SH Figuarts Mandalorian Luke Skywalker Review
I bought a Mafex Dark Knight Rises Batman at my local comic store for a discount price of $40. Great sculpt, cloth cape, a Japanese imported figure. The problem? His right arm would pop out if he held the EMP rifle or if you posed him attempting a punch. So I stayed off collecting 6 inch super heroes and Japanese imported figures.
Then SH Figuarts started making Star Wars figures, and they looked impressive. Very impressive! I had asked if the joints were good on these on collector site reviews but got nothing. People who had them enjoyed them. But how did they compare to 6 inch Black Series figures? Quite well, actually. As you'll see in the pictures. Well, with Hasbro doing Mandalorian Luke Skywalker for both the VC and Black Series later this year, I found the SH Figuarts Mandalorian Luke at a great price, held my breath and decided to buy it. Now I had to hope I wouldn't have another Tunghori situation where I buy from an overseas store and not get my product or a response or refund. Fortunately the seller had a 100% rating so I felt confident. It arrived on the estimated date, and needless to say it's worth every penny I paid for it!
Two nitpicks: the skin is very pale, and the hair has a metallic look to it under lights. But the head sculpt looks like Mark Hamill posed for this in 1983. As you can see with the Hasbro Black Series Jedi Luke, SH Figuarts has a much better head sculpt. Another slight nitpick is the left hand that can hold the lightsaber has the thumb attached to the pointer finger so that for the 2 handed weapon grip (THWG) you have to slide the hilt into the hand. Also, since he comes with a lot of extra hands don't worry about breaking it as they easily snap on and off. Just be careful on the left hand, I pulled out the base that the wrist attaches to but it easily slid back in.
Accessories are plentiful! I mentioned extra left and right hands, but he comes with his lightsaber with a standard blade, a wavy blade and the unlit tip. The tip of the lightsaber is removable and is easy to switch out. You won't damage the lightsaber at all. The unlit hilt fits on a belt peg, but it doesn't hang straight due to the skirt. But it will stay on, so that gets a thumbs up! His cloak has wires in the hood and on the bottom to make for some dynamic posing!
Articulation on this is incredible! One would assume the plastic skirt inhibits lower leg movements but it doesn't. In fact it hides what I call the "diaper" effect figures with ball jointed hips have. You'll also note how the vest covers up this Luke and isn't short like Hasbro's Luke. His shoulders have butterfly joints and his vest actually hides them quite well so you get great movement with "invisible" joints. His toes are also articulated so she can climb walls like my Toy Biz Spider-Man can! (Toy Biz Spider-Man not pictured!) Joints are tight, but in a good way. There is no friction and they move quite well. I can put this figure in any pose without too much effort.
As you can see in the photo above, Luke uses the "motion blade" on Boba here and has cut his blaster rifle in half. But how does he compare to other Black Series figures? Take a look for yourself:
Yes Hasbro is making a Black Series Mando Luke for both the Black Series and VC, but this figure stands as the definitive 6 inch scale Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight action figure. While Hasbro is starting to catch up to SH Figuarts level articulation (butterfly shoulder joints, hidden joints, no visible joint pins), the head sculpt is blowing away what Hasbro is doing. If you want to get this it is pricey but it is worth it. Luke fits in well with other Black Series figures and is perfectly scaled as you can see as he battles Vader in my final photo. Hope you enjoyed the post!
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