Luke Skywalker Epic Hero Series Review

 

As I've mentioned before, Hasbro has a new kid-friendly 5 POA line, named Epic Hero Series, and it is loosely based off of the Marvel 9 POA figures. Also, I mentioned Luke and possibly Vader and Ahsoka as the only figures I'd consider buying, but as you'll see in the pictures, I won't need Vader after all! My thoughts on the figure, plus custom options will be fairly offered. How did I acquire this, well let's just say I was $10 away from free shipping, and got things I needed without paying the fee.

The basics, he has 5 POA, and in the comparisons with the older 5 POA figures, Luke fits in quite well, aside from the oversized head. More on that a little later. Luke comes with only his ignited (and as a bonus the hilt is actually painted, unlike the Vader figure in this line) and a backpack to carry the Grogu figure from this line. The overall sculpt is good, although I prefer 5 POA figures to all have the straight arms and legs, this figures arms are bent in a way that reminds me of the Kenner or Retro Jedi Luke figures. Unlike most of the previous 5 POA young Luke figures, the head is on a ball joint, so you can do head swaps.

One thing I noticed was how well Luke stands up on his own, setting up photos took only seconds, even with the backpack plugged into his back. He's also quite durable so he can be tossed and dropped, and still hold up (dropping happens but I don't recommend tossing). The backpack plugs into his back, but my guess is other accessories like a jetpack could possibly fit on the back peghole if necessary, it may be something to try if you get a Sabine or Paz Vizsla figure. He holds his lightsaber best in his right hand, and you may want the activator to be held in his palm in order to keep it in tightly.

COMPARISONS TO OTHER 5 POA FIGURES

I was pleasantly surprised to see this Luke fits in well with other older 5 POA (2014-2018) figures. He's shorter than Kylo Ren and Darth Vader, and is taller than Rey and Leia (I didn't take a photo with Leia). Even my custom 5 POA Mara is shorter than Luke (but that puffy hair is why I swapped heads on my 3.75 Black Series Mara Jade). He is about even height to a 5 POA Han, maybe a hair taller. I didn't snap a photo for that, but I probably should have.

He can duel with Vader (photo below), and the lightsaber that comes with the 5 POA Death Star Duel Luke fits easily into this figure's right hand. He could face off with any Inquisitors, Old Master Maul, or General Grievous (which from a sculpt standpoint isn't a bad 5 POA figure). I didn't compare him to the POTF2 figures as the ones I have are in storage, but this Luke could fit in those displays but he might be a bit too tall. Maybe in a random post I'll pull some out and shoot more photos.

Now the ultimate 5 POA line is Final Faction, which is sold exclusively at Dollar Tree. And Luke looks good next to Shift, who I plan on purchasing more of (at $1.25 per figure a great price for customs and army building!) to maybe make a possible Mara Jade or other random characters. The Drone figure is quite alien looking and gives off a Yuuzhan Vong vibe to me.

CUSTOM OPTIONS/MARVEL COMPARISON

Luke looks good next to the Marvel Epic Hero Series Starlord, which I bought to make either a Dash Rendar or Kyle Katarn custom. Still on the fence about that. But while Luke has swivels, Starlord has ball jointed shoulders, and unique ball jointed hips that also allow them to swivel. Not barbell like the newer VC figures. I chose not to attempt to put any robe or cloak on this figure either, because I'm not comfortable with the possibility of tearing or ripping the hood.

As mentioned before, swapping lightsabers is easy, and so is swapping heads. Both the VC 175 Luke head and the head from Light Cruiser Luke can fit on the ball joint located on the top of the neck (see the headless picture above). If making a permanent head swap, you might want to stick with LC Luke's head (photo below) as that fit much better, and wasn't loose like VC 175 Luke's head (photo below) is. The head from the 5 POA Death Star Duel Luke (above photos) can also fit, but it does look a bit off. If you want to make the head change permanent, placing the desired head into just boiled water will do the trick. Just be sure once it's placed on the ball joint that you roll the head around so the plastic will contour to the new shape and then give it time to cool down. And now you have an all "new" post ROTJ Luke!

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, this isn't a bad figure. It looks cartooney when posed next to VC figures, but it does fit in with older 5 POA lines, which is good, and maybe even POTF2 figures. With only a hole in the back for his backpack, and possibly a jetpack ( if it fits, and that's a big IF) there isn't much at the time for this figure, or the Vader and Ahsoka to share accessories with. I've only seen photos of Vader and Ahsoka but the Din Djarin figure can share some of Sabine's and Paz Vizsla's wrist accessories. I'll probably need Grogu and maybe Din Djarin, but those are about it as far as figures from this line go.

There are vehicles reportedly in the works for this line, and my guess is they'll be mini rig style, or scaled down vehicles like the ones from 2014-2018 were. For those I'll wait and see. Hasbro has been hit or miss at lines aimed at kids. Mission Fleet had the most legs, but that line seems to be coming to an end. This line of toys could probably benefit from a non Canon animated series which could get kids hooked on the show, and possibly these toys.

Now is it this essential for collectors? No. Unless you need free shipping on an order. Like I did.  At brick and mortar you'll only find the 2 deluxe figures along with Vader and Din Djarin only at Wal-Mart. But if this line succeeds, kids and not collectors will determine that for Hasbro.

All pictures were taken by me. Thanks for reading, please share this link on your social media accounts so I can get more readers!