Luke Skywalker - TAC - Basic (30 25)

Luke's plan to rescue Han from Jabba's palace seems doomed when the young Jedi Knight is thrown unarmed into the rancor pit. But even without his lightsaber, the resourceful Jedi manages to defeat the massive beast by using every item at his disposal, including the bones of its previous victims.

Luke Skywalker in his Jedi Knight attire may just be the most popular garb for this character. And we never seem content with the final action figure Hasbro delivers to us year after year. Yet, most figures have been pleasant surprises just in need of a few tweaks or enhancements. When it came time for the 30 (77-07) line to be released, Hasbro had already royally spoiled us as collectors and our demand for nearly perfect action figures the first time kind of went out of control. This doesn't mean that Hasbro shouldn't be creating stellar and quality version of our favorite Star Wars characters, but sometimes we just refuse to be impressed until the figures caters to our every desire. We're not necessarily saying this is a bad thing. Ultra-high standards are admirable, but sometimes Hasbro needs to experience a learning curve so that the ultimate and definitive versions can be created. Sometimes sacrifices are inevitably made to stay within tooling budgets and this is just the nature of the beast. This of course is no consolation, but the good news is that this implies that a better and more definitive version is forthcoming and we should enjoy the product at hand for as long as we can. (Editor's Note: The base of this figure has been used for 2008's The Legacy Collection Luke Skywalker (BD 2) and 2009's Legacy Collection Battle For Endor Battle Packs set.)

This sort of encapsulates the spirit of the 30 (77-07) Luke Skywalker figure. It's definitely not a perfect figure. But is is a better than average figure that will likely become the basis for other versions of Luke Skywalker and perhaps pack-in figures of the sort. Luke Skywalker is an all-new figure and he is super-articulated. The likeness is not bad, but he does look a little bit what Adam Pawlus from Galactic Hunter described in one of his Figure Of The Day posts that Luke has looked like an angry blonde ape (we will probably never forget this as long as we live). We can't think of a better description to describe some of the past Luke Skywalker figures, so thank you to Adam for "letting" us steal this colorful visual again. But all joking aside, Luke Skywalker does function quite well and only has few minor setbacks. We think the biggest thing Hasbro needed to fix on this figure were his legs. They are too close together and are positioned in an awkward "V" shape. What this does as far as positioning is concerned will frustrate the collector. It essentially renders the knee joints and ankle joints useless. (Well, not entirely.) But in order for those enhanced joints to be used to their fullest, this is a figure that absolutely needs ball-jointed hips. (But rest assured that a version of Luke Skywalker in his Jedi Knight gear will indeed be coming.)

Luke is well-accessorized with the femur from the Rancor's pit and also comes with a lit lightsaber and a soft-goods tunic. The soft-goods tunic doesn't work well if you asked us. And it is cut from a very shiny synthetic fiber that makes the figure look worse than better. (Hasbro has got to start using better quality fibers with a fraction of the sheen. Shiny fabrics are not the way to go for Jedi outfits.) Luke also has battle-damage on his hand which makes him a little out of sync as far as where to specifically source this figure. But this is a Luke Skywalker that obviously is meant to be based on a few scenes from Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. (And this is something we will overlook.) The ball-joints in the arms work fantastically and his swivel wrists offer 360 degrees range of motion for you to have him duel his lightsaber as you so please. Overall, this isn't the best version of Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) we’ll ever receive. But that doesn't mean we don't like him or think that he isn't worth your hard-earned dollars. This figure is great and we are thrilled to have him in our collections. But there are definitely better figures on the horizon. This is a big step in the right direction.