LEGO books are sort of funny. Unlike basically every other line of books on the market, just as many (if not more) people buy each LEGO book released not for the books themselves (many don’t even read them), but for the bonus exclusive LEGO minifigure packaged with the book. Earlier in the month I fell in love with the exclusive LEGO Firox minifigure packed with the LEGO Chima Dictionary, but today we finally got photographic confirmation of a figure that will likely appeal to a lot more people: the LEGO Star Wars The Dark Side exclusive LEGO Emperor Palpatine minifigure!

We’ve known for ages that DK Publishing has a LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side book scheduled to be released this summer, but we were totally in the dark (no pun intended) as to who the exclusive minifigure packed-in with the book would be. At least, we were until a few weeks ago, when a photo leaked of a torso print and reversible head for a brand new Emperor Palpatine LEGO minifigure!

At that point it was pretty obvious what the exclusive LEGO Star Wars The Dark Side minifigure was going to be, but finally we can confirm without any doubt that it is in fact Palpatine. User “what” over on the Eurobricks forum has managed to get his hands on the Dark Side LEGO book and post photos of it today–including the exclusive Emperor Palpatine LEGO minifigure included with the set.

Despite the fact that Emperor Palpatine is the ultimate villain of the entire Star Wars movies saga (at least, until Disney starts cranking out new movies next year), we really haven’t gotten a ton of LEGO figures of Palpatine in his Original Trilogy form. The last true OT LEGO Palpatine minifigure released was with the LEGO Death Star 10188, and there have been quite a few improvements to the design of LEGO Star Wars minifigures since the LEGO Death Star set was released in 2008.

This new LEGO Star Wars Emperor minifigure is a humongous improvement over the past Star Wars Original Trilogy versions of the character that LEGO has released. I love the reversible Emperor Palpatine head that you gives you the option of displaying either a grinning or an angry Palpatine!

The LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side book with exclusive LEGO Emperor Palpatine minifigure is now available for order at the discounted price of $13.29 (22% Off!), and is scheduled to be released in August 2014. As I definitely didn’t want to pay full price for a book that I’m primarily only interested in for the minifigure, I was thrilled to snag a pre-order for the LEGO Dark Side book for $13 (with no tax and free shipping) as opposed to having to buy it locally when it comes out for $18.

What do you think of the exclusive LEGO Star Wars Emperor Palpatine minifigure, LEGO collectors? Is this “ultimate” version of LEGO Palpatine enough to sell you a copy of the LEGO Star Wars Dark Side book, or do you just have no need for that book (or a new Original Trilogy Emperor Palpatine minifigure) in your life?