Palpatine VC 200 & Throne Room Playset Review

Yes, this is a 2 part review, so I'll start with the base figure first. The VC 200 Palpatine is a re-use of the VC 86 Darth Sidious figure from The Pahntom Menace. He still has 14 POA, has a cloth body robe, and a vinyl hood for his head. However, this time Palpy has a brand new head sculpt, and his skin color is painted a grayish tone. His face is sculpted with an angry expression, similar to the ROTS Darth Sidious. Palpatine comes with his cane, and hands that have lightning shooting out. Swapping hands is quite easy, and does not damage the figure at all. Both figures are well sculpted and painted. The new head sculpts are simply amazing! Hasbro has found a way to get better at using photo real technology in the 3.75 inch scale, and here it shows! There are no issues with moving the joints, and the cloth robes do not hinder movement whether you pose him standing up or sitting down. Despite using an older body sculpt, this figure still looks good in 2021. Now onto the Throne Room Playset which is an exclusive from the Hasbro Pulse Con. The figure is the same, except the facial expression is one of calm. The neatest feature about this isn't the Throne, or the figure itself. It's the box. The box has a slip cover, and the insides fold out to reveal the Throne and an area where you could pose a dueling Luke and Vader for Palpy to watch. So if you get this, you might not want to throw the box away. The figure has a couple extra accessories. Yes he has the cane, the lightning hands, but he also comes with Luke's unlit lightsaber hilt. The accessories are stored in a slide out tray located under the Throne so like I said, don't throw away the box!!! Other than that, it's the same figure as VC 200. The Throne sits on a small pedestal and can be placed on any envienvironment. The Throne also has a window backdrop with a swappable cardboard display of empty space and the Endor battle raging on. While I would not have minded seeing this as a general release as it was in a couple of European countries, it's still a good set. Hopefully Hasbro makes more available as now this is sold out and if you want it you have to pay a heavy price on Scalper Bay. So, what if you can't find the Playset Palpy? Well, I have a customizing option. If you have the 5 POA Palpy from the Target 3 pack, take the head from that figure and swap it with the VC 200 Palpatine. The head fits on the ball joint and the hood still fits well on the 5 POA Palpy while it rests on the new VC 200 figure. You might want to swap out the VC 200 Palpatine hands with an Evolutions Palpatine or VC 86's hands. Either way, this is the definitive Palpatine from Rturn of the Jedi, and is a must for your collection! VC 200: https://www.galacticfigures.com/figureDetails.aspx?id=28138 Throne Room Playset: https://www.galacticfigures.com/figureDetails.aspx?id=27115