Luke Skywalker (In Ceremonial Outfit) - POTF2 [FF/TKC] - Basic

In the main throne room of a Massassi temple, Luke Skywalker receives an honorary medal for his part in the destruction of the Imperial Death Star.

Who could forget the emotionally stirring ending of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope? An incredible new theme blared as the new Rebel Alliance heroes are honored with a medal of valor by Princess Leia Organa and other Rebel Alliance officials at the ceremony on Yavin IV. The soundtrack was moving, the setting was beautiful, and the realization that the Rebels won their first victory against the Galactic Empire opened the doors for more conflicts that we would eventually see in the next Star Wars film. For years Star Wars collectors have wanted Luke Skywalker in his standout ceremonial duds. Not only were press photos taken with him donning this outfit (without the bright yellow jacket, however), this version of Luke Skywalker was also part of the animated short of The Star Wars Holiday Special. As you can see, it makes sense why this was such a highly desired action figure collectors wanted to see Hasbro produce. Interestingly, Luke Skywalker (In Ceremonial Outfit) was the final figure produced in The Power Of The Force “2” ‘green’ line look before it transitioned to the Freeze Frame Action Slide lineup. Because of his short tenure in the green packaging, the figure is one of the lowest produced figures in the "green" packaging. The figure was also more collectible thanks to the pack-in Freeze Frame as well the following year.

When first released at the end of 1997, Luke Skywalker (In Ceremonial Outfit) caused quite a stir. It was the first Luke Skywalker with an all-new head sculpt that looked completely different from all other Luke Skywalker action figures released prior. The packaging sported the call out “All New Likeness Of Luke” right on the bubble of the figure. And what a new likeness of Luke Skywalker it was. Rumors exist that two different head sculpts were designed for this figure. If you’re a variation “freak,” you know about the .00 and .01 (and higher) card back variations. There has been evidence pointing to the fact that the .00 variation contains a figure with a different head sculpt than the more widespread .01 running change. We haven’t seen this in person, nor can we confirm its existence, but many collectors claim otherwise. We think the updated likeness is decent, but it’s still a far cry from looking like actor Mark Hamill. We think it barely looks like a significant update to the first head sculpt they used over and over through the first few years of the line. The rest of the sculpt is alright too. We’re not fully impressed, but it’s good. Luke Skywalker (In Ceremonial Outfit) still feels too large and tall. But the worst part of this figure is his terrible center of gravity. If you don’t have Luke Skywalker leaning forward, you will find it will fall backward. It’s quite distressing.

We actually feel that the Princess Leia Collection Luke Skywalker figure based on this outfit is better. Not only do you get a fully removable yellow soft-goods jacket (with the Princess Leia Collection version), you also get a leaner/thinner Luke Skywalker figure that better represents the onscreen character. One of the features we don’t like about many of The Power Of The Force “2” figures is that so many of them come with a removable jacket or coat shell. This features means that if you remove it, the sleeves don’t match the undershirt. We find this to be very problematic. And to be technical, it is also very screen inaccurate. We understand that this is just more of how this action figure was approached rather than a “mistake,” but we don’t think it ever works. To have a removable shell as an accessory doesn’t work out successfully for us. Luke Skywalker (In Ceremonial Outfit) also comes with an out of scale blaster pistol and medal of valor. The medal hangs nicely around Luke’s neck and completes the figure nicely. We appreciate Hasbro making Luke Skywalker (In Ceremonial Outfit) so soon in the modern line. There is much work to do, however. He is a great holdover for the time bring, but collectors are going to want to see better updates in the future. We still recommend the Princess Leia Collection version over this one. That one succeeds in many more ways than this one does.