Luke Skywalker - POTF2 [R/G] - Basic

Height: 1.72 meters
Status: Jedi in Training, Rebel Commander and Pilot
Classification: Human
Affiliation: Rebel Alliance
Weapon of Choice: Lightsaber and Blaster

Raised by his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on their Tatooine moisture farm, young Luke dreamed of being a pilot for the Rebel Alliance. He realized his destiny after being saved from the Tusken Raiders by the mysterious Obi-Wan Kenobi, who told him of his past and began to teach the boy the ways of the Force. When the Empire killed Luke's family, he and Kenobi set off to find Princess Leia, whose message hidden inside the droid R2-D2 beckoned them to join the Rebellion.

With the aid of smuggler Han Solo and his ship the Millennium Falcon, Luke and Obi-Wan saved the Princess, but at the cost of Kenobi's life at the hand of the evil Darth Vader. His sacrifice allowed them to deliver the technical readouts for the Empire's deadliest weapon, the Death Star, to the Rebel forces. The Rebel fleet used this information to find a weak spot in the Battle Station's defenses and launched its attack. Luke then became a hero to the Rebellion by flying his T-65 X-wing fighter through a furious dogfight to deliver the final blow.

Luke Skywalker is the case in point to the hyper-massed body types Kenner/Hasbro decided to give the Star Wars characters in the newly “re”-founded The Power Of The Force “2” line. While he certainly looks ridiculous for authenticity purposes, many have hung their hats on the idea that this figure was based upon how the character appeared on the official poster for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Even if that’s true, we are more likely to believe that this was what the 90s were all about and that’s how most toy lines approached action figures for most brands. Muscular and strong takes precedence over screen accuracy and authenticity for the most part in this era. For most, this is not something that is preferred. Sadly, the Star Wars line was no exception to this bulky and supersized approached and until Hasbro changes its protocol, it looks like our figures will continue to possess this exaggerated features. Nonetheless, there is something more likeable about Luke Skywalker than the other bulky figures in this line. We can’t really pinpoint it, but Luke seems a little more forgivable than say Han Solo for example. Maybe it is because of that original movie poster that our minds have been geared to think this way. The figure certainly isn’t without major issues of course.

Luke Skywalker has been sculpted in a rather static pose. This is perfect because so many of the other figures in this line have been give quasi action-posed sculpts to the point where they can’t even maintain their balance. Luke Skywalker isn’t wrought with this issue and can stand up perfectly without the need for an action figure stand. As hard as this may be to do, forget about his muscular appearance for a moment or two. The tooling is rather faithful to the onscreen character. His shirt is open, the pants are close-fitting and he comes with a lightsaber that looks better than any vintage Kenner lightsaber we have ever seen. The paint operations are nice and his hair color (as well as the rest of the paint operations) are spot on and accurate. His head sculpt leaves a little to be desired. If Kenner/Hasbro is going to go for a muscular body type, then why can’t the portraits/head sculpts be screen accurate at least? Kenner/Hasbro managed to color his eyes correctly, although the large white dot in the center of the blue iris looks a little off in our opinion. Other exaggerated features, like his large cupped hands also will likely make you scratch your head, but again, we still find something likable about this action figure. It’s light years from perfection, but we appreciate it for what it is.

Luke Skywalker comes with two accessories: a lightsaber and what Kenner/Hasbro is calling a grappling hook blaster. Clearly inspired form the accessory he used rescuing Princess Leia Organa swing across the Death Star chasm, this 90s interpretation doesn’t look much like the one we saw in the film. Perhaps designed this way to create a different type of play value, we think that a realistic movie version would have provided quality play value instead. This grappling hook blaster does however fit into the hands nicely and he can actually hold the lightsaber and the grappling hook blaster at the same exact time without issue. The earliest releases of Luke Skywalker came with an extra long lightsaber. This was soon changed to the corrected short lightsaber (as seen in our photo gallery). Once the change took place collectors began scoffing up the long saber version…. until a new version reared its ugly head: short lightsaber with a long lightsaber plastic tray insert! Scalpers took particular note of this and cashed in on it whenever and wherever the opportunity arose. These ridiculous changes for us aren’t worth the time and energy to track down. Nothing will be rare, and it’s doubtful the packaging will last to support the changes to it.