Luke Skywalker (Episode IV: A New Hope) [SDCC Exclusive] - Premium Format Figures

Before he was the last of the Jedi Knights, young Luke Skywalker was a kid with dreams of adventure and excitement. Standing on a sandy bluff overlooking his adopted homeworld of Tatooine, young Skywalker looks off into the setting suns with dreams of a better tomorrow, which unbeknownst to him includes a bar full of aliens and the infiltration of the Empire's supreme weapon, the Death Star.

Should high-end collectors be excited or concerned that Sideshow Collectibles has already reused the Luke Skywalker Premium Format sculpt to make a “different enough” new version for a San Diego Comic Con exclusive? Actually, Sideshow did a great job in making the Luke Skywalker (Episode IV: A New Hope) [SDCC Exclusive] Premium Format Figure noticeably different from its original release. And what makes the exclusive version extra special is that it’s based on a deleted scene from A New Hope making it the first Premium Format Figure sourced to the Expanded Universe. There are things that work very well with this piece and then there are things that don’t work at all. Hopefully the collectors that are interested in this piece can find a happy medium so that they’re enticed to purchase this collectible despite its imperfections. Limited to 500 pieces, this San Diego Comic Con exclusive isn’t expected to create ripples that will last a lifetime, but it’s a collectible that should be of interest to high-end collectors or just fans of Luke Skywalker in general.

So there are plenty of great things about this piece. The mixed media combinations work very well together. While Luke Skywalker is mostly comprised of polystone (as is his environmental display base), his arms are cast in a bendable rubbery material which gives it a surprising yet believable ability to pose outside out it standard silhouette. Luke appears too tan, but the deco on his face and hair are remarkable. Some ay question the likeness. It’s not a perfect representation of Luke Skywalker, but it isn’t that bad of a likeness either. But again, the real heroes here are the clothing and the accessories. Luke Skywalker comes with a real shirt, a real belt with leather pouches. Of course you have seen details like this before, but they are essential in giving the piece a high level of realism. And all of these extraneous parts work as a team to make the overall piece succeed tremendously. The newly woven floppy hat and all-new goggles accessory give Luke Skywalker the necessary additions to source him to the deleted scenes from A New Hope. This high-end collectible succeeds as the whole, the sum of his parts, rather than the smaller pieces that make him up alone.

There are also some things that sadly detract from the overall beauty of this piece too. Sideshow clearly tried to amortize costs by using the same exact pose as the original plain Luke Skywalker (Episode IV: A New Hope) Premium Format Figure, but the pose doesn’t work with his extra gear, especially the beautifully sewn moisture farmer poncho. The pose is from the iconic Star Wars scene when Luke is gazing out upon the twin suns. Sideshow Collectibles is “forcing” this very poignant scene to be universal and for that this piece fails. We have even witnessed collectors getting quite upset over this. That scene has been sacred for many fans and collectors and now Sideshow Collectibles seems to be a bit unintentionally irreverent with it. We also don’t like how the macrobinoculars are permanently attached to his hand. The get covered up by his poncho and when you try to make them visible, the poncho looks like it’s at an unnatural drape. The arms are bendable, but many collectors don’t want to affect the integrity of the natural pose of this Premium Format Figure. Luke Skywalker is good, but it’s not stunning or completely perfect. For that, we’re not sure how many will be zealously looking to secure this for their collections.