As much as I love the new movies and shows, I really enjoy that Hasbro continues to mix in classic trilogy characters into the new waves of figures. Today we’re going to take a look at the OT guys from this wave, Wedge and Luke!
Wedge comes in the standard box. You know the story, the garbage men already picked up box as I’m writing this review.
Wedge comes with his flight helmet and a rebel blaster. The blaster looks like a re-use of the blaster from the Rebel Fleet trooper and the helmet from the original flight suit Luke (it fits Luke the same). I can’t begrudge either re-use as the make perfect sense for the character. The helmet looks great on the figure and looks to have appropriate markings as far as I can tell.
Wedge does feel a little light on accessories, but I’m not sure what else you would give him.
Wedge is based on the original X-Wing Luke body, which is somewhat ironic for me as a collector, because I had held off for years from making a Wedge custom because I wasn’t sure I wanted re-use Luke’s body for him. That said, I’m not sure it’s wrong because I really have no idea how big Wedge is supposed to be as we usually see him in a cockpit. The sculpting on that figure is also just fantastic, so I can’t fault it.
The likeness is a little rough in my opinion. I’m no Dennis Lawson facial recognition expert, but this figure without the helmet doesn’t quite match up with Lawson’s features as I recall them. Side by sides with photos don’t really help either. I think his face was a little thinner in the movies that what we see on the figure. That said, I think with the helmet on, he looks absolutely perfect.
They nailed that visible section of his face perfectly. The articulation is Black Series standard, it set the standard really, with:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, neck, elbows, wrists, and ankles
- Ball and socket head and mid-torso
- Swivel thighs and boots
I did notice that the hinges on the glossy parts of his costume (wrists and boots) were stuck and freed them up with some heat before posing. The ab crunch and outward hinges on the hips are pretty useless on this guy, but the rest is good.
Paint is great on this figure with a nice face print, lovely helmet decals and weathering, and detailed work on the costume. I like that there seems to be a slight wash to the orange plastic costume parts for that used universe feel that’s so important to Star Wars.
Overall Wedge is a good representation of a significant background character. I read so many Wedge tales back in the EU days, so I’m glad to have him.
The expanded canon also influenced my anticipation for the Yavin Ceremony Luke figure, less for that award scene, but more because Luke often wears this outfit in the post ANH comics.
This box is somewhat significant because it’s number 100 in the Black Series line! I’ve also seen a lot of fan hand wringing about the typo on the box, which is a little less significant to me, but I’m amused by how upset many collectors are by the snafu. I guess they neverscrew up at their jobs? Anyway, it’s already at the local landfill as I type this.
Luke comes with a blaster pistol and his Yavin Medal. I completely forgot Luke wore this sidearm during the medal ceremony, so I was a little surprised by it as I was expecting his Empire weapon. The pistol looked like a re-use of the ANH Leia pistol from ANH, but it is slightly different as it has an extra extending piece on the barrel. The trigger guard is a little small for his hand however and has to be worked in there, but it fits in his hand and in the holster fine.
The medal hangs nicely and has some good cloth texture sculpting on the cloth part and detailed sculpting for the medal design itself. It looks good, but I have to say I don’t really care about it.
I do miss the lightsaber. Fortunately I have quite a few Skywalker sabers lying around, so I can just give him one of those.
The sculpting on Luke is also very nicely done. His jacket has the right piping details and feels like that slightly puffy material from the film. They did a great job capturing Hamill’s build and I like the texture details added to the boots and holster.
I think this is probably the best Hamill likeness we’ve got from the Black Series yet and the best likeness of him I’ve ever bought. The face printing is done well, though I noticed the color around his eyes photographs darker to me than what I see in person. It is a little too glossy for my taste.
Articulation is where they dropped the ball on this figure for me. Luke’s got the regular black series articulation like Wedge except with no boot swivels and the neck is ball and sockets where they attach to the torso and the head. Like Wedge, his mid-torso joint doesn’t get much range of motion.
The problem is that he has the dreaded Y-Hips. They make his legs stick out awkwardly wide when moving them forward and they also feel really tight. I thought Hasbro had fixed this error, but I guess some figures in production here and there still have this issue. It’s a shame because those hips do decrease the fun factor in posing and playing with this figure.
Aside from the Y-hips, this is a very good figure. I do wonder if I should have waited and just picked up the fan-channel comic Luke that comes with the training remote, his saber, and Ben Kenobi’s journal instead of this version because the main difference here is the medal and I’m not sure I need it.
