Luke Skywalker - SW [SOTDS] - Saga Legends (SL21)

Luke leads an attack on Imperial AT-AT walkers that are moving toward Echo Base. He instructs the other snowspeeder pilots to use their harpoons and cables and aim for the legs in an attempt to take out the Imperial walkers.

Hasbro does plan things out rather beautifully sometimes. 2010 was about the third season of The Clone Wars beginning that Fall, but it was also about an Episode V focus on the Original Trilogy. So they decided to bring some key action figures from The Empire Strikes Back into the Star Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side] line to help pad the wonderful offerings brought in by The Vintage Collection. One such iconic release was the repack of 2009's LC Luke Skywalker (BD51) figure. As longtime collectors, we have mercilessly waited a LONG time to get a definitive version of a Luke Skywalker (Snowspeeder Pilot) and it has been a very grueling wait. Well worth it, Luke exceeded expectations in ways that cannot be qualified or quantified quite honestly. The figure is that good and we're thrilled he is part of the 2010 Star Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side] Saga Legends lineup now. He certainly deserves it. Although we tend to love all of our Star Wars action figures equally like a parent loves his children, rarely do we get a figure that renders us speechless. The figure is a marvel, wonder and spectacular piece of amazing plastic art. Complete with super-articulation, he is everything and more you would want in an action figure. While we would have of course preferred ball-jointed hips (the one and only needed enhancement), the figure functions perfectly fine as is. Luke is exactly in scale with the other action figures and while his orange jumpsuit may look slightly off color to the film, we still love it and think it looks superb.

His head sculpt is quite excellent and is itself painted and not cast in flesh color (this always tends to cause issues for realism, good paint application and likeness) but Hasbro did a fine job painting it without sacrifing any of the details or quality in face sculpt (or any other aspects for that matter). His head is sculpted with the signature cap seen in Episode V and Hasbro recreated it with exacting standards – you can even see the bumps underneath it which represents the obvious headset/ears that lay below it. His chest box is perfectly sized and lays very close to his body, so it doesn't look bulky or out of place. His gloves have two shades of gray and this is a very accurate attention to detail – thank you Hasbro! And the boots look absolutely fantastic on him. The left boot has the standard X-wing ammunition rounds garter belt above it and the "straps" on the boots have been painted in a different color to show their functionality of how they tie and stay on the feet securely. The hands have been sculpted to hold both his lightsaber hilt as well as the tow cable/harpoon blaster. They have been constructed very well and they don't look disproportionate or bulky. The jacket falls right below his waist as it should and it does not encumber his hip movement in the slightest. Even his helmet is all-new. The clever design also allows his eyes to be seen quite clearly through them. This is an important detail for us because usually the eyes look distorted or cannot be seen at all through the traditional pilot helmets.

The figure is designed so well that he actually looks like a real man that was shrunken down into 3.75" scale. Luke Skywalker just looks brilliant and amazing, there is really no other way to say it. Even if you believe his outfit is not the perfect orange color, we still think that you will only be able to praise this figure for its magnificent efforts and successful likeness. Hasbro has proven that almost anything can be done and that any detail is fair and necessary game for inclusion in an action figure. Luke Skywalker is definitely the best Luke Skywalker action figure from Episode V thus far. We're seeing frequently now what Hasbro is capable of doing with their action figures. This isn't a figure to sneer at, it is one of their best efforts. Get one for your snowspeeder and get one for your AT-AT, you will want one Luke for each, trust us. The harpoon he comes with is reason enough to purchase multiples for your various diorama displays. If you do find issues with this figure, we encourage you not to nitpick at these things because it will certainly hinder you from appreciating how perfect this action figure is. Sure, he doesn't come with a lightsaber blade, but you should probably get over that. The figure is brilliant in spite of its so-called faults. Luke Skywalker will likely go down in history as one of Hasbro's finest. We think it deserves this recognition now, because we doubt that Hasbro will be able to replicate or improve this amazing feat with a future release. It's easily the best repacked figure for 2010.