Luke Skywalker - TBS [P3] - 3.75 Inch Figures (Exclusive)

Convinced he can turn his father away from the dark side of the Force, Luke Skywalker surrenders to Darth Vader and is brought before the Emperor.

The biggest surprise of 2015, arguably, is the official death of the super-articulated basic figure line (as a mainstream release). Everything made for mass market is either simply articulated action figures with five points of articulation or 6” The Black Series figures. Hasbro did show mercy however and is making a very small supply of super-articulated 3.75” action figures as Walmart exclusives, and they’re billed under The Black Series banner as a complement to the mainstream 6” line. This in an of itself has enraged many, but others are able to view it in a bittersweet manner because the bottom line is that at least we’re still getting them. After a woeful and apparently very limited first wave, future waves contain mostly all-new sculpts of characters from The Force Awakens, but the repacks are still continuing as well. Sadly, the repacks aren’t the wisest choices and Hasbro should really know better at this point. That being said, wave one (while all repacks) has a particularly excellent action figure that we feel is worthy of re-release. Luke Skywalker (Lightsaber Construction) from The Vintage Collection (as well as his secondary appearance in the Toys R Us exclusive The Black Series [Phase II] Jabba’s Rancor Pit multipack) gets another slightly different repaint for The Black Series [Phase III] Walmart exclusive lineup. Now he comes packaged in a truly dedicated collectors’ line with deluxe packaging. The basic card back is now officially gone for the super-articulated action figures. How sad is that?

By now you should be well versed in this action figure. Aside from the wrong type of soft-goods robe and a wrong parting of hair, the newly and simply titled Luke Skywalker probably hasn’t looked better from Hasbro as they’ve changed up the paint operations just a little bit more in the hope of making him as perfect as can be. That distracting sand accumulation on the tips of his boots are still there, but aside from that we believe this version of Luke Skywalker is looking pretty darn good. As a figure with an outstanding 26 points of articulation, this Luke Skywalker action figure can do anything. And that’s what collectors want to see from figures in The Black Series [Phase III] 3.75” collection. Originally described as a “deleted scene” version of Luke Skywalker, the collecting community quickly transitioned this action figure as one, if not THE, of the best Return Of The Jedi Luke Skywalker action figures ever produced. And we have to agree with that sentiment. This figure looks just as good as it did in 2011. The details etched into this face is just simply brilliant. The look on his face is expressive and contemplative. And you can tell that Luke, although very brave and somewhat confident, is very concerned about executing a safe mission to rescue his friends. Luke is extremely proportionate from head to toe. He has a very thin but athletic frame. Many collectors don’t like the ball-jointed wrists, but we’re quite fond of them. They offer versatility that simple swivel wrists just cannot accommodate.

Just like previous releases of this figure, Luke Skywalker comes with all of the original accessories. Both the lightsaber hilt and the lightsaber “wrench” (for lack of a better word) are so intricately detailed and look completely realistic. The “wrench” itself is alarmingly thin and tiny – don’t lose it because if you misplace it somewhere we doubt that you’ll ever be able to find it again. The lightsaber hilt has the power compartment doors open! You can see some of the tiny mechanics of the lightsaber inside. This is micro-managed detail for an action figure, but we couldn’t be happier that Hasbro’s sculptors were so specific with the accessories’ designs and this is what collectors’ figures should entail. You also will receive a regular fully lit lightsaber with nothing new added to it really. It would have been nice if Hasbro would include the 1983 vintage figure’s skiff guard blaster. But realizing that this figure is technically based on a scene that occurred before he intercepted the blaster from one of the Gamorrean Guards, it makes complete sense. Packaged in “Mini Me” The Black Series [Phase III] packaging, Luke Skywalker looks very nice in the new 2015 line look that shares the same coloring to support The Force Awakens main line. Wave 2 is expected to create a much bigger splash than wave 1, but with only three or four figures per wave, it doesn’t seem like enough diversity will be released in this Walmart exclusive line. We have high hopes for this line to succeed, but we definitely have our reservations.