Luke Skywalker (Hoth) - Mini Busts

Appointed to the rank of commander in the Rebel Alliance, Luke Skywalker was stationed at Echo base on the ice planet Hoth, where he served as a scout on the frozen plains. While on routine patrol, Luke was injured by a wampa ice creature, and dragged to its lair. Using his growing expertise in the Force, Luke escaped. Han Solo eventually rescued Luke from the frozen wilderness.

It would be a very fair statement to make that Gentle Giant Ltd.'s products (especially mini busts) can be hit or miss. And it's not easy to categorize where they succeed and where they fail because the likenesses are all over the map. One might think they lack when it comes to human likenesses but others find that some of the creatures and military figures come with just as many issues. Interestingly, the Luke Skywalker (Hoth) mini bust is a success in its own right. It has a good and passable likeness to Luke Skywalker, but the best parts of the bust are elsewhere. So if you're someone who focuses on help well the dace has been designed, we bet you may take issue with this bust. But we can't help but admit that we are more than happy with its likeness and think that it absolutely captures a frame of two of how Mark Hamill exactly looked in The Empire Strikes Back. But moving from the head sculpt, the cap, the outfit, the gloves, the lightsaber hilt and the belt are just some of the areas where this mini bust should leave you speechless. This is an awesome piece and it immediately changed out hearts because we expected not to be impressed with it when we received our sample. Again, the bust's best parts are not just in the head sculpt, but in the costume and accessories.

The costume is designed beautifully and it's done so well that we are actually aggravated that we can't see the entire outfit from the waist down. We think this says a lot about how well the sculptors designed this. But due to the obvious inherent nature of what a mini bust is, we aren't going to see any characters from the waist down in this scale ever. The bust looks to be in flawless scale with the rest of the line and Luke's various parts look to be in awesome scale with each other as well. The waffle pattern on the jacket is spot on and the colors used to decorate everything from the clothing to his ranking badges couldn't be more perfect. His tan vest looks stunning over his whiter snow gear that lies under it and his "grayish" gloves are the exact length they need to be to protect him from the icy Hoth temperatures. One of the best things about this mini bust is that he doesn't have an exaggerated pose. He has his lightsaber at the ready, but you can display it with or without the lightsaber blade and look great in either configuration. Mini busts have little to no modularity in this day and age unlike some of the earlier ones, so this versatility is appreciated.

Luke's belt sit right at top of the mini bust base and has much more detail than you may expect. And our favorite feature is his holster (complete with blaster pistol) that hangs on the back. Both have been designed so well and we're impressed that Gentle Giant Ltd. put so much effort into making them look so good especially since it is something that will be overlooked when displayed on a shelf. This mini bust is impressive in many ways. And it's extra special that Gentle Giant has managed to release this in the 30th anniversary year of The Empire Strikes Back! Not all of the big licenses has done remotely as much to get out products sourced from Episode V, so this piece is "right on time". Other details like his green goggles, hanging scarf and headset just look fabulous. And it serves as a basis by which we will judge Hasbro when they decide to release a 3. 75" version of this character in their line! This mini bust is essential for Episode V fans (which likely is everyone) and we suggest getting Han Solo (Hoth) to round out the other half of the duo of heroes.