The Good: Good accessories, Face sculpt is not bad.
The Bad: Ridiculously buff, Terribly unbalanced, Disproportionate accessory
The Basics: A disappointing sculpt of Luke Skywalker as he appeared on Dagobah, this action figure is overly buff and tips easily.
When Kenner had the Star Wars action figure line back in the mid-1990s, they did the best they could, for the most part. Still, they seemed to have a terrible sense of proportion and realism in the casting of many of their early Star Wars action figures. In the second wave of Power Of The Force action figures, for example, they produced the Luke Skywalker in Dagobah Fatigues, also known commonly as the Dagobah Luke Skywalker. Unfortunately, Kenner did a pretty lousy job with the sculpt and balance of this Luke Skywalker figure; it looks more like Luke Skywalker's head on the Terminator's body. Fortunately, Hasbro completely remade the Dagobah Luke Skywalker later on.
For those unfamiliar with Luke Skywalker as he appeared on Dagobah, in the middle of The Empire Strikes Back (reviewed here!), Luke journeys to the swamp planet Dagobah in search of Yoda, the Jedi Master. There, he trains and learns the ways of the Force. This figure represents Luke Skywalker out of his flight suit in the clothes he wore in the Dagobah marshes while training with Yoda.
The 4" Dagobah Luke Skywalker figure is decent, so long as one has absolutely no idea how Luke Skywalker actually looked. This Luke Skywalker is top-heavy because he is sculpted with such a ridiculous upper body that makes Luke look like a professional bodybuilder.
Basics
Luke Skywalker is a human Jedi-in-training, seen on Dagobah running and sweating in the middle acts of The Empire Strikes Back. The figure stands 3 5/8" tall to the top of his head; this might seem smaller than most Star Wars action figures, but this is because in order to get Luke to stand up, his legs must be spread a ridiculous distance apart, which allows him to stand flatfooted. Luke Skywalker is dressed in a gray-brown sleeveless shirt and brown pants that look dirty and wet! This Luke Skywalker figure is cast in monotonal white fleshtones, lacking realistic shading, but with impressive-enough sculpting details on the face. The figure is made entirely of hard plastic.
This toy is a decent sculpt, looking precisely like the Mark Hamill's face in terms of the sculpt. Where the figure goes wrong is that the fact lacks any coloring detail and the toy is muscled like a comic book superhero, not Mark Hamill or Luke Skywalker as he appeared on screen in The Empire Strikes Back. Luke Skywalker is fairly bland in his coloring detail, as far as the skin tones go. There is no sense of shading to face, including the lips which are uncolored, though there is a faint stripe of white to represent his teeth between his grimace. The fingers are molded to hold either of his accessories in either hand and they feature enough molded detail to impress, including Luke's fingernails. The only costuming detail that looks good is the shading at the bottom of Luke's shirt, which makes his tunic appear dirty or somewhat sweaty. Otherwise, the ribbing on the shirt is exaggerated.
Accessories
Luke Skywalker, stranded on Dagobah as he is, comes with two accessories: a standard lightsaber and a blaster pistol. The lightsaber is a 2 7/8" long plastic tube that looks just like the Jedi's weapon, including the translucent blue blade of the lightsaber and the silver base. The base is adorned with enough surface details to make this an impressive sculpt that looks exactly like the lightsaber. The Jedi's weapon fits in either of Luke's hands and looks good there!
As well, Luke Skywalker also comes with a little blaster pistol. The inch long choking hazard fits in either of Luke Skywalker's hands. This is a monolithically molded black plastic blaster that is simple and looks quite large for his hand. Still, the surface detailings, like the scope and ribbing on the barrel are pretty cool and this looks wicked in Luke Skywalker's hand!
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and Luke Skywalker is below-average in that regard. The figure is poorly articulated, but he has terrible balance. Luke Skywalker lacks significant articulation to make him a big fighter and he is top-heavy, so he tips over when not in one of very few, specific poses. When the figure is posed flatfooted, he is solid as far as the balance, but moved slightly out of position and he falls over ridiculously easily. He comes with only six points of articulation, all of which are simple swivel joints. He has joints at the groin socket, shoulders, neck, and waist. The elbows do not extend, so all arm posing is straight-armed. In addition to standing fine when flatfooted, he may be posed in more outlandish poses on playsets because of the holes in the soles of his feet. They may be stuck in pegs on various playsets. With those, he may stand even better.
Collectibility
Luke Skywalker is part of the Power Of The Force four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was incredibly common. The Dagobah Luke Skywalker was overproduced, though he appeared on only one card. Because the figure was such a bad sculpt, it is easy to avoid this figure and pick up the later Saga Collection Dagobah Luke for serious fans and collectors.
Overview
The Dagobah Luke Skywalker is a mediocre-at-best action figure, lacking significant detailing to make him great. He falls over easily and looks unlike Luke as he actually appeared in the film, so there is a better version of the figure fans ought to pursue.
For other Luke Skywalker figures, please check out my reviews of:
2006 Saga Collection 005 Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot
2004 Original Trilogy Collection 01 Luke Skywalker (Dagobah)
2003 Original Trilogy Collection #03 Hoth Attack Luke Skywalker
2002 Attack Of The Clones Collection Bespin Luke Skywalker
Deluxe Luke Skywalker with Desert Sport Skiff
Power Of The Force Luke Skywalker In Stormtrooper Disguise
3/10
For other Star Wars figure reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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