Luke Skywalker (In X-wing Fighter Pilot Gear) - POTF2 [R/G] - Basic

Height: 1.72 meters
Status: Pilot and Jedi in Training
Classification: Human
Affiliation: Rebel Alliance
Weapon of Choice: Lightsaber
Vehicle of Choice: T-65B X-wing Fighter

Growing up on the twin-sun planet of Tatooine, Luke Skywalker had always looked tot he stars. He had been told that his father was a great star pilot, and it was clear that the young Luke had inherited some of his skills. In the arid deserts of the Jundland Wastes, Luke and his best friend Biggs Darklighter, would race their T-16 skyhoppers. Tagging womprats in Beggar's Canyon or threading the Stone Needle, Luke and Biggs were the best of friends, and daring pilots. Unfortunately, they were separated when Biggs went to the Academy, and Luke was forced to stay behind.

Years later, Luke would be caught up in the Rebellion's fight against the Empire. On the moon of Yavin 4, Luke was pressed into service as a pilot with one of the assault teams that was trying to defend the Rebel base from the Empire's dreaded Death Star battle station. Luke passed flight simulator tests and was awarded a T-65B X-wing fighter, with R2-D2 to fly as his onboard astromech droid. Luke was reunited with his friend Biggs, who was also flying in the mission against the Death Star. Born were members of the X-wing Red Squadron, with Luke serving as Red Five. Dodging TIE fighters in the space battle above the surface of the Death Star, Luke, Biggs, and Wedge Antilles made an attack to run down the Death Star trench. Darth Vader's custom TIE and two TIE fighters dogged them, forcing Wedge to veer away. Biggs was killed, and a remorseful Luke completed his mission alone. With the timely arrival of the Millennium Falcon, Luke's pursuers were scattered. Guided by the Force, Luke fired his proton torpedo into the thermal exhaust port and destroyed the Death Star.

As one of the final figures of 1995, Luke Skywalker (In X-wing Fighter Pilot Gear) was as superlative as it was disappointing. How is that for a paradox? It’s true though. Luke Skywalker (In X-wing Fighter Pilot Gear) suffered from the overly muscular body type including extra large hands and thighs, so the figures from this era could never have satisfied the need for screen accuracy in the most discriminating collectors. That goes without saying. But what you should probably know is that Luke Skywalker (In X-wing Fighter Pilot Gear) also raised the bar as far as deco was concerned. The helmet alone was a wonder in and of itself and contained an inordinate amount of detail and coloring that was never tempted on any figure to date. Stuff like this should never be overlooked on an action figure no matter how “bad” the sculpt looks in final production because sometimes the devil is in the details as it is with this figure. That’s our opinion and you are certainly entitled to feel differently about that. One thing is for sure however, Luke Skywalker (In X-wing Fighter Pilot Gear) has many positives to counteract his negatives. Hopefully we’ll be successful in articulating why this action figure has relevance and importance in the neo classic era of Star Wars collecting.

Luke Skywalker (In X-wing Fighter Pilot Gear) has an outfit with a great amount of detail in it. Despite the card front and back photos, it’s important to note that this is Luke Skywalker from his appearance in The Empire Strikes Back and not A New Hope. Technically this outfit represents his snowspeeder outfit from Episode V. The good news is that the designation of his subtitle “(In X-wing Fighter Pilot Gear)” isn’t completely inaccurate either. Right after the Battle of Hoth, Luke Skywalker hops into his X-wing fighter which he takes to Dagobah to find Yoda and begin his Jedi training. Kenner/Hasbro has essentially killed two birds with one stone here, although, the gray gloves and boots make this figure specific to that film. You really can’t utilize him for any Battle of Yavin displays if you catch our meaning here. He would need black gloves and boots to be screen accurate for those scenes. The helmet isn’t removable, but maybe that’s not such a big deal after all. He does come with a face that closely resembles the face we saw on 1995’s POTF2 Luke Skywalker which hasn’t gone over too well with the collecting community, so maybe it’s a good idea that most of his head is covered.

Outfitted with a lightsaber and blaster pistol, this figure has all the accessories he needs to be a beneficial addition to your Star Wars collection. Luke Skywalker (In X-wing Fighter Pilot Gear) came with a fair share of variations. (Editor’s Note: And he even came with MORE variations when he transitioned into the “green” phase of The Power Of The Force “2” line.) He first came with a long lightsaber, then a short lightsaber in a long lightsaber tray. And then finally he came with a short lightsabe properly packaged. The problem with collecting POTF2 is that to have them “all” you would likely need to collect at minimum three of the same figure just to account for all of the tweaks and packaging variations. It’s utterly insane. What you should take away from Luke Skywalker (In X-wing Fighter Pilot Gear) more importantly is how far Kenner/Hasbro came with paint operations and what we could expect from future action figures down the line. It’s still nice to have the very first “Hoth” pilot figure of Luke Skywalker in 3.75” scale. That in and of itself makes this purchase very noteworthy and worthwhile in our opinion. Luke Skywalker (In X-wing Fighter Pilot Gear) may not be the most accurate or exciting figure, but he proves just what Kenner/Hasbro can do in the modern era for Star Wars figures.