It was a lot of fun and a bit emotional to see a young Jedi Luke Skywalker making appearances in both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.  The first appearance was a surprise in the second season finale, and it was a joy to watch Luke annihilate a platoon of Dark Troopers in an almost effortless manner, displaying a fighting prowess we’d never seen before, and then finishing with a bittersweet moment when he took Grogu away from Din Djarin to be trained as Jedi.  The second was more of a fulfillment of what so many long time fans wanted to see - Luke building his Jedi Academy and spending quality time training Grogu.  Reading a bit online it seems there’s a bit of a debate as to who was Luke’s first student.  It was widely believed that Ben Solo was his first student, but technically it was probably Leia (as depicted in The Rise of Skywalker flashback).  It would now seem that Grogu was probably his second student, but first at the academy - even though it wasn’t really built yet.

I was rewatching the relevant TBOBF episode in order to get some inspiration for the diorama shots in this gallery. It wasn’t until after I took all the images that I realized Luke changes outfits during the time he trains Grogu.  At first, we see Luke with Grogu on a hilltop where they’re playing around with they cyclops frogs.  Luke appears to be wearing his basic Jedi outfit, which just seems to be an all black version of the traditional Republic-era Jedi garb.  Later in the episode, Luke takes a hike through the bamboo forests with Grogu in the backpack.  At this point, Luke changed into a different getup, perhaps a bit more casual and robe-like.  He dropped the belt with the silver buckle, and the leather boots replaced by something softer.  It is this outfit that is the inspiration for the figure. Later, in the stone building where Grogu must make his life choice, Luke appears to have gone back to his previous outfit.  All that is to say, that while the figure comes with many accessories, it is technically only accurate to the part where he was using the backpack to carry Grogu.

The figure is a kit bash, with some newness.  The arms and bare left hand are reused from VC264 Luke Skywalker (Imperial Light Cruiser), as is the head.  I don’t recognize the torso, which I assume is new, as is the belt.  The legs may be re-used, but I believe they are at least somewhat new.  Someone can correct me in the comments if necessary.  The soft goods lower tunic, a design choice made for all three recent Luke figures from the ROTJ and ROTJ-adjace time frame.  While the headsculpt isn’t new, I feel it has received the best paint/photoreal application of the three Luke Jedi figures.  The articulation is excellent, with the elbows and knees bending past 90 degrees, and the hips being the newest variety.  While Luke was among the least dynamic Jedi we’ve ever seen on screen, the articulation makes this particular iteration the most poseable of any Luke figure we’ve ever had. 

The pack includes a ton of accessories.  The basic ones are Luke’s unlit hilt and fully ignited green blade.  Sadly, there is no peg hole on the belt, so there is no place to hook the hilt.  I watched the scene a bunch of times.  While Grogu is trying to balance on the bamboo shoot, Luke ignites his blade and practices some moves.  But at no point before or after that display of swordsmanship, do we see the hilt anywhere on Luke’s outfit.  So we can only assume from whence he could have pulled it.  So it seems screen accurate, but a peg hole would have been appropriate here. 

Beyond those basics, this set comes with a bunch of other pieces.  The main one, of course is Grogu himself.  This is a version we’ve seen before, nothing really new here.  It appears to be the same as VC184 The Child.  The back pack, which I assume is meant to be the same one that Yoda had on Dagobah, is also included.  I tried to unbuckle the clasp, to no avail.  The only way I was able to get this on Luke was to slip the belt over the feet and then up to the torso, while slipping the arms through the straps along the way.  It does fit nicely once in place, and holds Grogu well.  4 resting frogs, and 3 leaping frogs are part of the set, along with a clear stand that will hold the 3 leaping frogs in a “force levitation” state.  And for “Gorge’s Choice”, we get Yoda’s hilt, Yoda’s lit saber, Din’s gift wrapped pouch, and the unfolded bezoar shirt.

The figure, like so many others in the deluxe line, is (or will be) available in the main line on a single card.  It will include Luke’s hilt and ignited saber.  All the other accessories mentioned above are exclusive to this set, which retails for $27.99.  You’ll have to decide if all those pieces are worth $11.  While TVC is expensive in general, I personally feel this is a nice deluxe set with good value.  I think the only thing missing is a training remote - obviously the one in the picture above is from elsewhere (VC80 Anakin Skywalker).  It’s a lot of stuff. 

As for grading, my instinct was to give it a 9/10.  I mean, there’s nothing to complain about (other than the lack of a peg hole on the belt).  The face is great, the articulation is top notch, and the set is loaded with almost all the accessories you’d need to recreate any moment on Ossus (except the remote).  Those are minor gripes.  However, I do feel that since the figure is completely black (other than the head and left hand, there’s nothing visually compelling to put it on a 10/10 level like, say an Ahoska, or Bo-Katan, or, yes, even Velken Tezeri.  That’s no fault of Hasbro.  Maybe it’s because I’d just rather have a damn Farmboy Luke that this one just leaves something to be desired.  So all those small things add up to a point deduction.  But in the end, it’s still a great figure, and I love all the accessories.  Don’t miss out on this set.