Anakin Skywalker (Archive) — Star Wars The Black Series

Overview

Anakin Skywalker at the Archive Collection captures the prequel-era Jedi Knight at his Revenge of the Sith configuration — the specific moment Anakin turns to the Dark Side as Darth Vader and battles Obi-Wan Kenobi in the canonical lightsaber duel on the lava planet Mustafar. Released June 2019 single-carded as part of the Black Series Archive line. Mainline non-exclusive at $19.99 — standard mainline pricing. 19 joints. Two accessories: a lightsaber with removable blue blade, and an extra head. The figure is a re-work of the 2014 Black Series Anakin Skywalker (figure id=2284) — same body sculpt, but with meaningful photo-real face printing upgrades that the original 2014 release lacked.

The Photo-Real Face Printing Upgrade

This is structurally one of the most meaningful Archive Collection releases in the entire sub-line. Hasbro took the previous 2014 release and improved it by implementing the photo-real face printing technology on both heads that ship with the figure. The 2014 source release predated photo-real face printing and used hand-applied face paint that doesn’t read as life-like compared to current Hasbro standards. The Archive version delivers the canonical photo-real upgrade across both included head sculpts.

For collectors evaluating Archive Collection releases for genuine quality improvements vs simple availability restoration, this Anakin is structurally the best example of meaningful upgrade. Even if you own the previously released 2014 Black Series Anakin Skywalker figure, the photo-real face printing update improves this figure drastically which warrants another purchase. The portrait quality upgrade is significant enough to make the Archive release a meaningful display upgrade rather than just a retail-availability restoration.

This is consistent with the broader photo-real upgrade narrative that defines several early Archive Collection releases — characters whose 2013-2015 source bodies predated photo-real face printing benefit substantially from the Archive re-tooling. Compare with Boba Fett (Archive) and Bossk (Archive), where the source bodies don’t have human-character face-printing requirements and the Archive re-releases deliver minor paint refinements rather than meaningful portrait upgrades.

The Two-Head Configuration

One head features Anakin with yellow Sith-eyes; the other is his regular face. Specific costume-narrative-state engineering worth flagging — the dual-head configuration supports two distinct narrative-state display configurations. The regular-face head captures Anakin’s pre-fall Jedi Knight configuration, the Sith-eyes head captures the canonical post-fall Dark Side corruption configuration that Anakin displays at the climactic Mustafar duel. Both heads have photo-real face printing.

The heads can easily be swapped — simply pop one off the neck peg and press the other one on. Standard head-swap engineering supports clean state-switching between the two configurations without requiring tools or complex disassembly. For collectors who want to display the canonical Anakin-to-Vader transition narrative, the dual-head configuration is the only Archive Collection release that supports this specific narrative state variation.

This is a structurally meaningful narrative-display capability — most figures in the broader Black Series catalogue don’t ship with two distinct character-state heads. The Anakin Archive’s canonical Light-Side / Dark-Side dual configuration is rare engineering that supports unique display configurations.

The Two-Accessory Loadout

The figure came with a lightsaber (hilt with removable blue blade) and the extra Sith-eyes head. The accessory loadout is structurally lean compared to multi-accessory contemporaneous releases, but the dual-head configuration substitutes for additional weapon-component variation through alternative narrative-state display flexibility.

The figure is able to hold the lightsaber hilt well in both hands. Standard two-handed Jedi-grip engineering supports the canonical Mustafar duel display configurations correctly. The blue lightsaber blade can be unplugged from the hilt — supporting both the deployed-saber combat configuration and the stowed-hilt-only at-rest configuration. The hilt can be plugged into a hole in the belt — standard belt-mount engineering for at-rest weapon stowage when the Jedi isn’t actively wielding the saber.

For collectors building Mustafar duel diorama configurations, pair this Anakin with Obi-Wan Kenobi (Archive) — the Wave 5 ROTS-source Obi-Wan that completes the canonical Anakin-vs-Obi-Wan Mustafar duel character pairing. The two Archive releases together capture the complete duel configuration.

The Costume Configuration and Paint Detail

Hasbro captured Anakin Skywalker’s costume from Episode III beautifully. The figure is painted well — even the food capsules on the belt were given different colours. Specific paint commitment commendation worth flagging — small equipment-detail variation (different colours on individual food-capsule belt components) demonstrates Hasbro’s commitment to canonical screen-accurate equipment-detail rather than uniform-paint-across-all-components shortcuts.

A specific costume-component note worth flagging: there was no Jedi robe included. For collectors who want the canonical fully-robed Jedi configuration for at-rest display state, the Archive Anakin doesn’t ship with the appropriate fabric component. This is a meaningful component-omission compared to alternative Anakin configurations across the broader Black Series catalogue — some Anakin releases do ship with soft-goods Jedi robes that the Archive variant omits.

Articulation

19 joints. Ball-jointed neck, swivel-jointed lower neck, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, ball-jointed wrists, ball-jointed upper body, ball-jointed hips, swivel-jointed thighs, swivel-joints above knees, swivel joints below knees, ball-jointed ankles. Above the 17-joint Phase 4 baseline thanks to the dual-axis knee articulation inherited from the 2014 source body. The figure stands well on display without falling over, even when placed in more dynamic poses.

Distribution and the Archive Programme

Standard mainline Archive Collection release at $19.99 through wide retail channels — Target, Walmart, Amazon, hobby shops. Released June 2019 alongside the Biker Scout (Archive) and Darth Maul (Archive) figures as part of the broader 2019 Archive expansion beyond the Wave 1 January launch.

For collectors building the Archive sub-line specifically, this Anakin pairs with the contemporary 2019 expansion releases and the broader Wave 2 prequel-era cluster (Anakin alongside Maul represents the canonical prequel-trilogy Sith antagonist character-class coverage). For collectors building Revenge of the Sith Mustafar duel diorama configurations, pair with the Wave 5 Obi-Wan Kenobi (Archive) for the canonical character-pair display.

Other Anakin Skywalker Figures

Anakin Skywalker has been one of the most-released characters in the entire Hasbro Star Wars catalogue across multiple eras. Other notable releases include the Clone Wars Anakin Skywalker (figure id=37), the Legacy Collection Concept Sang Jun Lee variant (figure id=180), the Clone Wars B’omarr Monastery Assault 2-pack (figure id=228), the Legacy Collection Droid Factory 2-Pack #2 (figure id=238), the Clone Wars Ambush On The Vulture’s Claw poncho variant (figure id=259), the Clone Wars Cargo Of Doom helmeted variant (figure id=360), and the 2014 Black Series source body (figure id=2284). The Archive release joins this multi-decade catalogue as the dedicated 2019 Archive Collection commemorative re-release with photo-real upgrade.

Secondary Market

Single-carded Archive Collection release with dedicated Archive cardback packaging, June 2019. Available through wide retail channels at MSRP and the secondary market with moderate aftermarket pricing. Verify the lightsaber hilt, the removable blue blade, and the extra Sith-eyes head are all included. The smaller blue blade and the swappable head are the most easily lost components during transit.

Verdict

Anakin Skywalker (Archive) at the 2019 Archive Collection launch is structurally one of the most meaningful Archive releases in the entire sub-line for genuine quality improvement vs simple availability restoration — the photo-real face printing upgrade across both included heads delivers significant portrait quality improvement over the 2014 source body, the dual-head configuration supports the canonical Light-Side and Dark-Side narrative-state display variation, the canonical Episode III costume configuration captures the screen-accurate Mustafar duel character configuration, the lightsaber hilt with removable blue blade supports both deployed and stowed display states, the belt-mount hilt engineering enables canonical at-rest Jedi display, the small equipment-detail paint variation (food capsules in different colours) demonstrates appropriate paint commitment, and the figure stands reliably across dynamic combat-pose configurations.

The missing Jedi robe is the figure’s most defensible structural negative — collectors who want the canonical fully-robed at-rest Jedi configuration need to look outside the Archive Collection release for the appropriate fabric component. The dual-axis knee articulation is good but not the highest-end engineering across the broader Black Series catalogue.

Buy this figure if you appreciate the photo-real face printing upgrade as collecting priority (this is the structurally best example of meaningful Archive Collection upgrade), if you want the dual-head Light-Side/Dark-Side narrative-state display capability, if you build Mustafar duel diorama configurations (pair with Obi-Wan Kenobi (Archive)), if you missed the 2014 source release at original retail and want the meaningfully-upgraded photo-real configuration, or if you collect the Archive Collection as a complete set. Skip if you specifically want the canonical fully-robed Jedi Knight configuration that requires the soft-goods component the Archive release omits.

The fallen Jedi who became Vader in the canonical Mustafar duel. The figure with the photo-real upgraded dual-head configuration supporting both the pre-fall Light-Side and the post-fall Sith-eyes Dark-Side narrative states. The Anakin that anchors prequel-era Archive Collection display alongside Maul as the canonical Sith-corruption character-class cluster. Mainline distribution, June 2019.

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Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Phase 3 Archive Collection. Related: Darth Maul (Archive) P3-ARC-DM | Obi-Wan Kenobi (Archive) P4-ARC-OBA | Biker Scout (Archive) P3-ARC-BSC | Yoda (Archive) P3-ARC-YO.