19 May 2005 13:58 GMT / By Stuart Miles

The ultimate in fancy dress gear, the Darth Vader Voice Changer allows you to don the Vader mask and become the man himself as George prepares to drown the world with one last merchandising hurrah.

Once donned, and yes it does fit adults (well, just about) you have a number of options at your disposal. The first is the classic heavy breathing, the second is a series of pre-determined phrases such as “Your powers are weak (old man)” or “The Force is with you!” and the third is to actually speak into a microphone that will change your voice to sound like James Earl Jones.

At first, the microphone was pretty useless until we discovered that for the voice-changing element to work, you have to be virtually sucking on the microphone. This makes the experience interesting but judging by the rubberised casing surrounding the mic, one that’s probably expected.

After that, it was pretty much plain sailing. The helmet comes in two parts, just like the real Vader mask in the films. The faceplate is one part and the helmet the other. This did allow adjustments to be made to get the helmet on and for large or small heads, the adjustment strap is similar to a baseball cap.

The above controls are actually built into a plate that hangs off the faceplate and rests on your chest, again just like in the movies although you don’t get any other elements including the cloak in the box - so you’ll have to make the rest of it yourself for that fancy dress party. Surprisingly you do get batteries however, meaning you’re ready to go out of the box.

Verdict

If you’re looking for a fancy dress mask that will allow you to go as the Dark Overlord then this will certainly fit the bill. Of course going to a Party as the purveyor of the Dark Side does have its problems - notably that the mask doesn’t have a pie hole and if you are expecting to eat and drink at the party you are attending you might as well forget it (we never did see Vader enjoying a cold glass of chardonnay in the films).

Our parting advice, just be careful all that heavy breathing doesn’t get you into trouble.

Score

Review Recap

Made by

Hasbro

Price as reviewed

£30

The good

Well built, batteries in the box, plenty of heavy breathing

The bad

No pie hole so don’t expect to drink or eat at the party you go to

Quick verdict

If you’re looking for a fancy dress mask that will allow you to go as the Dark Overlord then this will certainly fit the bill

Score

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