Monday, February 1, 2016

I Will Finish What You Started


Hot Toys, Sideshow Collectibles, Funko, Lego, Hasbro, Disney, Mighty Muggs....
you name it, there's a Vader just waiting to be bought.
Ever since the original Bad Boy of Space, Darth Vader, stepped through the smouldering doorway of the Tantive IV his likeness has been the cornerstone of the Star Wars Universe merchandise machine. From candy and cereal boxes to action figures, statues and life-sized replicas of the Sith Lord there is no shortage of his presence when it comes to cool shit to buy. There isn't a rebel in the galaxy who even comes close to the force of his selling power.
I've been riding the Vader train for quite some time now and, even though I have more Sith than I can shake a lightsaber at, I know it's only a mere fraction of what is actually out there. So where is all the love coming from? Vader is the bad guy after all, isn't he? Aren't we supposed to root for the rebels? Han has swagger. Leia has the gold bikini. Luke has... The Force I guess. What is it? Is it the cape? Or is it simply that Darth Vader is so frickin' cool looking that nobody cares that he hunted down and killed all the Jedi (including a room full of children which is a pretty big douche-bag card to overlook).
I can't speak for everyone, especially the new generation of Star Wars fans or the poor souls who were introduced to the franchise via The Prequels, but I think I touched on the reason at the start of all this. As a kid I had no idea what to expect when I went to the theatre to see Star Wars other than it was a space movie. At 10 years old I'd never seen one in a theatre before. I honestly don't even know if I'd seen one on TV except for maybe an old black and white Buck Rogers episode here and there. So, yeah, sitting there watching this giant laser-shooting triangle space ship swallow up a tiny little blockade runner was very much a, "holy shit this is cool", moment that lead right up to the introduction of the man in black. The dude just strutted on in like he owned the place, barked a few orders through a black helmet and mask combo, swished his cape, picked up a rebel with one hand and then choked the life out of him all before breakfast. It. Was. Awesome. Vader was going to be our tour guide on this wild adventure and as a kid the idea of being the guy that had a sweet black suit of armour, fearsome voice, wicked red laser sword and who didn't take crap from anyone was just perfect. I was sold at that moment and today I'm still buying.