Luke Skywalker - TLC - Basic (BD 2)

Luke’s strength with the Force has helped him save the lives of his friends from Jabba the Hutt and avoid a gruesome death in the Sarlacc pit. Wrapped in a scarf to protect him from the blowing sand, he struggles through a Tatooine sandstorm with his friends to reach the waiting Millennium Falcon.

If you read our review on the Episode VI deleted scene Han Solo (BD 1) figure, you know we weren’t that crazy about it. His cohort also from this cutting room floor deletion, Luke Skywalker, however is actually pretty good! Hasbro has visited (and we say this loosely) the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker figure multiple times, with each release being shy of perfection or movie accuracy every time. And if you remove the goggles and head scarf on this particular figure, it is actually closer to the movie character more so than the other figures that preceded it thus far. For example, when Hasbro released 2007’s TAC Luke Skywalker (30 25) figure, collectors soon noticed that it had a very bizarre sculpt and expression that Galactic Hunter's Adam Pawlus humorously hailed “an angry, shaved blonde ape.” (We think to date no one else has described it better.) We agree, and while that particular head sculpt has not been used that frequently, improvements were needed to call it the definitive version. Luke Skywalker [Deleted Scene] borrows a great deal from that 2007 version but thankfully raised the bar and worked up a new head this time around. The head sculpt is very reminiscent of the promotional photos we saw back in 1983 (and the cover of the Return Of The Jedi Story Book) with the wind blowing Luke’s hair back and in a defensive pose and it works quite well for the overall appearance of the figure. His beta carotene overdosed/fake bake skin was abandoned too and while some may say he is too pale, we would rather see him this way than artificial looking.

Luke Skywalker is super-articulated and indeed what a great figure choice to make this way! While we really don't know his level of activity in the deleted scene, any Luke figure is a great candidate for super-articulation. (Editor's Note: Now that the deleted scenes from Return Of The Jedi have been released on Blu-ray, we know the level of accuracy this action figure possesses now.) He is very well equipped and comes loaded with a lightsaber, lightsaber hilt, removable goggles, and a removable desert head scarf. This is just the perfect amount of accessories to give a figure and makes this figure quite awesome and he is not in need of much more. One thing that we would like to point out about this figure (and the Han Solo figure has this trend too) is that the stance is at a peculiar “V” shape. Super-articulation can be rendered pointless if the legs are not equipped with hip ball joints to avert this terrible angle. Ball jointed knees and/or ankles won’t fix the stature of a figure if the hips are locked into one plane of motion. The issue is more apparent on the Han Solo figure, but it makes it just annoying enough on Luke Skywalker. As soon as we get a "Jedi Knight" figure of Luke Skywalker with ball-jointed hips, you can be certain that all other versions will go the way of the dinosaur. This is a figure severely in need of ball-jointed hips and we wonder how much longer it is going to take for Hasbro to deliver it to us. (we hope not much longer at all.) Besides, we're actually impressed with this figure's windblown hair. It's very appropriate for the deleted scenes, as well as Luke's battle on Jabba's sali barge.

This figure has shipped in multiple assortments in The Legacy Collection and as a result you will find a multitude of different droid parts on the back of this figure depending upon which point in his progression you picked him up. Probably the most common droid part you will find packaged with Luke is the R4-D6 right leg, but he has been known to house quite a few more droid parts than this. BUt the droid parts are just the pack-in and the figure has many good points on its own. With a little creativity (and some swappable parts), we believe that you can make this Luke figure pretty darn close to the definitive Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker figure to have into your collections. Although we believe we will indeed get the definitive Luke one fine day, we will have to be happy with what Hasbro has already given us. And right around the corner, we have a new Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker figure coming as part of the next phase of the Legacy Collection. (Editor's Note: The 2009 LC Luke Skywalker (BD16) figure was released and it is yet another step backwards. Far from perfect, Hasbro will need an all-new sculpt to remedy these figures' wonky proportions!) It is evident that Hasbro struggles sometimes to make a figure perfect, but we give them kudos for changing and upgrading what they could on this one. We expect the quality to keep improving and we believe we are right around the corner from getting out perfect Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker action figure! While we wait, this Luke Skywalker will serve its purpose well. And those of you who love figures based on deleted scenes should count yourselves very lucky that we got this one.