Luke Skywalker - OTC - Basic (OTC #05)

One of the greatest heroes of the Rebel Alliance, Luke Skywalker begins amazing adventures when he meets the droid R2-D2 and sets out to rescue Princess Leia. He skillfully pilots his X-wing fighter into the battle against the evil Empire. Using the power of the Force, he guides his X-wing fighter through the Death Star's trench and destroys the dangerous weapon, scoring a major victory for the Rebels.

Did anyone else find it odd the ways in which Hasbro updated some of the basic figures in The Original Trilogy Collection? Some went through major overhauls while others received minor updates. Luke Skywalker (OTC #05) is an example of a figure that received such an update. Noticeably different, yet not a dramatic change, the rerelease of 2001’s POTJ Luke Skywalker (X-wing Pilot) figure now has been carried forward to The Original Trilogy Collection with a few revisions. But is the 2004 version an improvement over the 2001 version? Well, maybe that’s something only you can decide. The Power Of The Jedi was a line that really changed Hasbro action figures for collectors. No longer making muscular versions of Star Wars characters we grew up with Hasbro decided that a new sensibility would be a key direction to take beginning with this all-encompassing basic figure lineup. It’s hard to believe that is took them a half of a decade to understand that scale was a major player for Star Wars action figures, but at least they came around to that realization. So this is one aspect where the figure succeeds. Luke Skywalker has excellent scale. It’s his articulation that may be bothersome.

Luke Skywalker (why can’t Hasbro remember to use subtitles on major characters?) comes with only six points of articulation. Believe it or not, the limited articulation is not as bothersome as you might expect thanks to a really good sculpt. It looks like actor Mark Hamill and he is shorter and thinner than most other X-wing pilot action figures produced throughout the years, proving that Hasbro did a phenomenal job with it during its original 2001 release. What’s new now about this figure obviously is the paint job. The most drastic difference is his helmet. Hasbro added a healthy dose of dirt and grime to the helmet this time around. It’s very different for the OTC release in fact that it’s difficult to make out the Rebel Alliance symbols on the top of it. Interestingly, this makes it very screen accurate. You may also notice a few differences in the head sculpt. Hasbro changed the approach of how the eyes were decorated. The whites of his eyes are very large. His hair color is also a shade darker and surprisingly Hasbro eliminated the white paint used to decorate his teeth. Some claim that this is an improvement since they thought the POTJ version looked like he had rabbit teeth, but something feels left out for the OTC release as a result.

We have noticed a few other differences like the color of his ammo garter and the differences in orange plastics used, but these are insignificant in the face of the other blatant upgrades, should you wish to call them that. Overall, we say we would have to still favor the Power Of The Jedi release over The Original Trilogy Collection one. In 2001, this Luke Skywalker (X-wing Pilot) action figure was much needed and right on time for the direction the line was heading. Today, all of the positive enhancements have aged quite well, the changed paint operations together with no enhanced articulation force this figure to feel a little bit obsolete now. Hasbro is certainly heading in the right direction and you can expect future versions of Luke Skywalker in his X-wing pilot gear to mimic similar scale and proportions. And we should probably be clear that we don’t begrudge Hasbro for utilizing this sculpt once again. He fits in well with the theme of The Original Trilogy Collection, but we’re nearing the point where this particular version of him won’t be able to be used much longer. Until that happens, know that Hasbro used the best they could for this commemorative action figure collection.