Luke Skywalker - LC - Saga Legends (SL17)

Luke Skywalker always dreamed of becoming an Imperial pilot, but he never imagined that he would one day sit in the cockpit of an X-wing and battle the Galactic Empire. Soon after joining the Rebel Alliance, Luke becomes a hero when he fires the shot that destroys the Death Star battle station.

Hasbro announced that the vintage-styled Kenner action figures would be making a return in The Saga Collection during Toy Fair 2006. And the five figures announced were eagerly anticipated by collectors. One figure, Luke Skywalker: X-wing Pilot was instantly debated in collectors’ forums. What was up with that head sculpt? Is this actually Luke Skywalker, or it is a rain-soaked mouse? Despite the portrait not being perfect, the figure had some really good elements and was the perfect base to update him and other X-wing pilots into the basic figure lines. Hasbro also felt this VTSC figure could use a few enhancements as well. So they found the perfect opportunity to update this figure in 2008’s TAC Luke Skywalker/R2-D2 (6 of 6) Droid Factory set. This "more than perfect" and exclusive introduction to The Legacy Collection gave us some great figures and droids. As mentioned, Hasbro made some critical improvements to Luke Skywalker. Some were approved, but others were denied by Lucasfilm Ltd. Specifically, the newly tooled head sculpt got two thumbs down so Hasbro was forced to bring back the same head sculpt that came with the original 2006 version. (But this version was eventually released as a SDCC exclusive. See this figure HERE.)

With the success of the Saga Legends sub-line from the 30 (77-07) collection, Hasbro decided to pick a cast of characters to help round out the 2008 version of this greatest hits line. Although many of the selections were based on characters that would pair nicely with The Clone Wars line, Hasbro also pulled figures from the Original Trilogy too. It was this Droid Factory version of Luke Skywalker in his X-wing pilot gear was chosen to round out the third wave of The Legacy Collection Saga Legends assortment. Again, despite the terrible head sculpt, Hasbro carried forward the other corrections that made this figure better. Specifically, the straps of his orange flight jumpsuit have been updated to silver (as compared to the drab gray straps on the VTSC version). Some other slight deco changes were made as well making this the definitive version of Luke Skywalker in the outfit needed to pilot an X-wing starfighter. And his outfit is a brighter and lighter orange color now. Again, an all-new head sculpt is required in order for this figure to be considered definitive, so we all have wait until Hasbro gives us a brilliant new version of this character to make our collections happier. It is this exact version of the figure that has been carried forward into the "red" Legacy Collection version of the Saga Legends lineup. And this is the figure we are looking at in this review.

Besides the head sculpt issue, collectors are also annoyed by the fact that Hasbro has not fixed the lightsaber hilt issue. Luke Skywalker still comes with Darth Vader’s lightsaber hilt and it’s been a bone of contention for years. Maybe one day this issue will be resolved. But on the whole, it’s good to know that Hasbro is committed to picking the best figures to use for their Saga Legends assortment. We’re very happy to see the updated figures get repackaged in this line instead of the older versions. Figures like this Luke Skywalker and others have only been available in two-packs before their respective releases in the Saga Legends line. This makes packaged collectors very happy, especially those who only collect basic figures. These figures feel like brand new releases to these types of collectors. And technically that’s exactly what they are. A figure like Luke Skywalker may seem a little tired at this point, but it’s important to notice the updates to the figure and what makes it different from the original sculpt. And let’s not forget that Luke Skywalker is a major character in the Star Wars universe. Is it possible to release too many action figures of him in the basic figure lines? We really think we're reaching a saturation point. Main characters are important, but this figure was just released in the "blue" phase of The Legacy Collection.