THE BASICS:

Set No.: 8010
Set Name: Darth Vader
Theme: Star Wars (Technic)
Price: $40 USD (pre-tax, at Target)
Pieces: 408 (my count- includes all extras)

THE GOOD:

Very few specialized pieces. The bulk of the parts are good "accessory
pieces" (small pieces that are always needed in large quantities, e.g. small
liftarms, small axles, axle connectors in different angles, etc.) mostly 
in black, an excellent color. Of course you have a big plastic helmet and
large fabric cape, but those are necessary for this model.

A lot of good new parts:
18 black 1x2 liftarms (http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/x68)
6 black "Technic Axle Joiner Perpendicular Double Split"
(http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/41678)
10 black 1x4 liftarm (thin) (http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/x200)
12 trans. red axle joiners (not a new part, but a cool color)
1 milky-white, or pearly-white axle joiner (very interesting color)
(a detailed inventory will soon follow- I made notes during construction)

A menacing appearance. This model looks awesome when viewed from several
feet away. Think of it as a sculpture with Technic parts. Althogh Vader's
structure is sparse, the black cape hides it well. All you see when looking
at it is a black area with shiny highlights from the pieces. It looks really
cool.

THE BAD:

Very limited functions. A minifig has more articulation than this stiff model.

His head is on a ball and socket joint. His arms are hinged at the sholders
and can be moved up and down via linkages to levers sticking out his back.
His right wrist is hinged so the light saber will move up and down.

His left thumb is hinged so he could possibly grasp something. He has 3
fingers on the right, and 4 fingers on the left. Perhaps Luke got a little
closer in those duels than we first thought.

The legs are a joke. No hinges, no ball and socket joints, no movement. They
are completely static. TLC could have made me happy by putting in a few 1x16
black beams instead of all those 3x5 liftarms.

The left leg is set back at an angle, which gives Vader a nice looking
stance. You can easily reconfigure his legs so that they're both pointing
straight out, but the model may loose some stability.

COMPARISONS:

Vader is a much better model than the storm trooper (set 8008). 8008 had too
many styling panels and other large specialized pieces. 8008 also looked
terrible and was a poor representation of the real thing.

Vader is not as good as the destroyer droid (set 8002). 8002 had a lot of
mechanical functions that made it fun to play with, despite the fact it
didn't always work correctly. Vader has about zero playability.

SUMMARY:

The new Technic Vader is an awesome looking model and certainly worthy of
being displayed on the mantle. If you're buying one only for looks, then $40
isn't so bad. If you're buying it to play with, don't. Get a Barbie doll
instead.

If you want it for the parts (which is a good option) then I'd wait until it
hits $30 before buying multiple copies. That's my plan ;-)

TJ