Kenner Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker

 "All good things must come to an end"

This is of course my final Vintage Kenner review, and I wanted to save my favorite Kenner Star Wars figure for the very last one, and on Return of the Jedi's 40th anniversary no less! Christmas 1983 is one of my favorite childhood Christmas's because this figure (which one day a fee years later became a dog's chew toy) was the highlight of my presents that year, along with Chewie, an X-Wing fighter and TIE Fighter. Years later, I would replace that childhood figure a few times as I would get a couple off the secondary market. Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker is hands down my favorite Kenner figure on a lot of levels, and I will cover both versions of this figure here!

Jedi Luke 1: Blue lightsaber, snap cloak

In the teaser trailer for Return of the Jedi, Luke is seen wielding a blue bladed lightsaber (and in the Revenge of the Jedi trailer as well. Another fun fact was Alec Guiness wasn't a shiny Force Ghost in those trailers either!). However in post production it was changed to green due to the blue being hard to see on the blue screen it was filmed on. Kenner ran with it at the time, so the first Luke's had blue lightsabers. Of course you could always give it to Bespin Luke so he'll have a correct colored lightsaber!

Now the snap on cloak appears on both Luke versions, but rarely with green lightsaber Luke. The snap does appear to be too bulky, although it does give a snug fit to the figure's head. As you can see in the picture, it looks decent, but that snap is hard to ignore. Later versions would have another robe version, one that Hasbro uses today!

Jedi Luke 2: Green lightsaber, sewn cloak

After the release of Return of the Jedi Kenner corrected the color of the lightsaber to green, making this the first Luke Skywalker figure to have his correct lightsaber color to be included with his action figure. As you can see, it makes for an impressive view!

The robe has been sewn together, and Hasbro today still does this for all robes with hoods. Although this is more of a cloak than a robe. It is cloth, and the color is screen accurate as Luke wears a brown cloak entering Jabba's Palace.

The sculpt on this figure is amazing for 1983. The details on his vest, belt and body are well done. His right arm can hold both his lightsaber and Skiff Guard blaster which he used to try to shoot Jabba just before falling to the Rancor lair. His face is nicely sculpted and 2 different versions exist (see picture under this paragraph as it was the best I could manage last night), and the pictures I have both had the same face. His hair is no longer painted yellow but a brown/yellow mix that reflects Mark Hamill's hair color at the time (very close to it, actually). His lightsaber will fit vest in his right hand, but it's a loose fit. The blaster works best in his right hand, which is painted black to reflect his glove which he wore after leaving Tattooine and before seeing Yoda. It wouldn't be until 2020 when Hasbro with VC 175 made a screen accurate Jabba's Palace Luke Skywalker. But for a better lightsaber, cut off both ends of a Q-Tip, cut a plastic coffee stirrer about the size of the cut Q-Tip and glue the stirrer onto the Q-Tip so that you have a handle. Paint the Q-Tip whatever color you want and you have an upgraded lightsaber! For the Kenner Obi-Wan and Vader just paint the Q-Tips blue and red. Easy!

The Retro version is out, with a couple differences to the Kenner one. First off, the green lightsaber has a neon look to it, a bit of a brighter green. The other is the head, which disappointed me greatly. It just looks...off. But here is the picture, so I'll let you be the judge:

If you go for the Kenner version, go for loose. The Retro Collection will be your cheapest version though since it's easy to find at retail. The Kenner version runs about $40 on average on good condition, minimal paint wear and sometimes with one or both weapons (weapons are usually replicas so be careful when buying, there is no easy way I'm aware of to tell the difference in a reproduction or actual Kenner weapon). Loose cloaks start at $25 and weapon reproductions are the cheapest way to give a Kenner Luke his weapons. I want to thank you for reading, and hopefully you've enjoyed the Kenner reviews! Happy 40th to Return of the Jedi and May The Force Be With You (MTFBWY)!

All pictures except for the 2 Luke's together are from Galactic Figures. I took the 2 Luke's picture last night, kinda late.