in black. Pity there are only HF ones there. But overall, this year's Vader is as cool as 2002 version. Great job with the review, VBBN. Thanks!

[TFGuy89]

Vader is jaw-dropping. While I was building him, I found it hard to believe this was a store bought set, it uses advanced techniques the likes of which you'll see on MOCs. I have never constructed a CCBS set this complex and it was a joy to build.

He looks great and imposing, just as you would expect Vader to look on the shelf. It's just amazing how well they've captured his look. I'm extremely impressed!

Of course, he's not perfect. There are some minor articulation problems in how his belt restricts the forward movement of his legs. His cape could also be a little bit bigger. But overall, Vader is just about what I want in a Vader figure, and more! He's definitely my favourite CCBS set of the year.

[CabooseBM]

This guy was really fun to build, save for some overly tight technic bits, but ultimately I feel he came together kind of poorly. There are weird gaps in his torso and around his hips, and everything below his chest armor is kind of wonky looking. It doesn't do a whole lot to convince me that a more CCBS styled approach wouldn't be superior like it is in General Grievous.

That said, I appreciate the ambition in this model, and you get some killer parts out of it, but I don't think it will stay together long.

[TFGuy89]

One thing I've found is that tucking his cape under his round shoulder armour/pauldrons allows it to spread out with his arms. It's a nice look, as one of the issues the figure has is that his cape tends to fold backwards.

[dviddy]

This guy was really fun to build, save for some overly tight technic bits, but ultimately I feel he came together kind of poorly. There are weird gaps in his torso and around his hips, and everything below his chest armor is kind of wonky looking. It doesn't do a whole lot to convince me that a more CCBS styled approach wouldn't be superior like it is in General Grievous.

That said, I appreciate the ambition in this model, and you get some killer parts out of it, but I don't think it will stay together long.

This is basically how I feel about it. The gap between the upper torso and lower torso looks like two different sets/builds stuck together with a signpost in between. The cape sort of hides it, but I can't unsee it. The armour doesn't flow in to fill those gaps, and it looks awkward and empty. And the legs are bizarrely thin and spread out. I was really excited for this set but I don't think it'll stay together longer than any potential reshoots for my BZP review.

[Alternator]

I actually love how this looks now that its built so im very happy with the purchase.

But as others are noting there are several problems with this set.

The cape is too short and so does not attach properly. The legs are a bit thin and some gaps here and there which the cape hides.

I actually am considering asking a sewing crafts friend to make me a new cape, and also wondering if mods can make the legs look a bit more impressive... It is Lego after all

[JDragonM32]

I like Vader just as I do the others I've bought,but I do have 3 issues with him:

1-I feel he is too tall,I remember him being around obi wans height so I don't get why he's bigger.

2-his custom built torso wasn't needed,he should have just used a standard skeletal frame like the others,the only reason they did it this way was to push up his piece count and therefore price.

3-due to the lack of any sort of tunic,the legs look too thin.

Vader would have been much better if they had used the skeletal frame for his torso and given him a cloth tunic to put his price at what it is now instead

[Lyichir]

I like Vader just as I do the others I've bought,but I do have 3 issues with him:

1-I feel he is too tall,I remember him being around obi wans height so I don't get why he's bigger.

2-his custom built torso wasn't needed,he should have just used a standard skeletal frame like the others,the only reason they did it this way was to push up his piece count and therefore price.

3-due to the lack of any sort of tunic,the legs look too thin.

Vader would have been much better if they had used the skeletal frame for his torso and given him a cloth tunic to put his price at what it is now instead

According to the Star Wars databank, Vader is 2.03 meters tall, or 6'08", while Obi-Wan Kenobi was only 1.82 meters, or 6'. Vader is supposed to tower over other human characters, so the custom torso was very much a necessity, regardless of whether or not it was the most effective, and was definitely not done just to push up his price and part count.

Having built Vader on LDD, I can definitely see the faults with his design, but it irks me to no end to see people insist that he should have just been a standard-sized figure when that directly contradicts his portrayal across Star Wars media.

As a side not, while early on I had hoped for Chewbacca to perhaps be depicted in a future wave, I'm not so sure now. Not only would the Chima fur piece be much too cartoonish in comparison to the other figures (requiring some other solution for Chewie's unique texture), but Chewbacca is even taller than Darth Vader and I don't know how effectively an organic-looking figure of that size could be made.

Edited September 14, 2015 by Lyichir