Figures That Make Me Mad:  Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight)

I'm so furious about this figure, I could...take a nice nap in my backyard! Yeah! That'll show the world how I feel! Nah, I'm actually irked by this.

So if Chris can have figures that make him happy, I can have figures that make me mad. This feature may be one and done, or it may last for decades, there's just no way to tell. But let's just take it one step at a time, okay?

VC175 Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) is a great figure. Chris reviewed it here, which was a copy of the original release that came out about a year earlier as part of the convention exclusive Jedi Destiny 3-pack. In that review, Chris bestowed much praise for the incremental, yet significant, improvements over the previous Jedi Luke figure, VC87. The notable changes were the fantastic cloak that was crafted to fit the figure way more convincingly along with the more accurate color; the increased range of motion of the wrists; the vastly improved headsculpt; and the removal of the poorly applied dust/sand paint weathering.

Chris gave it a 9/10, due to a nitpick to rival all nitpicks. He didn't like the way the PhotoReal eyes came out, as it appeared Luke was looking to the right a little too much, which he felt was limiting. That was enough for him to hold back a perfect 10 rating, so he gave it a 9/10. I agree with him that it's a great figure, and probably would have scored it a 10/10 if I had done the review myself.

So why does it make me mad? It doesn't. I just made that up for click bait. Ha! No really, here's why the figure upsets me:

I was arranging the figures for my Barge set up this weekend, and it really hit me that this Luke doesn't have rocker ankles. It makes me mad because this "definitive" figure of Luke Skywalker in his iconic ROTJ outfit was released only about a year before rocker ankles started to become a thing. In fact, while it debuted in the 3-pack in the summer of 2019, it was almost a mean joke by Hasbro to offer the carded mainline version as VC175 - right along with VC172 ARC Trooper Fives, VC173 Hondo Ohnaka, and VC174 Chirrut Îmwe. Those figures were basically the ones that indicated rocker ankles were going to be a real thing in newly sculpted TVC figures going forward. Luke just missed the cut. You could say the same for the VC140 Stormtrooper, but as I mentioned in some rant the other day, we know Hasbro will continuously crank out stormtroopers every time there's an upgrade to be had. Sure enough, we got VC231 with the rocker ankles. But what are the chances that Hasbro revisits this Luke and upgrades the hips and the ankles to 2024 standards? I'm sure it's not out of the question, but with such limited resources for TVC, I'm not sure that's the right thing to do. So here we are, with a figure of Luke depicting him as his most dynamic on screen appearance, and he just missed the cut on rocker ankles and barbell hips. It's upsetting. Fortunately for me, I've decided to pose this Luke standing calmly on the end of the skiff plank, where I can safely mask his hideous defect. But let's face it. As good a figure as it is, it's maddeningly frustrating that we may never get it with the full articulation glory it deserves. AND THIS MAKES ME MAD!

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