Random minifig of the day: sw0210

@TheOtherMike:
Could be. I can't be absolutely certain, like I am that his right wrist is rotated 180 degrees from normal.

LEGO Palpatine is RMotD

Goooood. I guess we shall have... peace.

I prefer this gray leather face (more OT style) to the later yellowish one (more precuel style)

It always bugged me that this minifig comes with black hands. Especially since he appears in the Death Star set, of all things.

To those of you saying the gray is better than the tan, I completely disagree.
Now maybe it is something you need to own to fully appreciate, but I'm used to the yellow version of him from 7166 Imperial Shuttle back in the day, and then it wasn't until 2020 that I got a tan version from 75291 Death Star Final Duel, with only Chancellor versions of Palpatine inbetween. Gray makes him look like a zombie (and he's not one of those yet (nor should he ever been one to begin with, and yes, I know, according to the canon, it's actually a clone body with his spirit, shut up)), the tan matches the prosthetics used in Return of the Jedi. Gray worked for Vader because he had the helmet, they use white now, and I think that's also completely fine, Vader was always paler than Palpatine, but there is no other color to use for Palpatine these days that looks good without just doing a standard flesh tone and only letting the linework of the print do the work, which I don't think would look all too great. He certainly is pale in Revenge of the Sith, but gray's not right, and white's probably too bright. Tan's great because it is this kind of unnatural color without being ghostly. If they ever decide to make Rise of Skywalker Palpatine (seems unlikely) then gray would make sense, but not when he's still alive.

@Ridgeheart said:
"I think I preferred Victor von Doom's original palette."

I'm not completely sure, but I think Dr. Doom (at least his look) actually WAS an inspiration for Darth Vader's design.

I have a keychain of this minifigure.
Weird to see him as an actual minifigure without the other stuff he came with.

This version reminds me of stuff like Robot Chicken and the Yoda Chronicles

@Crasha said:
" @Ridgeheart said:
"I think I preferred Victor von Doom's original palette."

I'm not completely sure, but I think Dr. Doom (at least his look) actually WAS an inspiration for Darth Vader's design."

Everything I’ve read says he was modeled after samurai armor.

@ICAbricks said:
"2 sets, and he still costs 16 frickin' dollars!!!
I've said it before, I'll say it again: these ridiculous prices are why I'm not gonna collect Star Wars sets when I go into LEGO collecting. "

There are not many that are still new around now, hence the price. Maybe only 2 sets, but they were from over a decade ago. And there are plenty below $16 outside of the USA. There are also plenty of more recent Emperor Palpatine minifigures at low prices.

@StyleCounselor said:
"So, Palpatine's been out there, the whole time, pulling the strings.

Always, from the very beginning.

It's Palpa-palpa-palpa-Palpatine!!"
It's been Palpatine all along! ...wait, wrong Disney-owned property.

@Crasha: Re: Doom and Vader: There was a short non-canon comic in the "Star Wars Tales" anthology series called "The Rebel Four" that was drawn in the style of a Silver Age Fantastic Four comic, with Vader as the Doom figure. He does a much better than Doom ever did, though, executing the Titular Four in ways that call the FF to mind; the Mr. Fantastic analogue ( droid) is stretched to pieces, the Thing analogue (a Wookiee) is crushed by rocks, the Human torch analogue (a human) is burned alive, and the Invisible Woman analogue (also human) is blasted into nothingness.

something something Dark Side something something

"So be it, Jedi"

@CCC said:
" @ICAbricks said:
"2 sets, and he still costs 16 frickin' dollars!!!
I've said it before, I'll say it again: these ridiculous prices are why I'm not gonna collect Star Wars sets when I go into LEGO collecting. "

There are not many that are still new around now, hence the price. Maybe only 2 sets, but they were from over a decade ago. And there are plenty below $16 outside of the USA. There are also plenty of more recent Emperor Palpatine minifigures at low prices."

Don't collect it. It's too good an investment, and there are clearly too many already doing it. Go for your own niche!

May I suggest Dots or Vydio? Those are easy to complete a collection and VERY cheap.

@Ridgeheart said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @CCC said:
" @ICAbricks said:
"2 sets, and he still costs 16 frickin' dollars!!!
I've said it before, I'll say it again: these ridiculous prices are why I'm not gonna collect Star Wars sets when I go into LEGO collecting. "

There are not many that are still new around now, hence the price. Maybe only 2 sets, but they were from over a decade ago. And there are plenty below $16 outside of the USA. There are also plenty of more recent Emperor Palpatine minifigures at low prices."

Don't collect it. It's too good an investment, and there are clearly too many already doing it. Go for your own niche!

May I suggest Dots or Vydio? Those are easy to complete a collection and VERY cheap."

Oh, I don't know about that. Bandmates series 1 goes for about 60 dubloons, but series 2 runs upwards of of 160."

See. Everything's expensive! Even Vidya!

Might as well go for something cool then, like Star Wars.

Or Dots? I know that is cheap.

@StyleCounselor:
You could see how many black 2L friction Technic pins you can collect, and use craft paper, markers, and glitter glue to dress them up as SW characters…

@PurpleDave said:
[[ @Crasha said:

... Dr. Doom ... inspiration for Darth Vader's design.]]

Everything I’ve read says he was modeled after samurai armor.]]

That's actually a new for me :D The upper part of his helmet DOES look a little like the helmets of samurais though.
Another "fun fact" I know about Vader is that the Face of his mask is supposed to look like skull (I mean, just look at it)
and then that George Lucas felt inspired by the artist Gaudi (a lot of his work can be seen in Barcelona, Spain)
so I think there was no single source of inspiration, but multiple giving us one the legendary villain Vader is even today.

@TheOtherMike never heard of the series but will definetely look it up!

The old DuckTales has an episode in which the Phantom Blot claimed to be scarier than either Doctor Doom or Darth Vader. His company has gone on to own both of theirs, so he may have been right…

“Sir, we have a customer here to speak to you about another loan.” “…does his forehead look like two prunes kissing?”

A random bit of trivia: Ian McDiarmid and Jacqueline Pearce guest-starred together as a married couple in the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

So that’s the actors who played Emperor Palpatine and Supreme Commander Servalan - talk about the ultimate Power Couple!

@Crasha:
Samurai often wore mempos shaped like oni faces over their own faces, so that still fits with the samurai motif. And the lightsaber combat, the Jedi robes, and the general mysticism of the Force feel right at home in medieval Japan (hence why there are so many depictions of Vader/Fett/Stormies as actual Samurai warriors). Plus, Ep4 is basically Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress film reskinned as a western style space opera. Basically, if you threw Japan, Joseph Campbell, and 50’s sci-fi serials into a blender, you’d get Star Wars. But, you know, don’t actually try to test that theory. It’d get a bit messy, with the blood and guts and all.

Anyways, a lot of the look of the OT was based on concept art provided by Ralph McQuarrie. Look up his versions of some of the characters, and you’ll see enough of the linear progression that it’ll make more sense. I got an assist, since there were some SW collectible card sets (non-game) in the 90’s that explored some of McQuarrie’s work in relation to the result, and discussed some of the various inspirations behind everything.

Count me in favour of a pro-grey Palpatine--which is kind of a big thing for me, because I'm generally backwards enough I prefer yellow figs to fleshtones (or, looked at another way--this is exactly my brand of non-realistic coloration). Tan would probably be fine as a shade; this is just a superior print.

@Crasha: Here's a link to the Wookiepedia page on the story in question. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Rebel_Four It was in Star Wars Tales Issue No. Nine, which was collected in Star Wars Tales Vol. Three.

Power... unlimited POWAHHH