Wave three of Hasbro’s 6-inch scaled, super-articulated Star Wars figures includes Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Stormtrooper, and this figure: Luke Skywalker in his Bespin fatigues. eBay auctions for carded figures indicate that collectors should be seeing this figure on the pegs soon, but I was, again, too tempted by this line to wait and ordered an early figure.
This is Luke from The Empire Strikes Back, my personal favorite Star Wars movie, and it portrays his look from some of the more pivotal sections of the film. Personally, I always wanted a vintage Bespin Luke as a kid and never got one, so I always bought the many variations of this costume in the rebooted Star Wars 3.75-inch scaled lines, and I had to have this version as well.
Accessories
Luke comes with a blaster and his lightsaber. The blaster is a little rubbery, but holds its shape well. Oddly enough, it’s not the exact same mold as the series 1 figure even though it’s the same gun. This one has a tiny little number 2 on the cartridge holder, and the paint job on the handle is a little different.
Like Han from series 2, Luke has a soft plastic belt-and-holster combo where you can easily store the blaster. Unlike Han, however, the belt does not have a peg system for easy removal. The lighstaber has the removable blade and a loop so it can be worn on the belt.
One of the few nitpicks I have about this figure is that the hook on the belt is a little too far to the left of the belt buckle, so the saber does not always rest flat against the body when the figure is in a vanilla pose, rather it points outward a little. It’s not an issue at all in action poses, though.
The blade is also a little lighter blue than the series 1 Luke, but I think that’s actually a bit more accurate to the movie color. Luke comes with his essential accessories, but there was definitely room here for more to get a larger range of movie looks.
An alternate battle-damaged head sculpt with matted hair would have been cool for some Vader-fighting poses.
Sculpt
The sculpt here is fantastic. I’ve been really pleased with the quality of likeness in the Black Series, especially with Luke in series 1, and I feel like they continue the good work here in capturing the change in Hamill’s face from Star Wars to Empire.
I rewatched Empire for some inspiration and I could really see the likeness. The outfit has a great cloth texture in the sculpt, and the uniform’s folds and wrinkles all have a nice weight to them. The detail all feels really crisp — no soft sculpts here.
Articulation
The articulation is as follows:
- Swivel/Hinge combination at the neck, hips, shoulders, wrists, and elbows
- Double-pinned knee hinges
- Cut thigh swivel
- Ball-and-socket torso and neck
The articulation works really well here and it’s all useful. Interestingly, the elbow hinge allows for a little more than a 90-degree bend, which is nice for blaster- and saber-holding poses, and it’s pretty astounding when you consider many figures today don’t even have 90-degree range of motion on their elbows (I’m looking at you, Movie Masters!).
Both wrist hinges are on a up/down axis, which is good for lightsaber poses. The head pops off easily for swapping, but the hands are not engineered this way.
Paint
Paint is good on this figure with some washes to bring out all the costume details. I feel like the plain plastic they use for the skin of the face is pretty effective. There is an issue with the eyes, which is not unusual for Hasbro in my experience. The blue is not quite centered right on my figure’s right eye. It’s barely noticeable in person, but shows up in these magnified pictures.
I saw so many horrible painted eyes on this figure in promo shots so it doesn’t bother me as much as it normally would, however. Hooray for lowered expectations!
Overall
I’d say this is another hit for the Black Series. He does feel a little accessory-poor compared to series 1 and series 2’s Han, but it’s a solid, poseable, and good-looking rendition of Luke from The Empire Strikes Back. This figure really makes me want a Vader for the Black Series. I missed him a lot while setting up some of these pictures.
