Sideshow presents the Darth Vader Mythos Statue, a stunning new addition to their lineup of Star Wars collectibles.

The people of the eastern European country are increasingly embracing the western culture, a transition that angers Russia, which has been involved in a pro-Moscow separatist insurgency in the Ukraine's eastern parts. Located in an old factory courtyard on the outskirts of the port city, the statue was scheduled for demolition until Alexander Milov — a local artist whose work was featured at Burning Man in 2015 — proposed a different solution: encasing the existing Lenin statue within a new titanium facade, creating the world’s first monument to Darth Vader. Vladimir Lenin fell victim to the so-called Darth Vader movement in Ukraine on Friday when some Ukrainians added new elements to his communist-era statue in Ukraine's fourth largest city.The sculpture measures 8ft from base to tip but Darth himself is 7ft 2” - the same height as Spencer when he’s inside the famous costume. The Darth Vader Premium Format Figure measures 25” tall and 14” wide as the Sith Lord stands regally and ruthlessly atop a Mustafar castle themed base. With stonelike texture and fiery red and orange paint applications, this fortress serves as Vader’s volcanic headquarters in his quest to crush the Rebellion. Clutching his iconic red lightsaber, which includes a light-up feature, the Dark Lord of the Sith is a menacing figure facing off against any foe. Capturing the crossroads in his character evolution, Sideshow’s Star Wars Mythos statue includes two portraits — one featuring his iconic helmet with slight battle damage and one un-helmeted to reveal the scarred visage of Anakin Skywalker™ completely consumed by his own darkness. I was born in the USSR, and I am a child of a country that doesn’t exist any more,” Ukrainian sculptor Alexander Milov tells BBC Culture over the phone from Odessa, via his English-speaking wife Margaret. “I wish to save the monuments of history. I’m trying to clean up the operating system and keep them on the hard drive of memory.” Margaret laughs at the metaphor. Honestly, I did not like the idea of destroying it, so we decided on a more flexible solution," he said, adding that they were planning to install a Wi-fi router on the statue's head so that he can "communicate with the other Siths."

Like the other pieces in the Mythos line, Vader is a polystone statue designed at 1:5 scale. Rather than being based on specific moments from the Star Wars movies, the Mythos pieces take more artistic license with the franchise. This Vader statue, for instance, alludes to a major battle with the Rebel Alliance, perhaps drawing inspiration from Marvel's "Vader Down" comic book storyline. He was supposed to bring balance to the socioeconomic forces of industrialized society, not leave them in darkness! But — just like the prequels, before we even saw them — we all know how that turned out. The pose of the old statue has proven to be strikingly appropriate for the new subject; Lenin’s long coat has become Darth Vader’s flowing cape, and the former Soviet leader’s clenched fist now holds a lightsaber. This is not Lord Vader’s first foray into Ukrainian politics, as the Sith master put forward by the Internet Party of Ukraine as a candidate for prime minister in 2014 (the statue is not a project of the Internet Party, despite Milov’s past involvement with them). The statue measures just under 25 inches tall. The Collector's Edition version comes with both masked and unmasked heads. The Exclusive Edition includes two bonus accessories - a partly damaged masked head (clearly inspired by Vader's duel with Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars Rebels) and an alternate lightsaber blade wreathed in flame. Yet it is far from being a publicity stunt. Milov is responding to the so-called ‘de-Communisation’ law passed by the Ukrainian parliament in April 2015, calling for the removal of Communist symbols such as monuments or place names. “We didn’t want to vandalise the statue but the monument to Lenin was due to be dismantled in connection with the new law,” says Milov. “I decided to take a monument to Lenin and transform it into a monument to Darth Vader, because at this moment Darth Vader is a political figure in Ukraine.”

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Martin Davies, commercial manager from the company said: “As soon as we read about Spencer’s appeal, we were only too happy to help but we had to do the move as a split operation. This piece could even be viewed as a sequel to Sideshow's previous Darth Vader Mythos statue. But where that statue showcased Vader in a moody, contemplative pose, this is all about the power of the Dark Side. We kept Darth at our yard for safe keeping and he was stood guard over our office until we could get hold of a suitable hire van to allow us to deliver it. Martin added: “We parked up on the pavement very briefly while we loaded the sculpture into place - right by Spencer’s front door. We did get a few horn toots from some drivers as they passed bemused as to why there was an 8ft Darth Vader flying in the air.”