Luke Skywalker
INTRODUCTION
The Star Wars 12-inch line for years had been something special to the Star Wars Collectibles lines thanks to Kenner and Hasbro. However, something very special was about to happen to this line. On July 14th, 2005, Sideshow Collectibles announced they had acquired the 12-inch license for Star Wars figures a year after having acquired the rights to make 1:1 scale busts and 1:4 scale Premium Format Figures.
For fans of Sideshow Collectibles this was a great day especially since many of us are also Star Wars fans. We knew the level of quality in which Sideshow Collectibles made their 12-inch figures. Star Wars fans that didn’t know anything about Sideshow Collectibles where about to get the treat of a life time for their favorite characters from that galaxy far far away.
Sideshow Collectibles choose the first figure of their whole 12-inch line to be none other than Luke Skywalker himself. This version of Luke Skywalker comes from the Order of the Jedi line in Sideshows 12-inch Star Wars line and represents Luke from Episode Six: Return of the Jedi.
If you are familiar with Sideshow Collectibles they do things in Regular and Exclusive Formats. This review of the Luke Skywalker figure will be of the Exclusive Version.
PACKAGING - 10
Sideshow with the Luke Skywalker figure decided to think outside the box so to speak when making Luke’s box. It has a great shot of the figures face on the front of the box with a clip of Luke from Jabba's palace in the background with the Star Wars Logo under the figures head. Also on the front of the box you will get a cool Sideshow Exclusive sticker letting you know which version you received. A long the side of the box you have the name of the figure and at the bottom. On both sides you get great shots of the Luke figure and on the back of the box you get another great shot with some nice pictures from ROTJ.
This box unlike many 12-inch boxes is very collector friendly. With most 12-inch boxes when you open the box you have to fight that annoying Velcro to open them. Sideshow playing upon something critical to Star Wars used the “Force” to keep the box closed. Ok, so they didn’t really use the force to keep the box closed but two very well hidden magnets to keep it closed.
When you go to open this figure instead of the standard one panel you get multiple panels. Once opened you see text talking about the Order of the Jedi line which is what Luke falls in, next you will see his accessories (which I’ll go into later), then a description of the character, and finally the panel in which the character is held in. Now, the final thing that makes this box so much more user friendly is the fact it doesn’t use any and I repeat any twisty ties on Luke.
SCULPTING - 9.5
This figure looks exactly Mark Hamill who played Luke Skywalker in Episodes 4-6 of the Star Wars Saga. So with that this figure is already a winner based on the numerous bad representations of Luke we’ve seen over the years. This figure also looks fantastic from any angle at which you might look at it. This is aided by the fantastic job done on the skin tone.
The sculpting done on the hands is fantastic really compared to other 12-inch figures I’ve come across. Like with the face the skin tone and detail is amazing. They have great flexibility and hold their items correctly. My only complaint with the hands is that they do come off a little easier than I would like when changing poses.
PAINT - 10
Really the painting detail on this piece is perfect in the way they capture someone who lived on a desert planet their whole life. The skin tone is really flawless on this piece and you would be hard pressed to find issues with it. The same goes for his set of hands that come with this piece. Even the details in Luke’s eyes are capture amazingly well which is the key to the overall look of his face.
ARTICULATION - 9.5
If you are familiar with Sideshows standard body then you already know what to expect with Luke.
The overall articulation with this figure is pretty good because the movement is there. So being able to pose him shouldn’t be an issue for any of you folks who like to recreate scenes from the movies. My only issue with the SS body is the arms do look a little long so you have to pose him a little so his arms don’t appear to look funky.
ACCESSORIES - 10
The difference in accessories between this one and the regular version is only a Skiff Guard Blaster but none the less these items are very cool.
Luke comes with five hands all of which I said before are very detailed. Especially the battle damaged hand which you can see the robotic insides of the hands. All of these hands will aid you in creating those different poses.
Maybe the weakest of the accessories is a femur bone Luke finds when he is dropped into the Rancor pit. It’s very well done and looks just like what a femur bone should look like.
The exclusive accessory is the Skiff Guard Blaster which is a pretty sweet exclusive. The paint and detail in this little item is very well done and it comes with its own hand to hold it if you choose to display this accessory.
Now, any Jedi has to have a Lightsaber. This guy not only has one but two Lighsabers. Luke has an ignited Lightsaber so you can choose to display him about to whoop someone with it. If you choose to display Luke holding the Femur or Skiff Guard Blaster you also get a non-ignited Lightsaber which conveniently will hang on Luke’s belt. The detail on both these Lightsabers is outstanding and looks like what you saw on screen or in the tons of replicas floating around.
OUTFIT - 9.5
Luke’s outfit is pretty solid when you take the time to look at it and eye over the details. The sewing job on it is better than any Star Wars 12-inch figure I’ve seen to date. Sideshow’s color choices match what we saw on screen to a “T”. The clothes for the most part fit Luke really well but the only trouble spots from what I can see are in the hip area and around the boots. His hip issue can be taken care of by putting on his grey tunic but if you don’t want to do that cotton balls can help fill those gaps. Luke’s boot issue can be taken care of by just simply playing around with the pants.
VALUE - 10
For $50 to be able to get the definitive Luke Skywalker 12-inch figure is a steal. The level of detail and quality Sideshow put into this figure will cause you to drop your jaw when you see it in person. Star Wars fans you finally have a Luke Skywalker you can be more than proud to display.
OVERALL - 9.5
There are a few minor issues as I stated with this figure like the arms, hands, and hip areas. However, these areas really are very minor especially for a figure of this quality. Sideshow really knocked the ball out of the park with this figure and has gotten the Star Wars 12-inc line of to a fantastic start.
RATINGS RECAP
Packaging - 10
Sculpt - 9.5
Paint - 10
Articulation - 9.5
Accessories - 10
Outfit - 9.5
Value - 10
Overall - 9.5
INTRODUCTION
The Star Wars 12-inch line for years had been something special to the Star Wars Collectibles lines thanks to Kenner and Hasbro. However, something very special was about to happen to this line. On July 14th, 2005, Sideshow Collectibles announced they had acquired the 12-inch license for Star Wars figures a year after having acquired the rights to make 1:1 scale busts and 1:4 scale Premium Format Figures.
For fans of Sideshow Collectibles this was a great day especially since many of us are also Star Wars fans. We knew the level of quality in which Sideshow Collectibles made their 12-inch figures. Star Wars fans that didn’t know anything about Sideshow Collectibles where about to get the treat of a life time for their favorite characters from that galaxy far far away.
Sideshow Collectibles choose the first figure of their whole 12-inch line to be none other than Luke Skywalker himself. This version of Luke Skywalker comes from the Order of the Jedi line in Sideshows 12-inch Star Wars line and represents Luke from Episode Six: Return of the Jedi.
If you are familiar with Sideshow Collectibles they do things in Regular and Exclusive Formats. This review of the Luke Skywalker figure will be of the Exclusive Version.
PACKAGING - 10
Sideshow with the Luke Skywalker figure decided to think outside the box so to speak when making Luke’s box. It has a great shot of the figures face on the front of the box with a clip of Luke from Jabba's palace in the background with the Star Wars Logo under the figures head. Also on the front of the box you will get a cool Sideshow Exclusive sticker letting you know which version you received. A long the side of the box you have the name of the figure and at the bottom. On both sides you get great shots of the Luke figure and on the back of the box you get another great shot with some nice pictures from ROTJ.
This box unlike many 12-inch boxes is very collector friendly. With most 12-inch boxes when you open the box you have to fight that annoying Velcro to open them. Sideshow playing upon something critical to Star Wars used the “Force” to keep the box closed. Ok, so they didn’t really use the force to keep the box closed but two very well hidden magnets to keep it closed.
When you go to open this figure instead of the standard one panel you get multiple panels. Once opened you see text talking about the Order of the Jedi line which is what Luke falls in, next you will see his accessories (which I’ll go into later), then a description of the character, and finally the panel in which the character is held in. Now, the final thing that makes this box so much more user friendly is the fact it doesn’t use any and I repeat any twisty ties on Luke.
SCULPTING - 9.5
This figure looks exactly Mark Hamill who played Luke Skywalker in Episodes 4-6 of the Star Wars Saga. So with that this figure is already a winner based on the numerous bad representations of Luke we’ve seen over the years. This figure also looks fantastic from any angle at which you might look at it. This is aided by the fantastic job done on the skin tone.
The sculpting done on the hands is fantastic really compared to other 12-inch figures I’ve come across. Like with the face the skin tone and detail is amazing. They have great flexibility and hold their items correctly. My only complaint with the hands is that they do come off a little easier than I would like when changing poses.
PAINT - 10
Really the painting detail on this piece is perfect in the way they capture someone who lived on a desert planet their whole life. The skin tone is really flawless on this piece and you would be hard pressed to find issues with it. The same goes for his set of hands that come with this piece. Even the details in Luke’s eyes are capture amazingly well which is the key to the overall look of his face.
ARTICULATION - 9.5
If you are familiar with Sideshows standard body then you already know what to expect with Luke.
The overall articulation with this figure is pretty good because the movement is there. So being able to pose him shouldn’t be an issue for any of you folks who like to recreate scenes from the movies. My only issue with the SS body is the arms do look a little long so you have to pose him a little so his arms don’t appear to look funky.
ACCESSORIES - 10
The difference in accessories between this one and the regular version is only a Skiff Guard Blaster but none the less these items are very cool.
Luke comes with five hands all of which I said before are very detailed. Especially the battle damaged hand which you can see the robotic insides of the hands. All of these hands will aid you in creating those different poses.
Maybe the weakest of the accessories is a femur bone Luke finds when he is dropped into the Rancor pit. It’s very well done and looks just like what a femur bone should look like.
The exclusive accessory is the Skiff Guard Blaster which is a pretty sweet exclusive. The paint and detail in this little item is very well done and it comes with its own hand to hold it if you choose to display this accessory.
Now, any Jedi has to have a Lightsaber. This guy not only has one but two Lighsabers. Luke has an ignited Lightsaber so you can choose to display him about to whoop someone with it. If you choose to display Luke holding the Femur or Skiff Guard Blaster you also get a non-ignited Lightsaber which conveniently will hang on Luke’s belt. The detail on both these Lightsabers is outstanding and looks like what you saw on screen or in the tons of replicas floating around.
OUTFIT - 9.5
Luke’s outfit is pretty solid when you take the time to look at it and eye over the details. The sewing job on it is better than any Star Wars 12-inch figure I’ve seen to date. Sideshow’s color choices match what we saw on screen to a “T”. The clothes for the most part fit Luke really well but the only trouble spots from what I can see are in the hip area and around the boots. His hip issue can be taken care of by putting on his grey tunic but if you don’t want to do that cotton balls can help fill those gaps. Luke’s boot issue can be taken care of by just simply playing around with the pants.
VALUE - 10
For $50 to be able to get the definitive Luke Skywalker 12-inch figure is a steal. The level of detail and quality Sideshow put into this figure will cause you to drop your jaw when you see it in person. Star Wars fans you finally have a Luke Skywalker you can be more than proud to display.
OVERALL - 9.5
There are a few minor issues as I stated with this figure like the arms, hands, and hip areas. However, these areas really are very minor especially for a figure of this quality. Sideshow really knocked the ball out of the park with this figure and has gotten the Star Wars 12-inc line of to a fantastic start.
RATINGS RECAP
Packaging - 10
Sculpt - 9.5
Paint - 10
Articulation - 9.5
Accessories - 10
Outfit - 9.5
Value - 10
Overall - 9.5