The New Zealand Mints Chibi coins make the jump to the Star Wars Universe with Darth Vader

Old Wheezy is back on a coin and this time he represents the first release in the New Zealand Mints ‘Chibi’ range for Star Wars. We’ve already seen the big-headed concept on coins for DC Comics and for Harry Potter, but we can be sure that Star Wars will get its fair share as it is easily the mints biggest franchise.

Darth Vader must have been the easiest Chibi to do – after all, you just have to look at Dark Helmet from the Mel Brooks classic comedy ‘Spaceballs’, as the perfect example! Instantly recognisable, Vader is the perfect launch subject and the NZM has done a perfect job with the translation. We’d imagine Chewbacca, or Darh Maul would also make good subjects, but the franchise is replete with them.

The same relatively small mintage of 2,000 accompanies this one-ounce, coloured Darth, and the price remains stable at $95.00 USD. A pretty neat collectible for the Star Wars fan, it is available now.

What is Chibi? It’s a cultural phenomenon that originated in Japan, and in the West, is mostly known for its small, chubby caricatures with undersized bodies and oversized heads – also known by the term super-deformed (SD). This is a popular style in anime and manga, and also with the ubiquitous Funko figures that caricature characters from numerous popular culture franchises.