My Reaction To The Yesterday’s Luke Skywalker (Jedi Academy) Reveal

Yesterday's Mando Mania revealed the previously pipelined Jedi Academy Luke. As I was watching Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger of The Book of Boba Fett, my action figure want list exploded: Cobb Vanth, Pike Warrior, Cad Bane, and certainly this Luke Skywalker in the black Gi. The vintage Kenner Jedi Knight Luke was my favorite figure as a kid. I won't play the "one of" game on that one (because there are probably a dozen figures in that category). It was the A-numero-uno figure from my childhood. So I have a sweet spot for black-clad Luke Skywalker figures. Additionally, I was thrilled to see a tranquil Luke. This was the post Episode VI Luke that I needed to see. I didn't need to see the "indomitable swordsman" Luke that we got in The Rescue episode of The Mandalorian, but I will take it. After the exhausting hero's journey of the Original Trilogy, I just needed to see a man a peace, and Chapter 6 of The Book of Boba Fett gave that to me, so I definitely want the figure.

As far as the figure goes, I think it looks great. Aesthetically, it's appears pretty spot on. Unfortunately it looks like the arms from the VC264 - Luke Skywalker (Light Imperial Cruiser) were reused. The problem is that the disc in the elbows of that figure are actually slightly smaller than the discs on the VC175 - Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) figure. VC175 is on top in this picture:


The result of this shorter disc is slightly less range of motion compared to the predecessor. Back to the plus side, I love the use of soft goods for the lower tunic. In the REVEAL VIDEO, Emily says that soft goods was used for the purpose of facilitating the cross legged seating poses with Grogu. Huzzah! This figure absolutely needs to sit. Years from now when I have departed this realm, and Hasbro finally gets around to updating the Episode IV Luke Skywalker, this is exactly the approach I hope Hasbro takes.. That figure too needs to be able to sit in the Landspeeder, Cantina and in any Ben's hut diorama.

This brings me to my final point, and it's the biggest one. I will often criticize the community for not appreciating how expensive paint applications are, and how important of a factor those paint applications are in what makes the Vintage Collection the Vintage Collection. I've often pointed out that just the jetpack on Boba Fett (Tatooine) has more paint apps than some entire figures. So when the opposite is true, I think it's only fair to hold Hasbro to task. This Jedi Academy Luke has almost no paint applications. It's mostly cast is color. This isn't a slight on the execution because it's screen accurate, but if paint applications are expensive, the lack thereof should be inexpensive. With those cost savings, it would have been nice if Hasbro included some extra accessories, or maybe a swappable Force hand. This Luke could have included Yoda's lightsaber, the Grogu origami Beskar bundle, or the backpack. But we got none of those.

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