Here’s a not-so-random random figure review.  Chris had this one lying around in the package in one of his 6 beachfront properties.  He loses track as to which one, but I’m pretty sure it was in the one that has the helipad in the back yard.  But the real draw (from a certain point of view) is that it was a good opportunity to repurpose the cantina alcoves for a (hopefully) neat shot.

For a long time, the 3.75” line was not only unhampered by the budget-sucking, disturbingly over-sized, parasitic Black Series line, it was also so wildly popular that Hasbro could pump out almost every variant of every character possible with what seemed to be almost no limitations.  They took the 04-11 [Blue] Saga Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) figure from 2004, and in the next wave or two, repainted/recast it into a ghost-like appearance for the 04-11 [Blue] Saga Holographic Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace).

For 2004, the figure wasn’t bad.  It had swivel neck, waist, shoulders, and hips. But additionally, it had swivel elbows, swivel wrists, and a knee hinge / boot swivel that effectively performed as rudimentary ball jointed knees.  Unfortunately,  but not surprisingly for the time, Luke’s lower tunic (“skirt”) is made of hard plastic, which prevents almost all range of motion for the hips, and therefore nearly renders moot the innovative knee joints. 

I have to say that Hasbro did a pretty nice job with casting the parts in colorful, translucent plastic.  It does a nice job of performing as a not-quite-there character.  The on-screen version had more of that static/interference transmission thing going on.  Apparently R2-D2 was only able to get 1 bar on his projector. 

For accessories, Hasbro dropped the soft goods cape and skiff guard blaster that was included with the original 04-04 figure.  This one just comes with the lightsaber.  It’s a bit nonsensical, but I’m sure the conventional wisdom was that kids wouldn’t be interested in a lightsaber-less Luke figure.  Weirdly, he can only hold it in his left hand, as his right hand is sculpted in an open position that won’t hold an accessory, unless he’s palming a basketball.  (By the way, my weird superpower is that I can palm a basketball off a dribble.  It strikes fear into potential opponents…until I actually begin playing.)

One other thing that Hasbro could have considered was making this figure some kind of deluxe 2-Up size.  R2’s projection of Luke is much larger than human size.  You might even consider substituting one of the previously mentioned Black Series figures into your diorama - if Hasbro had bothered to make one.  Even when you think the 6” scale might serve some purpose, it just continues to disappoint. 

Anyway, this is one of those figures that manages to survive today, because it’s never been updated since its original release in 2004.  So it was fun setting up the Cantina alcoves to represent those found in Jabba’s palace.  They’re not the same, of course, but if you had an extra Haslab that you were looking to put to good use, there’s an option for you.