[En Sabah Nerd]

The Emperor arrived from Amazon today. I never even saw the first black series Emperor in stores but I've also seen how disappointing it was so even without his imminent return in Episode IX the guy was in need of a redo. For the most part this figure checks all of the boxes but it is certainly not perfect. Starting with the robe, Hasbro did a great job stitching the hood so that it sits right but they fumbled the sleeves. The excess material on the inside of the sleeves just sticks out and in general seems to get in the way of manipulating things. Overall the soft goods are still notably improved over the initial figure's release. Articulation matches with the standards seen in the rest of the line, which is to say he's well articulated. Palpatine comes with a total of three heads to choose from; plain serious, evil grinning, and angry with gritted teeth. From other user reviews I've seen the paint quality can vary from person to person but all three of mine came out fine. The fact that any color besides pasty white was applied is technically inaccurate to the movie but in hand all three portraits still capture the character very well. His accessories include alternate lightning hands, his walking cane, and his throne. The lightning hands are a mixed bag, they're well sculpted and I like the color of the lightning but overall the paint gets funky as for whatever reason his fingers and the beginning of the lightning share this grey color. His throne is simple but nice, it should be just a pinch taller though. He doesn't have his lightsaber and while this doesn't bother me since he didn't have it in RotJ I understand if people want it since they gave ESB Yoda his saber. In conclusion I really like how the overall figure came out but I don't really think the chair and alternate bits fully justify the double price.