Darth Vader from "Star Wars" (1977)

Scale: 1:8
Initial Release: 1978
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity: 3

About the Design

With his black leather-ish body suit, mechanized chest plate, flowing black cape and angular face mask topped by a Nazi-style helmet, Darth Vader is arguably the most recognizable villain in motion picture history. First seen striding arrogantly through the shattered wall of the Rebel Blockade Runner in the opening sequence of "Star Wars" (1977), his evil visage elicited immediate hisses from movie-goers who instantly understood that writer/director/producer George Lucas had reached back to the iconography of the 1930's movie serials to create a new archetype that would forever personify unrepentant evil. 

About the Kit

This is was another first-generation "Star Wars" kit that hit the shelves in the late winter of 1978.  The right arm rotates, allowing one to pose the "glow-in-the-dark" light-saber at various heights.  Vader has been kitted numerous times since, often in vinyl. 

This polystyrene model was built from an original issue.