Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,267: Luke Skywalker (Yavin, The Retro Collection)

LUKE SKYWALKER (Yavin)
The Retro Collection Target Exclusive 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure Set
Item No.: No. G1082
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Defender sporting blaser pistol
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: April May 2025
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection features design and detailing inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from a galaxy far, far away. (Stolen from the marketing copy. Packaging has no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

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Commentary: The Retro Collection Rebel Fleet Trooper and Luke Skywalker (Yavin) were kind of oddballs in 1997 for The Power of the Force (POTF2), and they are here too. For 2025, the Kenner-style figures both have similar poses from what I assume are the same sculptor. On a shelf of 100 different figures, the RFT and Luke's colors and gear look like they belong. But when you get in close, these guys have a different flavor. I'm being nitpicky here - it's basically a good figure, and I have gotten into long, drawn-out arguments with people over some other retro-style action figures over the years. Everybody interprets the Kenner "style" differently, and we don't always agree with what we see before us. You won't be sorry if you get one, but it might take some getting used to if you have a very specific idea of how these figures have looked historically.

In an odd coincidence, I'd say the same about Kenner's 1997 figures of the same characters - Luke's really bad hair and super-wide stance come to mind, and the Rebel Fleet Trooper was one of the tallest figures in the range, towering over Chewbacca and Darth Vader. Here they just seem made by a different sculptor, probably using different tools or techniques. If you look at what other retro toymakers are doing, you can start to see what seems to be someone who relies more on digital tools cloning things and flipping a part around to save time (psst, we notice.) If you change the bend in an elbow or maybe add a slight shift to which foot Luke's weight is on, with new wrinkles in the clothes, maybe we won't notice. In this case, it seems a rough arm and leg were copied, flipped, and pasted with additional detailing added later. It doesn't feel right - it's close, but the personality of this style of figure came from asymmetry, being a little off, being (for lack of a better word) hand-made. When someone makes a thing out of clay (or maybe wood for droids), little imperfections give it an interesting personality - look at Hammerhead, or Han's bent elbow. This particular design choice with Yavin Luke doesn't save Hasbro proper any money, but it might have saved the sculptor (possibly a freelance sculptor) some time. I wish they spent more time on it, because it's unlikely we'll ever see a version 2.0 of any Retro figures.

This isn't to say it's bad - it's just a series of design choices. Luke's jacket in 1997 had ribbed sleeves all the way down. Later figures stopped just below the elbow, which is accurate. Hasbro decided to go with "accurate" for the Retro figure - which makes sense, but I think it was the wrong choice. "Wrong" is always right for that era, as there weren't good resources or style guides - as we saw in 1997. The rest of the jacket is molded in yellow, with some sculpted wrinkles and pockets but no painted trim. This is good. The wrinkles are generally good, but the jacket feels a little short and it seems like it could have been longer, perhaps just barely hanging over his hips. It needed to be fudged a bit more. The belt buckle is silver, I assume Kenner might have left it unpainted or white but we'll never know. The black shirt is perfect. No notes.

His pants are pretty good, but like the Rebel Trooper a) the pose is weird, and b) the butt is weirder. Most Kenner and Retro figures have a little more definition down there, and this one is lacking. It's a weird round cylinder. It's a bit more defined than the Rebel Trooper, but Dr. Evazan actually got a real seam for his pants. I'm not asking for anything fancy, just maybe a bit more of a hint of a sculpted fly, or some wrinkles in the seat. The leg pose is odd as the legs seem to be going in, rather than out. If the hips were the same, but the feet were maybe a fraction of an inch apart (with ankles tilted accordingly and maybe some more wrinkles in the boots) it'd be perfect. Again, I'd point to Bespin Han. Luke's non-working holster is also good, and is unpainted - just like Bespin Han. It doesn't look like much, but the design is OK. I'd like a little more definition, but I'm nitpicking. The yellow stripes on the pants seem perfect for the era.

His accessories are pretty good. The medal is just a little too big for him, but it doesn't fall off. Coincidentally it fits Han just fine, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was made to use with a new Han down the road. (Confidential to Hasbro: you can just rerelease Small Head Han with a medal and a retooled right hand to better grip the blaster, we'll buy it again.) Luke has two hands ready to grip accessories - which is not how Kenner did things with very few exceptions like Ewoks, Bespin and Jedi Knight Luke figures - but here we are. Either hand can grip Leia's pistol (included) just fine. I like that they just reused the old blaster and didn't make a new one. Kenner would've done the same thing. Luke's foot pegs work well with the stands I had around my desk.

I complained a lot, but that's taking this figure out of every possible context. In 2025, he's weird. In 1982, he'd fit right in with everything else because Kenner was still developing the style. If you put this Luke (Yavin) next to a Chewbacca and a Han Solo, they look like they belong together. Even Luke's head sculpt - a surprise that it was new - looks fine. The eye on mine is a smidgen off, but it's OK. It's not the 1978 lemon head, but it's a nice noggin. The hair is very good and matches the scene nicely, and I'd be lying if I said this didn't look like an old Kenner head. You can argue all day if it's good for Luke or not, but it completely captures the spirit of the original toy era if not the literal identical melon.

This isn't my favorite figure, but it's fine. I'll get used to the jacket, but the pose of the legs and arms seems weird. Legs close together, arms apart? That just doesn't feel right. But the colors are good, the style is right, and the personality seems generally pretty close to a good early draft of the figure. I would like to see more detail in the jacket's wrinkles and the texture of his garments, but it is what it is. It's not perfect, but if it were perfect it wouldn't be Retro.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Target.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,267: August 14, 2025