Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO And R2-D2 - OTC - Commemorative Trilogy DVD Collection

Celebrate the legendary Star Wars trilogy that changed the universe forever, with The Original Trilogy Collection. This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. The finest recreations of the iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are back with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Original Trilogy: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. And, as a tribute to the dedication of Star Wars fans everywhere, we are re-releasing elements of the original packaging that harken back to the creation of Star Wars action figures, which began over 25 years ago with the classic trilogy.

The Original Trilogy Collection came out of nowhere essentially. The Star Wars “Saga” line was abruptly canceled in late Spring of 2004 to prepare for the landmark event of the Original Trilogy’s release on DVD, something that ended up becoming lackluster when all was said and done. Regardless, Hasbro cobbled together a fantastic line of new and old, but updated, figures to include in The Original Trilogy Collection. The packaging was incredible, and the line performed better than expected. However, there were a few missteps, and we believe that all focused around the constant repackaging of the same dang Star Wars figures across so many different types of releases in the line. case in point are the Commemorative Trilogy DVD Collection multipacks. While relevant because they directly support the home video (DVD) release of the Original Trilogy Star Wars films, these multipacks are made irrelevant because most of the figures in them either didn’t ever need to see the light of day again. Or, they repackaged the same figures available through other mediums in The Original Trilogy Collection, most notably the basic figure line.

The Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO And R2-D2 on paper is a wonderful collection of characters. But the figure selection ended up not meeting collectors’ expectations. Luke Skywalker, a slight repaint of 2003’s SW [S - P3] Luke Skywalker (Tatooine Encounter) (’03 #31) figure, is fresh for The Original Trilogy Collection, but the sculpt is outdated, especially when compared to the Luke Skywalker Vintage figures also released at the same time. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a straight repack of the 2000 POTJ Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Jedi Knight) figure which was also repackaged with minimal changes as 2004’s OTC Obi-Wan Kenobi (OTC #15) figure certainly didn’t need to be included in this multipack either. To make matters worse, Hasbro reached back into the furthest depths of the sculpt catalog and dusted off the POTF2 [R] R2-D2 figure. As you know, that figure is so obsolete that it should have never gone back into production again. With an improper vac-metalized dome and minimal articulation (and no moving “feet”), R2-D2 is perhaps the most disappointing inclusion here of each epic all. It’s a shame they felt they could reissue this figure.

For us, C-3PO is the highlight of this set. Dating back to the 1999 The Power Of The Force “2” [FlashBack/CommTech] line and then reissued in the Star Wars “Saga” line, this imperfect but charming version of C-3PO warrants re-release as far as we’re concerned. It’s one of the few versions of C-3PO that capture the precise look of the character as he struggled walking through the harsh Tatooine desert. Yes, C-3PO has too narrow of a head, but we feel that Hasbro did a great deal to the figure to make him as screen-accurate as possible. That said, out of the four figures included in the Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO And R2-D2 Commemorative Trilogy DVD Collection multipack, C-3PO is the highlight. Of course, it’s not saying much when the best figure in a 2004 release was tooled in 1998 (and subsequently released in 1999). It goes without saying that The Original Trilogy Collection was a rushed effort. Hasbro did a great job with the tools and time they had. There is no denying that. But some of the retailer exclusives sadly suffered for it. To also help keep things in perspective, these commemorative multipacks only retailed for $9.99. That makes each figure in this set $2.50 each. And those are vintage Kenner prices.