Editor’s Note:  This review has been updated with a second look…

Original Review:  Bret - 4/30/2010 02:53 PM

This is a fantastic figure.  A great sculpt with a tremendous amount of detail in the uniform and the accessories.  Luke has a great face sculpt perhaps one of the best for this character, with a “pilot head sock” to keep him warm.  He is superarticulated, and can grip the lightsaber hilt and the grappling hook gun in both hands well.  The figure is sturdy, and can stand without any problem.  The paint is excellent, with a few details to break up the gray and orange jumpsuit.  The grappling hook is neat, although a little odd.  I’m not 100 percent sure how the string is meant to attach, but I kind of tied it to the little buckle at the end of the cable that comes out the rear of the gun.
This figure is nearly perfect, which makes it all the more frustrating because it would have been easy to make this a definitive version of this figure, and get a perfect score of 10.  First, the saber hilt has a peg, but unfortunately, does not have a peg hole in Luke’s belt.  Secondly, Luke doesn’t come with a full lightsaber, which is an important part of the scene this figure fits in.  He also would benefit from coming with a grenade or mine accessory to toss into the open hatch he revealed with the lightsaber.  Finally, I think the grappling hook could be a little more play-friendly.  Perhaps the string should go through the barrel of the gun, so that you could kind of slide Luke up the rope.  These are all minor, but as I said, would have guaranteed this figure a perfect score and made it the absolute definitive version of the character.  As it is, it’s an awesome figure anyway.

Updated Review:  Bret - 12/18/2018 07:05 PM

I may have been high when I wrote that review.  Yeah, it’s a good figure, but it’s got some flaws that prevent it from achieving anywhere close to greatness. This figure is most comparable to VC44 Dagobah Landing Luke.  That figure was based on this one.  While it had a few quirky flaws, it was overall outstanding.  I’d say this figure overall very good, but short of outstanding.  The problems are minor, but they’re enough to get some Luke Skywalker Snowspeeder Pilot superfans all wound up. 

Just to get the basics out of the way, it’s a nice sculpt, decent facial likeness, solid paint applications, and good articulation. While the negatives are minor, they are numerous, and quite frustrating. 

First, those hands.  They are angled in an odd way.  Yes, they are meant to handle the harpoon gun accessory, but I don’t see a need for the severe pre-positioning of these hands.  They’re not even positioned that well for the harpoon shooting pose.  That’s a problem. 

Second, the head has a flight cap.  Now, it seems that all the snowspeeder pilots should have these. But Luke is never (really) shown on screen with the flight cap.  We see him enter the cockpit of the speeder with Dak, and he has no cap.  The speeder slowly lifts off during the launch sequence and drifts out of the frame, and we don’t actually see Luke don the cap (or put the helmet on, for that matter.).  The next time Luke takes his helmet off is after he crashes on Dagobah, and, you guessed it, no cap.  Now, in the scene where Luke is frantically digging for the harpoon gun as the AT-AT foot descends on the crashed speeder, you can kind of catch a quick glimpse under the brow of the helmet and you can see what is probably the cap.  I get it.  I know it’s supposed to be there.  But other than that quick glimpse under the helmet, the shots where Luke is not wearing his helmet do not have him ever wearing the cap.  Therefore, personally, I think it would have been wiser to have a bare head.  With this figure, you cannot technically get an accurate scene with him entering the cockpit in Echo Base.

Third, Luke comes with an unlit hilt, including the peg, but his belt has no peg hole.  This is an egregious oversight.  He is clearly wearing the saber in all the shots, and he most importantly has it clipped to his belt while he ascends the cable.  Even worse than this, he doesn’t come with a lit saber at all.  This is an even egregious…er oversight.  How the heck is he supposed to slice open the hatch under the AT-AT without a lit blade?  Nonsense!  Oh, and he doesn’t come with an explosive charge.  He should have had that accessory as well, so he could blow stuff up.  Poor Luke got to the underbelly of the AT-AT, and had no saber and no grenade.  A poorly conceived plan, apparently.

As for the harpoon, it is kind of neat.  You can attach the back end loop onto the air hose that will unplug from Luke’s hip.  Not sure it’s the best way to secure the harpoon in real life, but for the figure, it works nicely.  The string should have a better way to attach, but if you cram the knotted end into the barrel of the harpoon, it will hold well enough when the claw is extended.  Overall, it’s a pretty cool accessory, and almost makes up for the other flaws.

Somehow, between this Luke and the VC44 Dagobah Landing Luke, you can kind of get a hybrid that represents a theoretical better figure.  Among improvements that are mostly relegated to the accessories included, this Luke should probably have an alternate bare head, and ball jointed wrists.  Hasbro was close, but maddeningly missed the mark.  I think the VC44 is a better “scene specific” figure, and I gave that a 9 out of 10.  I feel this figure warrants an 8, which is a drop from the rather exuberant 9 that I awarded it back in the day.  It’s good, but frustratingly shy of being definitive.  Hasbro should try again here.

Oh yeah:  This figure also needs a working visor and medical rope.

Build-A-Droid 

Luke Skywalker contains the head and rifle of HK-50.  This was a model of assassin droid from the Old Republic era, built by Revan.  Source:  Knights of the Old Republic II - (Legends).

Verdict: Re-sculpt 

Close but no cigar.  Ball jointed hands/gloves, alternate head, belt peg hole, lit saber, explosive charge….it could turn this figure into an epic one.  Ebay prices are not particularly high. You can easily snag a carded sample for $25 shipped, maybe even $20 if you shop around.  This figure should not be re-packed, but if it were tweaked in the ways discussed, it could easily become the definitive Snowspeeder Luke we’ve been looking for.

Verdict Guide:
Re-sculpt = The figure is not definitive, and a new version should be developed.
Re-issue = This version is definitive (or close enough), and shows sufficient secondary market demand to warrant a straight repack.
No Action = This release does not require new attention.