Review – Star Wars Concept Darth Vader Bust
I’ve now been a member of the special Gentle Giant (website, Twitter) Collectors’ Club for over a year, and in that time I have definitely taken advantage of the discount on statues and busts by adding a few fantastic Star Wars pieces to my collection. And almost immediately after opening the Concept Boba Fett bust (review here) I was ordering this impressive Concept Darth Vader bust*. Is “Wow” too short of a review?
Magnetic Heads
As with the other concept busts I’ve already bought, Vader here comes with multiple heads, each one of which connects to the body through the magic of magnets. I’m a fan of this type of connector since it’s easy to use, and the more that I play with statues that use magnets the more I think that when I get time to work on resin toys again (garage? I have a garage for fun?) I’m going to give magnets a shot. The heads each fit on perfectly, and the magnets are strong enough that I’m not at all worried about Vader losing his head.
There are a total of three different heads included with the Concept Darth Vader bust* and I’ve snapped photos of each. Every single one is clearly Darth Vader, with the distinctive heavy helmet and massive eyes and breather, but I think my favorite of the bunch has to be the head in the photo directly below. It’s close enough to the Vader helmet to look odd, but not so close that it looks like someone made a mistake when sculpting the head. Anyone seeing the bust in my collection will likely know that this is a special work.
Lightsaber
I think the blue lightsaber is made of plastic, but I am not certain and could be very wrong. It’s a bit too flexible to be glass, though, so plastic makes the most sense to me. But regardless of what it’s made of, the blue lightsaber is a nice touch — notice how the color reflects on the statue in some of the photos — and was easy to snap into place once I had the box open. And the lightsaber really helps with the graceful flow of the statue; between the cape and the saber Vader has some energy in his stance, looking as if he is about to slash down and destroy something that’s directly in front of him.
Flat and Gloss
As with the Storm Commando bust (review here) one fantastic touch is the combination of flat and gloss paints on the statue. These days I don’t even ask whether or not a piece by Gentle Giant will be well-painted — that’s just a given in my book — and all I do is pop the packages open and start drooling at how gorgeous the works look in my hands.
Using flat and gloss paints on the Concept Darth Vader bust*, as expected, gives the piece a depth of realism and really helps it to stand out as a work of art. That translucent blue lightsaber I mentioned is just the icing on an already-spectacular statue; they could have created the statue in a more relaxed pose without lightsaber and I’m certain the paintwork would have helped it look amazing.
Closing Thoughts
I’m about at the point with Gentle Giant (website, Twitter) that instead of posting written reviews I should just post photos. The company does only stunning work and I am always happy when I open one of their boxes. They package everything well, release only the most beautiful of statues, and as I add more and more of their work to my collection the entire display benefits.
If I had to choose between this or the Boba Fett concept bust I would be torn. Both look great and, if possible, should be owned and displayed together. If I was forced to choose only one of the two, though, I think I’d have to go with Boba Fett. Sorry, Vader, but as cool as you look you just can’t top that white-armored concept Boba Fett design.
Good thing I don’t have to choose just one.
Philip Reed has another one of Gentle Giant’s Darth Vader busts. He should review that one and take pics of the two together.
