Aboard the Millennium Falcon, Luke Skywalker is instructed by Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the art of lightsaber battle and the ways of the Force.
By the time we reached the middle of 1998, there were more Luke Skywalker action figures based on his appearance from A New Hope than we probably ever needed to receive. So what did Kenner/Hasbro decide was necessary for The Power Of The Force “2” Freeze Frame line? You guessed it. A new version of Luke Skywalker based on his appearance from A New Hope. To their credit, Kenner/Hasbro did change things up a little bit. Sure, it was the same old whiny farm boy Luke Skywalker, but this time the figure was based on the scene when Obi-Wan Kenobi was training him in the ways of the Force on the Millennium Falcon as Han Solo and Chewbacca escorted them to Alderaan. In these scenes, Luke interacts with a training remote, dons a blast shield helmet and utilizes his father’s lightsaber to learn new skills he probably never imagined he would one day need. The new POTF2 figure is actually pretty nice, but you should note that it’s not exactly an all-new figure. It does however sport an all-new likeness and Hasbro even placed a call out sticker on the packaging to brag about it.
Luke Skywalker [All New Likeness] comes with six points of articulation. All of the standard points of articulation is here. Of course at this stage of the game it would have been nice if Kenner/Hasbro had decided to enhance this figure with a little more movement. Because this version of Luke really puts him in action poses, additional points of articulation would have been a very wise investment here. Luke’s body is more streamlined (as it has been with recent versions in other sub-lines) and the all-new likeness is just “alright” by our standards. It really doesn’t look all that different from what Hasbro has given us in the past. But it is a few steps in the right direction so we will give credit where credit is due. We’re most taken with the blast shield helmet accessory anyway. It goes without saying that Kenner/Hasbro will bring collectors better version of Episode IV Luke Skywalker in the future, so it will be wise to hold onto this accessory to use it for those inevitable future Luke Skywalker action figure that will indeed get produced.
Like all figures in the Freeze Frame action slide facet of The Power Of The Force “2” line, Luke Skywalker [All New Likeness] comes with a beautiful film cell that will work in real projectors. It is a still of the scene where Obi-Wan Kenobi gives Luke some initial instruction on how to proper use a lightsaber. These pack-in premiums are something we love in the basic figure line, although there are quite a few collectors out there that see them as unnecessary. What it so cool is that the picture on the reverse side of the card back is the same image used for the Freeze Frame action slide. It’s like you get a larger “blown-up” version of it without doing anything special with it. We’re happy to see Kenner/Hasbro continue to put figures like Luke Skywalker through a constant evolution, making them better and better with each subsequent release. It seems however that Luke Skywalker, as he appeared in Episode IV, needs a little more work than others, but the improvement is constant, and we expect great things in the future.
Collector Notes
Luke Skywalker [All New Likeness]
Status: Luke Skywalker [All New Likeness] is a kit-bashed figure that utilizes the torso from the figure in 1997's POTF2 [FF/TKC] Purchase Of The Droids Cinema Scenes set. The rest of the figure is all-new.
Articulation Count: 6 points (6 areas of articulation)
Articulation Details: swivel head (1), swivel left shoulder (1), swivel right shoulder (1), swivel waist (1), swivel left hip (1), swivel right hip (1)
Accessory Count: 2
Accessory Details: blast shield helmet, lightsaber
Date Stamp: 1998
Collection: 1
Freeze Frame Details: Learning the ways of the Force.
Assortment Number: 69570/69881
UPC: 076281698816
Retail: $5.99 USD
Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on listings.