Luke Skywalker - TSC - Basic (SAGA 036)

As long as the Star Wars Hasbro line is alive, it should be expected that we’ll continue to receive repacks and repaints in it. Hasbro took this to a whole new level in The Saga Collection and with very few exceptions, almost every figure released, despite being updated from an older mold or not, was all-new or new is some way. (We use the word “new” to mean different "enough" in some way or another here.) The reason why Hasbro took it up a notch during The Saga Collection though is because in many instances figures came loaded with many neat and interesting accessories and some were ones we’ve wanted for years. So sometimes it’s very important to look at a basic figure by the sum of its parts and not just by the figure alone. Take for instance Luke Skywalker (SAGA 036) that was part of the Escape From Mos Eisley collection. Admittedly he has been made from 1999's POTF2 [FB/CT] Luke Skywalker (With T-16 Skyhopper Model) figure, but his accessories make him awesome. At worst, these parts can interact with better versions of Luke like 2004’s VOTC Luke Skywalker vintage-inspired figure. But the inclusion of these accessories is absolutely worth the price of the action figure to us. Who knows, we could be in the minority here, but with tooling costs skyrocketing, we feel it's pretty generous of Hasbro to give this figure so many extra parts.

It was almost a waste for Hasbro to sculpt an all-new head for this Luke Skywalker figure however. We’re on the fence with how we feel about the final product. It seems like it should be a better sculpt than it is oddly enough. What we mean is that the paint job may be giving Luke an unnecessary wonky appearance. It may be perhaps the apparent “lipstick” on his face or the overly dark tone of his hair, but we’re unable to pinpoint exactly why it’s off to us. Interestingly we do like the features in the sculpt but because the head is attached to the figure via a swivel neck, you won’t be able to transfer this head to other "better" Luke Skywalker action figures (with ball-socket heads for example). As we have made very clear already, Luke Skywalker’s strength lies completely in his accessories. With Luke Skywalker you’ll receive a soft-goods poncho, a removable floppy hat, macrobinoculars, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s chest (with articulated and removable lid) and a lightsaber hilt (which nicely plugs into the lid of the chest). That is quite a number of accessories, some of which are new and exclusive to this basic figure. But they’re fully welcomed as they will complete many dioramas in various collectors’ homes. Seriously, you'll be more than impressed with what Hasbro has done with the extras included here.

The best accessory is of course Obi-Wan Kenobi’s chest. Hasbro has sculpted five non-removable items into it and they include the Republic crest, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber hilt, Jedi training remote, rebreather and pilot headgear. The only removable accessory is Luke’s (Anakin’s) lightsaber hilt. But how cool is that? The chest is wonderfully painted and shows signs of wear apparently from the many years of Obi-Wan’s exile in his dry and dusty Tatooine abode. It was certainly an unexpected accessory, but we couldn’t be more thrilled to finally have one in the 3.75” scale. And its the standout point of this basic figure. Luke Skywalker comes with a satisfactory ten points of articulation, something rare for a Star Wars figure whose base sculpt is from the 90s. While all of the articulation is comprised of swivel joints or simple hinged joints, the figure was slightly ahead of its time during its initial release. It has been repainted from head to toe to better meet the standards of The Saga Collection and the soft-goods and hard-goods that complement the figure are well-fitted and look fantastic on him. Luke Skywalker isn’t meant to be the definitive “Tatooine” or “Episode IV” Luke Skywalker figure. It was a way for Hasbro to get out some cool accessories for hardcore collectors who have been waiting patiently to get some items to interact with their action figures. And now we’re happy.