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Emporer Palpatine Throne Environment
Sideshow - Star Wars
"The
following is a guest review. The review
and photos do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Michael Crawford
or Michael's Review of the Week, and are the opinion and work of the
guest author."
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Michael checks in with a look
at Palpatine's Throne - take it away, Michael!
There seems to be a growing trend among collectors of 12” scaled
figures. That trend seems to be that we think our figures are
tired of standing up all the time. They need a place to rest
their bottoms and kick up their feet once in a while! This
growing trend has manifested itself as myriad releases of furniture
made for or packaged with our favorite 1:6 scale figures.
Sometimes, this furniture is as expensive as real-life
furniture! Other times, it figures into the overall price of
the figure, such as Hot Toys Godfather, or the recent Forrest Gump
figure.
This review is for the former, a very expensive item that some might
say is absolutely integral to the figure it’s meant to be paired
with. The Emperor’s iconic throne left such an indelible
impression that fans begged with Sideshow that they make it when they
finally made the man who is meant to fill it, Emperor
Palpatine. Was it worth all the polls, petitions, and
pleading? Let’s see.
Packaging
- **1/2
While there doesn’t seem to be anything inherently wrong with the
packaging, there does seem to be a variation in it that causes the
likelihood of item breakage to go up significantly. Along
with the custom-cut Styrofoam it wrests in, the throne is also meant to
have two Styrofoam blocks wedged between the chair and the
base. These two pieces appear to be absolutely imperative, as
there have been numerous complaints of breakage on occasions when the
blocks were not properly placed. It’s something to be
cautious of when purchasing.
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Sculpting
- ****
The Throne looks excellent! It is perfectly scaled to
Sideshow’s 12” figures, and has nice, smooth lines and well detailed
controls on the top and arms of the chair. The sculpted
padding looks good as well, as does the detailed base that the chair
rides on.
Paint
-
****
The paintwork is clean and movie accurate, with lots of little detail
work around the dials, buttons and knobs. The shell of the
throne has a slight sheen to it, which is very accurate to the movie
prop.
Durability
- *1/2
The throne is made from polystone, a derivation of plastic, that allows
for a satisfying weight to the piece. Unfortunately, a price
is paid for that satisfying weight. Though collectors of
static figures such as statues and PF’s seem to prefer polystone, I’m a
bit put off by the delicacy of the piece. I could have wished
that the throne, and many other environments intended to be used with
12” figures, was made from more durable plastic. Plastic,
which produces pieces that look just as nice, is less weighty, leading
to cheaper shipping, and can take knocks a lot better, which is
important in the world of 1:6 scale figures, where positions and
displays are constantly changing and being moved.
The heaviness and brittleness of polystone is anathema to 12”
collecting, where a single fall can demolish a collectible if the owner
is not exceedingly careful.
Articulation
- **
A somewhat surprising aspect of this polystone environment is that it
has some articulation!
The throne revolves on it’s base, the same as it’s movie counterpart
did, and does so quite smoothly. However, this seems to be
the major problem with the piece, as the point of revolution is
particularly thin to hold the weight of the chair, so the possibility
of eventual breakage is quite high if not handled with extreme care.
Value
- **
At over $120, this is not a cheap accessory! You can buy
yourself a good office chair for that amount, with real cushioning and
everything! While figures look very commanding sitting in the
throne, the price point is definitely too high for what it
is. I cannot help but think that the price would have been a
lot cheaper if it had been made from regular plastic, and it would have
been a lot more durable as well! Win-win for the collector.
The chair is more expensive than the figure that sits on it, and that
seems a bit out-of-proportion as well. I think $60 would have
been a fair price for this.
Things
to Watch Out For -
There have been several reports of breakage, so if you are buying it
in-store, ask to inspect it first. If you are buying on-line,
make sure the seller has a return/exchange policy you can live with.
Also, there is a small pipe that juts out of the head of the throne
which could easily snap if you’re not paying attention.
Overall
- **1/2
The Throne looks excellent, and is indeed an important accessory to go
with Sideshow’s Emperor Palpatine figure. The Emperor without
his throne is like Han Solo without his Wookie. But the price
and the quality control issues may give some people pause.
Scoring Recap:
Packaging - **1/2
Sculpting - ****
Durability - *1/2
Paint - ****
Articulation - **
Value - *1/2
Overall - **1/2
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer.
Photos and text by Michael Padgett.
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