Black Series Jedi Luke Review
Hasbro has celebrated the 40th Anniversaries of the Original Trilogy in style, well for the Black Series anyway. Only this year did the VC get in on the action. However, Hasbro has once again put a 6 inch Luke Skywalker on a Kenner card for the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, and I have to say it's one that you must own! So for a change of pace, I'll cover another Black Series figure on my blog. Is it the best Black Series figure of the year? Read on to find out!
First, the card. When Hasbro released Endor Luke for the VC in 2010, they used the original 1983 Kenner card that showed Luke in Jabba's Palace. They made a correction later on and made a new card image. For the Black Series, Hasbro did the same as they had done in 2012. The card is Jabba's Palace Luke, but the figure is Luke as he appeared in Palpy's Throne Room. Below, I have Luke with other Black Series figures for height comparison, and of course one with Mara Jade!
As for the figure itself, it is a re-use of the Light Cruiser Luke buck (seen in an above photo), but this time without the vest and cloak. This enables Luke to fully utilize the butterfly joints on the shoulders to give him excellent THWG on his lightsaber (photos below). Luke can achieve almost any pose imaginable, and is aided by swivel thighs, which will actually soon be eliminated from the Black Series, as newly tooled figures in this scale (Hera from Ahsoka is the 1st figure in this scale to not have swivel thighs). None of the joints are too tight, and he can easily hold his lightsaber in either hand without a problem. All joints (knees, elbows, shoulders) are ball jointed, giving this figure excellent movement and range of motion. The paint apps on his face are well done, and they got his hair color correct from the film. While the face sculpt is good, it doesn't resemble Mark Hamill, it is a decent one. SH Figuarts and the upcoming Mafex Light Cruiser Luke have more accurate resemblance to Mr Hamill. The outfit Luke wears is all black, and as Landspeeder Luke on YouTube often says on his Black Series reviews, a flat wash would be needed in my opinion as under lights the outfit is splotchy in certain lighting. You may not see it in the photos but in hand you'll see what I mean. Luke has a belt, which probably could be removed but I am not really wanting to do that.
Luke has 2 accessories: a lightsaber and a removable chest plate to show his flap down. This is similar to the original Black Series Endor Luke from 2014-2015. It's no trouble swapping out the chest plates, but be sure to keep them handy because they can easily be lost if you store this figure loose. Keeping him on card is a problem you obviously won't have. Like all Black Series Jedi, his lightsaber blade can be pulled off and you can store the hilt on his belt hook. It's a loose fit so be careful about this if you store it loose. Thankfully I managed a few pictures with it staying on, but it was too loose for my comfort. In one of the photos below I show Luke with the black cloak from Light Cruiser Luke to show how he appeared in Shattered Empire issue number 4, which is a favorite comic book Luke story of mine. It wouldn't surprise me if Hasbro did a Comic Pack Luke from that issue one day. I have Luke dueling Vader in a photo below, but that Vader is from The Empire Strikes Back, and it's impossible for me to get him in a THWG.
If you collect Black Series, or are a huge Luke Skywalker figure, this figure is a must have. In my opinion, he's one of the best Black Series figures of 2023. If you have the earlier version of Endor Luke, this figure will definitely make you want to retire that version: everything here is much better (face sculpt, body sculpt, paint apps, etc). My inspiration for getting this was seeing SeanSolo8 on YouTube do his video review, so I promptly ordered this figure after watching it. I will post a link to his review at the end of this, as well as one for Landspeeder Luke's review (which also has the ROTJ Vader). Now, is it the best Black Series figure of 2023? Well, I'll reveal my pick in 2 weeks, along with my favorite Vintage Collection figures!
All pictures are mine, except the carded image which I got from Galactic Figures website. Thanks for reading! Please share this link on your social media accounts so I can get more readers!
SeanSolo8's Review:
https://youtu.be/63HVcpzdlLY?si=Wj8B7LB3iX5LBt3H
Landspeeder Luke's Review (Vader & Luke):
https://youtu.be/BSwBHayjBGY?si=HKaY3H9_hXJ7HjfV
First, the card. When Hasbro released Endor Luke for the VC in 2010, they used the original 1983 Kenner card that showed Luke in Jabba's Palace. They made a correction later on and made a new card image. For the Black Series, Hasbro did the same as they had done in 2012. The card is Jabba's Palace Luke, but the figure is Luke as he appeared in Palpy's Throne Room. Below, I have Luke with other Black Series figures for height comparison, and of course one with Mara Jade!
As for the figure itself, it is a re-use of the Light Cruiser Luke buck (seen in an above photo), but this time without the vest and cloak. This enables Luke to fully utilize the butterfly joints on the shoulders to give him excellent THWG on his lightsaber (photos below). Luke can achieve almost any pose imaginable, and is aided by swivel thighs, which will actually soon be eliminated from the Black Series, as newly tooled figures in this scale (Hera from Ahsoka is the 1st figure in this scale to not have swivel thighs). None of the joints are too tight, and he can easily hold his lightsaber in either hand without a problem. All joints (knees, elbows, shoulders) are ball jointed, giving this figure excellent movement and range of motion. The paint apps on his face are well done, and they got his hair color correct from the film. While the face sculpt is good, it doesn't resemble Mark Hamill, it is a decent one. SH Figuarts and the upcoming Mafex Light Cruiser Luke have more accurate resemblance to Mr Hamill. The outfit Luke wears is all black, and as Landspeeder Luke on YouTube often says on his Black Series reviews, a flat wash would be needed in my opinion as under lights the outfit is splotchy in certain lighting. You may not see it in the photos but in hand you'll see what I mean. Luke has a belt, which probably could be removed but I am not really wanting to do that.
Luke has 2 accessories: a lightsaber and a removable chest plate to show his flap down. This is similar to the original Black Series Endor Luke from 2014-2015. It's no trouble swapping out the chest plates, but be sure to keep them handy because they can easily be lost if you store this figure loose. Keeping him on card is a problem you obviously won't have. Like all Black Series Jedi, his lightsaber blade can be pulled off and you can store the hilt on his belt hook. It's a loose fit so be careful about this if you store it loose. Thankfully I managed a few pictures with it staying on, but it was too loose for my comfort. In one of the photos below I show Luke with the black cloak from Light Cruiser Luke to show how he appeared in Shattered Empire issue number 4, which is a favorite comic book Luke story of mine. It wouldn't surprise me if Hasbro did a Comic Pack Luke from that issue one day. I have Luke dueling Vader in a photo below, but that Vader is from The Empire Strikes Back, and it's impossible for me to get him in a THWG.
If you collect Black Series, or are a huge Luke Skywalker figure, this figure is a must have. In my opinion, he's one of the best Black Series figures of 2023. If you have the earlier version of Endor Luke, this figure will definitely make you want to retire that version: everything here is much better (face sculpt, body sculpt, paint apps, etc). My inspiration for getting this was seeing SeanSolo8 on YouTube do his video review, so I promptly ordered this figure after watching it. I will post a link to his review at the end of this, as well as one for Landspeeder Luke's review (which also has the ROTJ Vader). Now, is it the best Black Series figure of 2023? Well, I'll reveal my pick in 2 weeks, along with my favorite Vintage Collection figures!
All pictures are mine, except the carded image which I got from Galactic Figures website. Thanks for reading! Please share this link on your social media accounts so I can get more readers!
SeanSolo8's Review:
https://youtu.be/63HVcpzdlLY?si=Wj8B7LB3iX5LBt3H
Landspeeder Luke's Review (Vader & Luke):
https://youtu.be/BSwBHayjBGY?si=HKaY3H9_hXJ7HjfV
Excellent review! Thanks for the shout out!
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