VC Top 25 in 2025: Number 4

 MY 4TH RANKED FIGURE: 

VC 335 THE MANDALORIAN (ARVALA 7)

Photo from Hasbro Pulse 

WHY I LIKE THIS FIGURE: 

If you got the Blurrg, this is the figure that came with it. The Blurrg is a long requested creature, and well worth the wait for collectors. This version of The Mandalorian is from S1, and with his new shoulder armor. Mando comes with his blaster pistol, which fits in the holster, and his long disintegrator rifle. Unlike previous Mando figures, he comes with a cloth cape. And to fit on the Blurrg, he has barbell hips. Which makes a huge difference in posing for action. The cloth cape can be easily removed if you want to do so. This is a definite Mandalorian for when he rescues Grogu from marauder custody. Plus if you have the Razor Crest he can easily fit in that too, if I had the RC I'd try it out anyway. It also doesn't look like the lower body was altered too much, so it may be possible to add barbell hips to figures that had ball socket hips, in a way that's possibly become easier to do than we thought  

WHY HE'S RANKED 4th: 

Bottom line, he's an excellent figure. It's amazing what just adding barbell hips can do to a figure. Visually at a quick glance, he looks similar to the original Mando. But to a sharp eyed collector, the difference is easy to see. I felt bad opening this figure because the card is a perfect image, Mando on the Blurrg. This version has no jetpack, so take note. To recreate one of the most iconic images from the show, this is the figure you need. 

COLLECTOR'S CHOICE 4th RANKED FIGURE: 

VC 280 DARTH VADER (DEATH STAR II)

Photo from Hasbro Pulse 

WHY I THINK COLLECTORS LIKE THIS FIGURE: 

Darth Vader sells figures. And when this figure came out, it was one of the top selling action figures on Amazon. A brand new card also excited many collectors as this card image has never been used before, showing that sometimes something new can come from something old. This figure is a re-use of the Dark Times Vader buck, with a few additions, like a removable right hand, stump, and a 3 piece removable helmet so you can recreate Anakin Skywalker's final moments. 

INTERESTING FACT: While not technically an Original 96 figure, there has of course been Darth Vader on a ROTJ card, just not like this one. 

WHY HE'S RANKED 4th: 

He's an excellent re-use of the Dark Times Darth Vader buck, so he didn't take away from Hasbro's limited tooling budget for new figures. The face sculpt does seem to represent Hayden Christensen and not Sebastian Shaw, who is on the card. But, collectors and fans went wild on this figure. For it to make to Amazon's best selling action figures list is quite the accomplishment. The Collector's have spoken: this is their favorite Vader. You can re-enact his battle with Luke, as well as his final moments with his son. Simply put, he's an amazing figure! 

Thanks for reading! I overslept this morning so I'm later than usual on the posting time.