Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) - SW [S - P3] - Basic (’04 #04)

Hiding his identity, Luke went to Jabba the Hutt’s palace on a mission to rescue Han Solo, frozen in carbonite and a macabre wall sculpture in the crime lord’s abode. Luke attempted to use Jedi mind tricks to influence the Hutt to free Solo, but the loathsome slug of a gangster was immune to such techniques. Jabba captured Luke and cast him into the rancor pit for a battle to the death.

In 2004, if there was one figure where the anticipation was palpable, it would have to be for Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace). Although Hasbro ditched the iconic (Jedi Knight) subtitle moniker, this was supposed to be an incredible and worthy update to the many Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) action figures received in the basic figure line through that point. The action figure was a departure from all previous efforts and what made fans the happiest was that Hasbro approached the figure in a nearly identical manner to the way Kenner did with their classic 1983 release. With a really good likeness to Mark Hamill and 14 points of articulation that, while not perfectly articulating the action figure as we would had definitively wanted, give the figure a nice range of motion, Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) is a tremendous effort when compared to all previous efforts. It isn’t without its share of faults, but we imagine that you’ll be so focused on its positives points that you’re going to let many of his issues go. Or maybe you won’t/ But we bet that you won’t deny that this is a great looking action figure. That being said, until Hasbro creates a version of Jedi Luke with mostly ball-jointed articulation, the collecting natives will most likely remain boisterous and clamor for a truly definitive update. Part of the final phase of the Star Wars “Saga” lineup, Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) met Hasbro’s expectations so much that they immediately reused the sculpt (plus a few tweaks) to bring the Holographic Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) ('04 #11) action figure which appeared sequentially just a few numbers away from this figure.

Save for the hinge-jointed knees, Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) comes with 12 other points of swivel articulation. You know our position on this type of movement. While useful and perhaps even beneficial for many parts of an action figure’s body, swivel articulation limits any part of the body by allowing 360 degrees worth of movement in only one plane. As you know, our own bodies would be useless if we were limited to this kind of “articulation” ourselves. But that’s what’s been bestowed to Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) and at times it is frustrating to realize the figure’s limitations. The figure looks pretty good and the facial likeness is indeed remotely familiar to the onscreen character, but he has an awkward lean to the right that makes taking this action figure completely seriously a bit difficult. When fully dressed and assembled with his accessories, the lean is certainly diminished; but should you choose to pose Luke without the covering cloak, you’ll notice that a few things are indeed out of place here. Despite its faults, the sculpt is actually pretty good. There is a great degree of detail and texture in the clothing and for all intents and purposes the action figure truly looks excellent. If you don’t allow the negatives of it to affect your appreciation, you’ll find that there is a great amount of things to absolutely find interesting here. One detail we aren’t crazy about is the right widely opened hand. We know Hasbro wanted to create a “Force wave/use the Force” gesture, but they should have included an interchangeable “normal” hand because it’s essentially unusable when you’re utilizing it for the included accessories.

Luke’s accessories include a removable soft-goods Jedi cloak. Other than it disappointingly being cut from a much to shiny fabric, we like it. It’s a great fit for the action figure and its drape hangs just about right (or at the very least good enough) for us. It’s easily removable and replaceable which is always a nice feature of soft-goods. Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) also comes with a skiff guard blaster and a fully lit lightsaber. Obviously the lightsaber comes later at the end of the Jabba the Hutt sequence in the film, but it’s still a noteworthy accessory here. There are other things about this sculpt that you may appreciate as well. While perhaps not necessary, Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) can fold his arms behind his back, just like you would have an Imperial officer do, or if you can find a pair of shackles you can have the folded in the front to recreate his capture of Endor with Darth Vader. (Sadly he is still wearing his vest though and that configuration would be screen inaccurate.) But clearly you can sense that this action figure brings versatility to the line and if you have enough creativity of your own you will be able to achieve some great things with this action figure. It’s without question that better Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) action figures will come our way, but this one will cause a splash in more ways than one. If you look at this action figure as a sum, you’ll find that it is absolutely the closest we’ve come to getting the most accurate modern version of the classic 1983 figure updated. And that is always a gesture that makes us appreciate Hasbro for considering the hearts of collectors everywhere.