Luke Skywalker/Deena Shan - LC - Comic Packs (5)

Luke receives a message from his old friend Janek Sunber, a lieutenant in the Imperial Army, saying he wants to join the Rebellion. Everyone thinks it's a trap except Luke. The Jedi goes on an unauthorized mission to find Sunber and is joined by Deena Shan, who is looking for adventure, and a chance to prove her worth.

Star Wars: Rebellion fans are going to be thrilled now since Hasbro decided to make two of the most prominent characters from this comic series in their trademark “deep space” outfits. Receiving Luke Skywalker and Deena Shan in skin-tight black armor was certainly an interesting costume design and they look as cool in action figure form as they did in the comics. They are complete with all of the necessary gear for battle including lightsabers and backpacks with breathing apparatus. The action figures look very sharp and they completely remind us of non-neon versions of what the characters in Tron were wearing a little more than something in the Star Wars universe. This of course isn’t a cut down because these two action figures are completely awesome. The Rebel Alliance logo has been cast in a beautiful gold and it looks cool against the shiny black armor backdrop. These multipurpose uniforms are clearly intended for various planet adventures as well as in more antiseptic environments like those of the Galactic Empire. Luke has a very good likeness, and a likeness we hope to see include one day maybe on a movie figure because it is that good. He has a concerned look on his face that has been captured brilliantly. This is perfect for this version of look because the Rebellion comics show him in very emotional states throughout. At fiirst you might mistake them for being more closely related to the Empire, but that's all part of the plan to help them continue their mission battling good against evil.

Deena on the other hand suffers from having a face that doesn’t match her comic book attractiveness too well. But if we're honest Hasbro has had consistent difficulty with achieving attractive (and accurate) representations of these beautiful female characters. We suppose their efforts are admirable, but admirable really doesn't make a satisfactory action figure. Deena Shan is much too wide-eyed and Hasbro include some make-up on her eyes which draws attention to this even more. It detracts from her very feminine face as seen in the comics. Also, her hairstyle doesn't match the comic book character either. But all of this doesn't make a terrible action figure, just not an accurate one. We understand that it is sometimes difficult to capture good female likenesses on action figures. But Hasbro can do it as evidenced by 2009’s TLC Princess Leia (BD 41) as well as 2009’s LC Princess Leia (BD17) figures. Since they have the ability to make great female action figures, we expect them to deliver in all formats. Both Luke and Deena appear as if they are twins, even more so than the resemblance between Luke and Leia (which we have a hard time finding any resemblance). And the twin-like theme continues into the armor because the armor on Deena Shan is essentially the same as Luke’s but just tailored for a female body. The gold detailing and the Rebel symbols on the knees are an interesting choice, but it doesn't seem it would do much good to do any stealth work if you're advertising "hey - I work for the Rebel Alliance." But we understand the need for the logos as it helps to clearly delineate the bad form the good in the comic books. Besides, these decals look great on these Rebel heroes.

Luke Skywalker and Deena Shan are both all-new figures and are loaded with articulation. The articulation is very welcomed here and is basically essential for recreating all the action these characters participated in during their tenure in the comics. Although this Comic Packs set is a straight repack in the Legacy Collection, when originally released it was a high point Comic Packs set in The Legacy Collection because of excellent all-new tooling and great sculpts and nice paint applications (for the most part). Clearly a good amount of cost went into the awesome tooling of these figures. We hope that Hasbro sees the Comic Packs line successful enough so that it can continue to grow. And of course we want Hasbro to recoup their exuberant tooling costs because otherwise we can kiss the potential of all new figures goodbye. The Comic Packs sets come and go fairly quickly for the most part. Whether it is wonky distribution of eager sell-through by fans and collectors, it seems as if the line is healthy. And it is an exception rather than the rule that a Comic Packs set becomes a peg warmer (there are exceptions). This set was great and it is one of Hasbro's biggest shining moments in the line. For fans of Star Wars: Rebellion, we are sure that this set makes you happy and we hope that more are on the way. Oh, and we want more Dark Empire and Marvel concept sets on the way too. (Speaking of Marvel and as a side note, we definitely want the Marvel Jabba the Hutt.) While we wait for more to come, enjoy Hasbro's take on other Expanded Universe source because sets like this are done excellently and they make great fodder in your ever expanding Expanded Universe collections!