Luke Skywalker - R - 12-Inch Figures

Now a powerful Jedi, Luke Skywalker battles Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, wielding his lightsaber with supreme skill.

It was quite a surprise when Hasbro decided to resurrect the 12-Inch Figure line. But once the collecting community saw how it was coming back, many of us just shook our heads in disbelief anyway. Infamously dubbed as “shampoo bottles”, the cheap quality of them was hardly anything to get excited about because it was evident that there was very little saving grace to this format. What was bittersweet about the line is that, for all intents and purposes, it wasn't a bad way to approach a larger-scaled figure. These are really just "bigger" 3.75" action figures. Sadly, Hasbro took shortcuts which affected their quality. As time moved forward, however, the 12-Inch Figure line began seeing glimmers of hope. Hasbro seemingly approached the figures with a little more accuracy and although not perfect; collectors began seeing stepwise improvement made. One of the better figures from the Star Wars [Darth Vader/Revenge Of The Sith] line was Luke Skywalker (based on his appearance from Episode VI). They have now repackaged it for the Rebels toy line. And while that is a perplexing choice for this line look, admittedly it is nice seeing this figure again in this format.

Again, we believe that Hasbro has risen the bar ever so slightly for the Rebels offering. Let us reiterate: just slightly. Luke Skywalker has a decent likeness to the onscreen character (it isn't perfect) and has a silhouette that finally matches the stature of actor Mark Hamill as he appeared in Return Of The Jedi. They did well here. Luke Skywalker is designed as he appears in his Death Star II/Endor Capture iteration of the Jedi Knight outfit. Clearly based on their Saga Legends sculpting digital files, but blown up to be much larger, Luke Skywalker has a sculpt and a complementary paint job that borders on good. He is thin and athletic, he has a portrait that looks like the character from the film, and the paint job, albeit a little too simple for our tastes, is quite excellent. Although his lightsaber hilt is permanently attached to his right hand, the blade is removable which already offers the kid or collector variety that’s unexpected and appreciated. He has a fantastic center of gravity, and despite not offering a nearly infinite array of posing options, Luke Skywalker looks pretty good no matter how you situate him. Even the color of his hair seems it’s one of the closest matches we have seen from Hasbro, 3.75” scale or otherwise.

Luke Skywalker comes with a swivel head, two swivel shoulders, two swivel wrists, and two swivel hips. Again, don’t expect to carve out some pretty dramatic poses out of him because that’s going to be impossible. But even just standing upright in your collection, Luke Skywalker will still look good no matter what. As we’ve mentioned earlier, Luke Skywalker’s paint job isn’t terrible. The hair looks good, the eyes could be much worse, and his mostly black outfit is accentuated with a few silver details to make the outfit pop (which it does nicely). His left hand is flesh-toned, and he is wearing a black glove on his right hand. As you can see, most of the important details are in place. We have to comment specifically on his upper body too. Hasbro has nailed the proportions of Luke Skywalker perfectly. And his collar area is spot on as well. If there was a way to take this sculpt, reduce it back down to 3.75” scale and give it super articulation, this could be one impressive version of Luke Skywalker. We’re certainly not knocking 2010’s TVC Luke Skywalker (Endor Capture [Jedi Knight Outfit]) (VC23) figure. But there is something about the silhouette of this 12-Inch Figure which seems a bit more accurate.