Luminara Unduli - TCW [R] - Basic (CW30)

Jedi Master Luminara Unduli encounters dangerous enemies while bringing a notorious Separatist leader to stand trial. Battle droids attack the Jedi cruiser transporting Nute Gunray, and the assassin Asajj Ventress secretly boards the ship. Luminara faces battles and betrayals as she fights to retain custody of her important prisoner.

Luminara Unduli is certainly a familiar face in the Star Wars universe and has made an impact on fans and collectors alike. And her appearance in The Clone Wars episode Cloak Of Darkness was just as noteworthy. She confronted the most popular villainess probably to ever appear in an Expanded Universe source: Asajj Ventress. She has appeared in multiple The Clone Wars installments and she has grown to become a very relevant Jedi to fans. Even an [albeit cameo] appearance in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith tied her to all the Clone Wars background stories she partook in and showed that her leadership skills were something to be emulated by all other Jedi and Padawan learners. Hasbro has taken quite a few stabs throughout the years at the action figure interpretation of Unduli, but with this particular release, they have wholly nailed the perfect version of her. This is unquestionably the best version of Luminara Unduli we have ever received. (And we are fans of the films first, so this is a very big statement for us to make.) She is everything and more you could wish for from an action figure and she is free from any imperfections you may or may not expect her to have. From the expertly tailored soft-goods to the beautiful paint job, she is without a doubt the most stunning action figure of the year. This makes us so excited for the potential female Jedi Hasbro may decide to add to their roster!

Let us just come out and say immediately that Hasbro went above and beyond the call of duty to produce a beautiful animated action figure of Luminara Unduli! And not only is this the best action figure yet of her (including all realistic versions too), it is probably one of the most impressive action figures yet to come out of Hasbro. She is everything you would expect a female action figure should be. And we would like to clarify what we mean by this. Too often, female action figures are proverbially destroyed by the use of plastic molded dresses and super-limited movement. Luminara is anything but, in fact, she has a lot more articulation then she needs. (But we aren't complaining at all!) With a whopping 14 points of articulation, she can be posed in an infinite array of positions while looking excellent in any one and if you think the magnificence of the figure stops here, you would be sadly mistaken. Hasbro ensured that every detail of her Jedi costume was replicated with exacting standards and the colors finish off the already beautifully sculpted parts. The pattern on her loin cloth is ornate and beautiful and finished off perfectly in gold. Her soft-goods dress is light and see-through, yet covers her legs very well. Her hands are so small and in perfect scale with the rest of her body. This should be Hasbro's approach on all female figures, especially the disaster that was 2009's LC Queen Amidala (BD08) figure!

Luminara Unduli also has a portrait that doesn't deviate at all from the image we saw in the television series. We have heard whispers of fans critiquing that the diamond pattern on her chin is off, but we are honestly wondering what they are talking about. Every detail is perfect. (For example, the width of her nose is spot on the onscreen character! The shape of her eyes is spot on! Every color on her costume is spot on! Need we say more?) And while we see perfection with this figure, it makes us feel homesick about the Legacy Collection. This is obviously NOT something Hasbro intended for us to question, especially after making a spectacular figure like The Clone Wars Luminara Unduli, but we have to wonder why the finest details like capturing likeness is flawlessly executed with the animated figures, but is continuously something to be desired in the realistic Legacy Collection line. Perhaps it is easier for the sculptors to imitate the animated style than the realistic style, we don't know for sure, but we do know that her likeness is uncanny to her appearance in The Clone Wars. And there is no fault to be found on her at all. In fact, we think it is quite eerie how she exactly looks like her reference on the show. Easily one of the best action figures of the year and the best so far in The Clone Wars line, we hope Hasbro keeps their standards as high for future figures. And we hope the energy gets shared in the Legacy Collection as well.

UPDATE: (April 2010) Hasbro has updated the lightsaber for Luminara Unduli. The first version was cast in a pale green plastic and the updated version includes a new blade cast in a very bright green color. More information on this running change can be found HERE.