Emperor Palpatine (Archive) — Star Wars The Black Series

Overview

Emperor Palpatine at the Archive Collection captures the canonical Sith Emperor — Darth Sidious, who slowly manipulated the political system of the Galactic Republic until he became Supreme Chancellor and eventually Emperor, ruling the galaxy through fear and tyranny. Released late May/early June 2022 single-carded as part of the Wave 6 Archive Collection. Mainline non-exclusive at $22.99 — Phase 4 standard mainline pricing. 18 joints with a soft-goods skirt enabling wider leg-range. Three accessories: a soft-goods robe, a clasp, and a walking cane. The figure is a re-paint of the 2018 Black Series Emperor Palpatine (figure id=21523), which was itself a re-work of the 2015 Black Series Palpatine (figure id=2395).

The Neutral Face Decision

Hasbro decided to include the neutral face expression with this release. This is the key variant-choice distinction of the Archive Palpatine — the 2018 source body shipped with the lightning-effect expression capturing the canonical Sith Force-lightning attack configuration. The Archive variant opts for the neutral face configuration instead.

Both expressions are canonically valid for the Palpatine character class. The neutral face supports a broader range of Imperial command and scheming display configurations — the canonical Palpatine at his most menacing is often the composed, calculating face rather than the mid-attack lightning expression. Collectors who prefer the lightning expression will need the 2018 source body; collectors who prefer the neutral command-face have the Archive variant.

The photo-real print appears to be slightly toned back when compared to the figure from 2018. Specific photo-real implementation note — the Archive variant’s portrait is not a clear step forward over the 2018 source body’s photo-real application. For collectors evaluating the Archive variant specifically for portrait quality improvement, the slightly-toned-back photo-real is worth noting.

The Three-Accessory Loadout

Palpatine came with a walking cane, a removable soft-goods robe, and a clasp. The soft-goods robe is easily removable — supporting both robed Imperial Emperor display configurations and stripped-back dark-side-practitioner configurations.

The cane fits well into the right hand, and when the figure is placed into a forward-leaning pose the cane will reach the floor well. Specific pose-and-prop engineering note — the walking-cane leaning-forward configuration is one of the most recognisable canonical Palpatine display states (the shuffling Emperor configuration from Return of the Jedi), and the prop-to-floor contact reads correctly in that pose. Standard right-hand cane-grip engineering.

The Soft-Goods Skirt Engineering

This Black Series Emperor Palpatine figure has a soft-goods skirt which allows for a bigger range of movement for the legs. Specific articulation-aid engineering note — the canonical Palpatine robes configuration is an all-fabric draping that would normally restrict leg articulation significantly if tooled in rigid plastic. The soft-goods skirt engineering removes the articulation barrier, enabling wider leg-positioning flexibility for dynamic display poses. This is the same material-engineering approach commended on the Darth Vader (Archive) dual-layer robe — both Imperial Sith-tier characters benefit from soft-goods solutions to the heavy-costume articulation challenge.

The Imperial Sith Command Display Pairing

For collectors building canonical Imperial Sith command displays, Palpatine Archive is essential alongside Darth Vader (Archive) and Grand Moff Tarkin (Archive) for the canonical Death Star command-tier assembly. The three figures together deliver the canonical A New Hope and Return of the Jedi Imperial command triumvirate in Archive form.

The neutral face expression specifically supports the canonical Imperial throne room command configuration — Palpatine seated at the centre of Imperial power rather than in active Force-lightning combat deployment.

Articulation

18 joints. Ball-jointed neck, swivel neck, ball-jointed shoulders, swivel biceps, double swivel-hinged elbows, swivel-hinged wrists, ball-jointed waist, barbell-jointed hip, swivel-jointed thighs, double swivel-hinged knees, rocker ankles. Above the 17-joint baseline through swivel biceps, double swivel-hinged elbow and knee engineering, and rocker ankles. The double-swivel-hinged configuration on both elbows and knees — the same premium articulation tier seen on the Obi-Wan Padawan Archive — supports broader pose flexibility than standard single-axis configurations. Palpatine keeps his balance well on display.

Distribution and the Wave 6 Cluster

Standard mainline Archive Collection release at $22.99 — released late May/early June 2022 as part of Wave 6 alongside C-3PO (Archive), Dengar (Archive), and Lando Calrissian Skiff Guard (Archive). Within Wave 6, the Palpatine release is structurally distinctive — the double-swivel-hinged elbow and knee articulation, the soft-goods skirt, and the three-accessory loadout represent above-average engineering investment compared to the wave’s C-3PO zero-accessory companion.

Other Palpatine Figures

Emperor Palpatine has been a recurring Sith Emperor character-class release subject. Other notable releases include the EU Comic 2-Pack #12 (figure id=97), the Phantom Menace Hologram variant (figure id=119), the ROTS Supreme Chancellor (figure id=162), the Power of the Force 2 Return of the Jedi release (figure id=216), the Legacy Collection With Mechno Chair variant (figure id=285), the Clone Wars Darth Sidious (figure id=400), the 2015 Black Series figure (figure id=2395), and the 2018 Black Series source body with throne (figure id=21523). The Archive release joins this catalogue as the dedicated 2022 Wave 6 Archive Collection re-paint with neutral face and slightly-toned-back photo-real.

Secondary Market

Single-carded Archive Collection release with dedicated Archive cardback packaging, late May/early June 2022. Available through wide retail channels at MSRP and the secondary market. Verify all three accessories — soft-goods robe, clasp, and walking cane — are present.

Verdict

Emperor Palpatine (Archive) at the 2022 Wave 6 Archive Collection is a strong Sith Emperor release through well-considered character-class engineering — the neutral face expression supports the canonical Imperial command configurations (scheming, composed, in authority) better than the active-lightning expression for most display contexts, the easily-removable soft-goods robe supports robed and unrobed display states, the soft-goods skirt engineering enables wider leg-range than rigid-plastic skirt alternatives, the walking cane reaches the floor in canonical forward-lean configurations, and the double-swivel-hinged elbow and knee articulation sits above the Phase 4 baseline.

The photo-real being slightly toned back vs the 2018 source body is worth knowing if portrait quality is your primary Archive collecting criteria. Skip this if you already own the 2018 Palpatine with throne — the difference is the neutral vs lightning face and the packaging, not meaningful structural engineering improvements.

Buy this figure if you build canonical Imperial Sith command displays (essential alongside Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin Archive for the canonical Death Star command-tier trio), if you prefer the neutral scheming-Emperor face over the active-lightning expression, if you missed the 2018 source release, or if you collect the Archive Collection as a complete set. Skip if you own the 2018 throne variant and find the neutral vs lightning face swap insufficient reason to double up.

The Emperor who manipulated the Republic into tyranny and rules through fear. The figure with the neutral command face, the slightly-toned-back photo-real portrait, the soft-goods skirt articulation engineering, the easily-removable robe, and the right-hand walking cane. The Palpatine that anchors the Imperial Sith command-tier Archive trio alongside Vader and Tarkin. Mainline distribution, late May/early June 2022, Wave 6.

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Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Phase 4 Archive Collection. Related: Darth Vader (Archive) P4-ARC-DVA | Grand Moff Tarkin (Archive) P4-ARC-06 | Lando Calrissian Skiff Guard (Archive) P4-ARC-LC | C-3PO (Archive) P4-ARC-3PO.