Ever since it hit the scene back in the ’70s, Star Wars was an early pioneer of movie merchandising. Decades later the gravy train of action figures, posters, lunch boxes, notebooks continues. Underoos, Shrinky Dinks, Jell-o molds, clothes hangers, chess sets, virtual keyboards, book ends, and um… I forgot where I was going with this.
For those of you who think it’s all been done before, we present to you something new from Bandai. Behold: Samurai Taisho Darth Vader.
Samurai Taisho Darth Vader fuses the aesthetics of feudal Japan and imperial galaxy far, far away seamlessly. While resembling a traditional suit of samurai armor, we can still see the nuances of Vader’s original suit with his chest plate and that thing on his belt that looks like a 1970s TV remote control. We can compare with this more traditional Vader figure also from Bandai.
Samurai Vader’s armor is also decorated with the emblem of the Galactic Empire which conveniently resembles a kamon or Japanese family crest.
Samurai Taisho Darth Vader is currently on display at the International Tokyo Toy Show 2014 at Big Sight along with some other Star Wars figures from Bandai. The event will be open to the public on 14 and 15 June.
If you can’t make it then, don’t worry; in autumn of this year they hope to release these and other Star Wars-themed goods like trading cards, model kits, and candy. Perhaps they can create some other traditional takes on Star Wars characters like Daimyo Lando Calrissian or Rasetsu Jar Jar Binks. We’d totally buy those.
Source: Bandai
International Tokyo Toy Show 2014: Website (Japanese/English)
▼ Bandai is also rolling out some more standard Star Wars items like an X-Wing and some character busts.
