I Think This May Be Bigger Than A Womp Rat

Ever since I was 6 years old, Luke Skywalker has been my favorite Star Wars character. Whenever I would get Star Wars toys as a kid, somewhere in the lot there would be a Luke Skywalker I would gravitate to and play with above all the others. I wish I still had them all, but I lost them in the great war of 1982 when my sister and I were at war and destroyed each others toys. She threw out all my Star Wars stuff and I played skydiving with her Barbies from our 6th floor window.

Ever since I decided to restart my Star Wars collecting, I made sure I focused on Luke Skywalker, picking up as many pieces of him as possible. From puzzles to action figures to cups to calendars, anything that has Luke on it, I usually picked up. But I can't say I'm doing it all by myself.

My buddy, George, gave me some late Christmas presents and one of the items fits right into my Skywalker collection.

Recently, Hasbro released some Star Wars Titan figures in their Star Wars: Rebels line. I've never seen the show on Disney XD, so I don't know if it's any good. To me, if it has nothing to do with my beloved characters from Episodes III, IV and V, I have no interest. I gave the Prequel characters a chance and wasn't crazy about them. Also, I'm not sure why Luke was released in this line, unless he will make an appearance on the show or will at some point. All I care about is I get a new Luke Skywalker in my collection.

As with all Titan figures, they come in a box with a cellophane front and some art underneath. In this case, we get a Stormtrooper with the classic Star Wars lettering under the Stormtrooper, which is enough to make me squeal like a 10 year old.

I love the back of the box as it a has a great action shot of the final battle between Luke and Darth Vader in Return Of The Jedi. The picture captures Vader down for the count with Luke about to deliver that final blow that chops Vader's hand off. If I was Luke, I would have been like "A hand for a hand, eh Daddy"? That is probably why I will never be a Jedi. Much anger in this one. Then again, there is no such thing as a Jedi Knight, no matter what those cos players tell you at conventions.

I had wanted to keep the box for display purposes, especially since I was digging that picture on the back so much. Unfortunately, Hasbro did not make getting the figure out all that easily. I would have hoped I could have slide the figure out, but no. It was tied down to a piece of cardboard that was glued to the box. What the heck?? I had to tear apart the box to get the figure out so I could cut the elastic like strings off to set him free. After I was done, there was no box. just one long piece of cardboard. It looked like a piece of the skin off an orange if you peel it right.

Here is Luke out of the package. Right off the bat, I like that he's wearing his Jedi outfit from Return. He also looks enough like Mark Hamill for this figure to work out well.

I did say he looked enough like Hamill, not totally like him. There's enough there where you can look at the figure and say, "OK. I see it." Only thing I might have done was darken his hair just a little. Mark Hamill has dark blonde hair. Not very light blonde that the companies have been putting on him since the 70's. I never got that.

The only accessory that came with the figure was his green lightsaber, which I'm glad we got. Of the two lightsabers Luke had, the green by far is my favorite. Not sure why since blue is my favorite color. I thought, and still do, that the green made Luke more of a bad ass than the blue one did. The hilt on this lightsaber is a little bit bent, so I will have to figure out a way to straighten it out since I'm pretty sure Luke had a straight hilt and not the curve on the end that I have seen on some lightsabers.

There is barely any articulation to this figure. Luke's head turns slightly from left to right, the arms do a full 360 rotation at the shoulder and the legs go up in front and that's it. That's not a problem for me. My problem is if we weren't going to get wrist articulation, why is Luke's hand out stretched instead of at his size? It's not like we can pose this figure, so I fail to see the reasoning for the palms out theory with this figure.

Maybe Luke is asking Vader for some long overdue child support? No wonder he chopped Vaders hand off. The cheap Sith Lord.

The paint on the back of the figure is as good as the front is. Hasbro did a bang up job on the paint application. I did not see any splotches or messed up paint on any part of the figure.

That's as much posing as your going to get out of this figure, but I really don't care. It's a new Luke Skywalker figure that has been added to my collection and I am very glad to have it. Once I am able to display my collection, I figure (Pun intended, heh heh) this will have a prominent spot next to my other larger Skywalker figures.

Like most of the free world, I am looking forward to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I usually avoid seeing a newer release with crowds, but I may break that rule just to see this movie. I have been on such a Star Wars kick lately. I've watched New Hope, Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi all weekend get my Star Wars mojo flowing. The 2 best things about The Force Awakens? We get the original cast back and we are sure to get more Skywalker collectables for me to pick up. That's a win win...for me at least.

Yet Another Addition To My Luke Skywalker Collection

Man, I cannot wait until I have the room to put up shelves. I will have a Luke Skywalker shelf and I already have some nice things to display. In about a years time, I have been able to pick up some cool Skywalker items. From vintage toys to more contemporary toys. Books, a vintage shampoo bottle, even a Valentine's Day cardboard Star Wars heart will be added to the shelf. Today, my newest piece arrived and it's been one I have been wanting for a long time.

I was finally able to pick up the Unleashed Luke Skywalker Return Of The Jedi figure that I have been eyeballing ever since I had decided to start a Skywalker collection. When I first say this figure in Kay Bee Toys I wasn't collecting Luke or toys in general, thus I never picked it up. Now, thanks to the magic of eBay, I now have this figure in my collection.

Let's take a closer look at this figure:

This figure depicts the final lightsaber dual between Luke and Darth Vader on the second Death Star while Emperor Palpatine sat and watched. The figure, I'm guessing, is showing Luke in "rage" mode as he slashed wildly after Vader mentioned turning Leia to the dark side if Luke wouldn't. It's the closest we see Luke losing it and coming close to joining the dark side by losing his cool.

From behind, you can still see how nice this figure is. I love the waves of green that surround this figure, representing the lightsaber being swung wildly, hair whipped back like a bad Willow Smith song.

The face sculpt is actually not too bad. It's not a dead on likeness of Mark Hamill, but it's close enough to where you can go say eh, I can see it. Luke looks really pissed off here, It's not like the generic painted on faces that Kenner made on their figures. You can see the rage in Luke's face as as swung his lightsaber (which, BTW, is the coolest lightsaber in the Star Wars Universe. Don't give me Darth Maul's dual bladed saber. I'll take Luke's Jedi saber any day).

When I get my shelf up, I will put this figure up right next to the other Unleashed Luke figure I got off eBay in   March. But I don't plan to stop there. There are still a few Luke pieces that I would like to add to my collection. I have been wanting to add a vintage X-Wing Fighter, vintage Land Speeder, a vintage coloring book I saw on eBay from Return Of The Jedi with Luke on  the cover and some of the vintage Kenner figures I am missing. Some of the more contemporary items I want to buy is a green light saber I have seen in Toys R Us, some of the Gentle Giant statues and some of the larger figures from Gentle Giant, Kenner, Hot Toys and Kotobukiya. Maybe I'll do a Luke Skywalker wish list blog post one day. That way, I can have a visual list of what I want and go and get what I need.

For now though, I am content to just enjoy the stuff I have in my Skywalker collection. One day soon, I will be able to display everything, Anyone who comes to see the collection will know that the Force is strong with this one.

Newest Additions To My Luke Skywalker Collection

I haven't had the chance to add anything new to my Luke Skywalker collection lately as I have been concentrating more on my Batman collection. This past weekend, I ran into 2 Skywalker items in different places. I wasn't even shopping for any Luke stuff, but when I saw them I knew I had to have them.

I was in Target shopping for household items when I decided to take a stroll into the toy section. I was actually looking for the Brave And The Bold Justice League Batman figure, but that was sold out. The superhero section in my Target is always a mess. I looked through the discarded figures, in case there was a Batman in there. When I found none, I turned to leave. My eye caught this Star Wars Vintage Return Of The Jedi Luke Skywaker Lightsaber Construction figure, which was from a deleted scene in the Star Wars Blu Ray. I have yet to see this scene, but it didn't stop me from grabbing it and sticking it in my cart.

Closer look at the figure and you can see he's wearing the cloak he wore when he entered Jaba's palace along with the very cool green lightsaber. I am assuming this deleted scene was before he went to rescue Han Solo as he already had the lightsaber when he was on the barge, fighting Jaba's henchmen and Boba Fett. Very nice piece to add to the Skywalker collection, if I do say so myself.

I love Funko's Pop figures. When I saw this figure while hanging out with my friends at Manhattan Comics, it was a no doubter that this was coming home with me. I have been looking for this figure for a while now and it was the first time I had seen it.

This figure is so cool, Another Return Of The Jedi Luke, this one has him in his all black outfit that he wore in that epic scene where he fought Darth Vader as the Emperor watched. Again, he has that green lightsaber and has his collar casually flipped down as if to say "Vader? I got this."

I think it's a bit weird that the Star Wars logo is on the back rather than the front. Unless I had it backwards. The figure is not glued to the base. It can be removed and put back on. So, I am guessing I screwed up when I took it out the package and put him on wrong. Figures.

I grabbed this Luke Skywalker POP because I know i had I not I would never see it again. I one time saw the POP X-Wing Fighter Luke figure and didn't grab it and I have not seen it since. My buddy thought I was insane, but I convinced both he and I that I will see it again and grab it then. Now who's the idiot? Will probably have to go through eBay for it unless I see it at the 2 comic/toy conventions I'm hitting in April. Cross your fingers.

I'm very glad I picked up both of these pieces for my Luke Skywalker collection. I do have a Skywalker wish list and although neither one of these beauties are not on the list, I'm glad I own them. I now feel one with The Force. I will never turn to the Dark Side as long as I have Luke watching out for me. Unless they have cookies. I hear the Dark Side has cookies. Then my failure will be complete.