Luke Skywalker - TLC - Basic (BD 38)

Luke is treated for injuries while on Bespin, when Darth Vader cut off the young Jedi's right hand during their lightsaber duel. On board the Rebel Alliance's medical frigate Redemption, Luke is fitted with a cybernetic hand by a medical droid.

Luke Skywalker (with the unofficial subtitle of "Medical Frigate") is a real treat for fans of the Original Trilogy. And him being a treat is especially true to those looking to complete the cliff-hanging final scene in the fan-favorite Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back film. In a surprising move at the end of 2007, we were first given the Lando Calrissian (In Smuggler's Outfit) (30 39) figure. It is particularly interesting that Hasbro released Lando almost two years before the infinitely more popular Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia characters also from that scene. But just like anything with Hasbro, late is better than never. Luke Skywalker is a retool of the 2004 VOTC Luke Skywalker sculpt with a new head, right arm, lower legs, and feet. But you would barely even notice this since he has been strategically 'redone' by Hasbro. In fact, this version of Luke is extremely well done that we're sure you will likely not even notice all of the borrowed parts (which essentially is the entire figure). Every detail of the figure is noteworthy. Because he is a retool of the VOTC Luke Skywalker, you'll know that he has been designed excellently and that incredible design trend follows here as well. As most collectors know, any figure with ball-jointed hips will thoroughly impress, and this figure impresses. But apparently many in the collecting community did not find this approach to Luke as favorable as we did. We are very puzzled by the rumbles of dissatisfaction for his head sculpt that we have heard from other collectors. We think it is one of the most authentic Luke heads yet (and specific to his likeness is Episode V too)! And the face has the perfect grimace that is reminiscent of what a child would look like if he were getting a booster shot (or much worse) in the doctor's office. (Imagine the look on anyone's face realizing your hand has just been replaced with a prosthetic one!) In fact, we hope that this portrait gets used over and over again because we think it is so much better than most other “Luke heads” out there. Luke Skywalker is also perfectly in scale with the other figures in this line, and this just makes him perfect.

Luke has a bit too much of a tan complexion. His skin tone is consistent throughout so thankfully he doesn’t look bizarre. It darker skin tone doesn't detract too much from the phenomenal head sculpt, but we wished that Hasbro would have erred on the side of caution and made him a little bit paler. And since his eyes have been painted brightly in blue, it makes his skin look even darker. There is a fantastic woven soft-goods robe that looks incredibly well-tailored on him, except for maybe the straps being too large (but again, not enough to detract from the figure). The drape and threading are beautiful, and it looks very authentic to the one seen in the film. We still believe that there will be those who think the robe is too bulky. Those people would be wrong. It looks great on him. Luke is outfitted in khaki colored pants and very comfortable (looking at least) shoes on his feet. These pieces seem to be very film accurate too. Once Luke is disrobed, you are aware just how much articulation this figure truly has. With a more-than-satisfactory 25 points of articulation, Luke once again is everything you want and more. He includes a strong and tight waist joint and ball-jointed hips (an absolute must for today's action figure standards), and we are very thankful that Hasbro included this here. The figure almost appears that he has more than one waist joint, but only one is functioning. He is nearly capable of every position that a human body can attain, from yoga to leaping! His right-hand shows incredible detail of the cybernetics from his surgery. And he comes with a tiny silver accessory that Hasbro will neither confirm nor deny as the tool that 2-1B used to poke Luke's fingers. They also won't concede that it's the commlink Luke used to communicate to Lando and Chewbacca on the Millennium Falcon. (The conversation was about confirming plans to meet at some rendezvous point on Tatooine.) But whatever it is, please hold on to it tightly as it can get easily lost!

Interestingly, this figure has some continuity issues as he comes with his blue lightsaber. As we all know, this lightsaber was history after Luke’s battle on Bespin with Darth Vader (it went down the same exhaust hole as his hand). Yes, that one. We are not going to heckle Hasbro’s decision to include it. For us, this figure is sourced from The Empire Strikes Back. He just comes with some extra “unnecessary” accessories. Luke obviously did indeed have the appropriate Force skill sets before the "lightsaber making" story in Shadows Of The Empire to design a new lightsaber. He may have constructed a new blue lightsaber before the green one (and perhaps even before the end of The Empire Strikes Back)! Are we looking at this a bit too deeply? Perhaps, but we don't think so. After all, it is all part of the fun of being a Star Wars fan. And Hasbro's own inclusion of the lightsaber accessory automatically creates more EU backstory than they probably even realize! You may also want to take note that within the Build A Droid parts, two differently colored versions of U-3PO parts exist and both have been found, one in silver and one in a champagne color. (Editor’s Note: More information about this variation can be found here.) Luke is the standout figure in the wave for us and a worthy addition to the The Legacy Collection line and we hope that Hasbro will continue to create these great novelty versions of core characters to keep changing the line up. We find it particularly amazing that a little creative brainstorming can totally reinvent an old figure into something new and special. Luke Skywalker is a perfect example of this. It really aides in making the line new and fresh and this is what is needed to ensure the 3.75" line longevity! There is one more thing that we would like to articulate, and that is we wish Hasbro would go back to the more specific subtitling when figures are released. If you're an archivist, a list of 30 figures just called "Luke Skywalker" can be confusing (and irritating). We hope Hasbro will go back to the Luke Skywalker [Medical Frigate] convention just like in the olden days! Luke Skywalker will rank as one of Hasbro’s best. Be sure you get him into your collections somehow!