Thursday, May 10, 2012

A Luke Skywalker Too Far? The Vintage Collection Luke Skywalker (Lightsaber Construction) Figure Seems “Done.”


The Good: Good accessories, Amazing articulation
The Bad: Cloak is bulky, Skin coloring detail is light
The Basics: The Vintage Collection Luke Skywalker (Lightsaber Construction) takes a deleted Return Of The Jedi scene and makes an utterly unnecessary figure.


It’s been pretty cool for me lately to be able to review the entire line of the new Star Wars Vintage Collection “Sandstorm” Wave. The series of reviews might well be the first time I have had an entire assortment to review and that is very cool for me. I’ve been putting off reviewing the Luke Skywalker (Lightsaber Construction) figure as long as possible, though, because it seems like an utterly unnecessary figure. Unfortunately, a pretty close analysis of the Luke Skywalker (Lightsaber Construction) figure made me realize my initial concerns about the toy might well be founded.

For those unfamiliar with the Lightsaber Construction Luke Skywalker, that is not terribly surprising as he was part of one of the deleted scenes from Return Of The Jedi (reviewed here!) that was only restored in the deleted scenes for the Blu-Ray release of the Star Wars Saga. The Lightsaber Construction Luke Skywalker is Luke Skywalker as he appeared in the scene where he rebuilt his lightsaber and sent C-3PO out to Jabba’s Palace.

The 4" Lightsaber Construction Luke Skywalker is an entirely new sculpting of Luke Skywalker in his Jedi outfit from Tatooine!

Basics

The Lightsaber Construction Luke Skywalker figure stands 3 5/8" tall to the top of his cloaked head. He is a mixture of soft plastic elements – the descending part of his tunic - and cloth components for his cloak and the bottom part of his tunic underneath the soft plastic portion.

This toy is a good sculpt, looking just like a frowning, somewhat distraught look for Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Return Of The Jedi. As a result, this Luke features his black outfit that he was seen in on Tatooine and throughout most of Return Of The Jedi. The figure is detailed enough on the molding front, but the outfit is one of the most simple outfits in the Star Wars franchise. That leaves the facial sculpt as the important portion of the figure and it does look pretty much like Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker. More impressive than the face is the way the hair is molded to look scruffy and blown out. The best detail is the way the fingernails are molded onto each of the fingers, giving it a realistic level of detail. Unfortunately, the hinge joint on the wrists (because the sleeves are slightly rolled up) make it look pretty ridiculous.

What left me utterly unimpressed about this figure is how the coloring details do not match the character. The Lightsaber Construction Luke Skywalker does not have realistic depth and shading. The lips, for example, are not colored at all. As well, the eyes feature almost no coloring detail for the irises. The cloak is monotonal brown, in contrast to the two tones of the figure’s vest. The hair on the Luke Skywalker figure is brown and blonde with enough detailing to look impressively realistic.

Accessories

The Lightsaber Construction Luke Skywalker has the most accessories of any Luke Skywalker figure ever to hit the market. As such, he comes with four accessories: a lightsaber tool, a lightsaber hilt, a lightsaber and a belt. The lightsaber tool is a 1/2” gray tool that fits in either of Luke’s hands. It is monotonal and only subtly detailed.

The lightsaber hilt is a 3/4" long segmented cylinder that is silver, black and bronze and it looks just like the one in the film. The full lightsaber is the same hilt (with a little more reinforcement near the top) and a bright green translucent green blade. Both lightsabers fit in either of Luke’s hands and they look good in the hands. This figure is so detailed that the thumb on each hand wraps around the lightsaber.

Finally, the belt is a soft plastic belt that is so tight it barely fits around the waist of the figure. The belt features three pouches on it. They are detailed with molded details for the buttons and snaps and coloring details as well. None of the tools or weapons attach to the belt.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and the Lightsaber Construction Luke Skywalker is good in that regard. First, the figure has great balance. Flatfooted, the Lightsaber Construction Luke Skywalker is absolutely solid, and because of the lower half articulation of the figure, he has decent posing options. The holes in the bottom of his feet allow him to stand tall on any number of playsets in outlandish poses or sit fairly well.

The Lightsaber Construction Luke Skywalker holds up exceptionally well in the articulation department. It has hinged ball and socket joints at the ankles, knees, groin socket, wrists, elbows and shoulders, as well as a ball and socket joint which allows a great range of motion for the head. The waist is the only simple swivel joint on the figure!

Collectibility

The Lightsaber Construction Luke Skywalker is part of the Vintage Collection line that was released in 2012 and it remains one of the harder ones to find at the moment. The Lightsaber Construction Luke Skywalker is Vintage Collection figure VC87, but it doesn’t do much that other Jedi Luke Skywalkers did not already do. Every indication on past market experience is that this figure, despite being the most articulated version of the character, will not be a great investment figure at all.

Overview

The Luke Skywalker (Lightsaber Construction) action figure is super-articulated, but light on coloring details and while the scale of the tool is perfect, it still is a bit loose in the figure’s hands. Ultimately, this feels like a “filler” figure in the wave and one that can easily be passed by.

For other Luke Skywalker figures, please check out my reviews of:
2010 Saga Legends Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot
2008 Legacy Collection BD2 Jedi Luke Skywalker
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 And Tauntaun
Deluxe Luke Skywalker with Desert Sport Skiff
Power Of The Force Jedi Luke Skywalker
Power Of The Force Luke Skywalker In Dagobah Fatigues
Power Of The Force Luke Skywalker In Stormtrooper Disguise
Power Of The Force Bespin Luke Skywalker

7/10

For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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