LUKE SKYWALKER in Endor GearPower of the Force Millennium Mint Coin Collection
Item No.: Asst. 69675 No. 84026
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber, poncho, display base, coin
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $9.99
Availability: Summer 1998
Appearances: Return of the Jedi
Bio: Luke Skywalker was the son of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Naboo Senator Padme Amidala, and the older twin brother of Leia Organa Solo. A celebrated pilot and leader, Skywalker was most famous for destroying the first Death Star and prompting Darth Vader to kill Emperor Palpatine, which led to the eventual downfall of the Galactic Empire and made him the greatest hero of the Rebel Alliance. He was later promoted to general, though left the military to become an influential member of the New Republic and a prominent Jedi Master. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)
Image: The toy shelves of Adam Pawlus.
Commentary: By 1998, Hasbro was left with tons of product on the shelves and in production, balancing the demands for exclusives with the fan demand for no exclusives. Items like the Millennium Mint Coins were developed as a Toys "R" Us exclusive, and Luke Skywalker came out about halfway through the run. The figure is loosely based on the pack-in figure from the 1997 Speederbike, but he had retooled arms and legs as well as the obvious new coin-friendly extras. As far as the pre-Prequel figures go, this is one of the better ones and at the time, it was one of the harder ones to find. Some markets got a lot of Leia and no Luke, and the others, well, some variation on that. The figure itself has 6 points of articulation, but the main reason to get it is for the coin and stand, especially with a new version of Luke and his poncho coming to stores any day now. This figure is an excellent example of the 1998 line, and the quality you found therein. The originality was lacking given the coin was a revised coin from the 1980s, but it still looks a lot better than a lot of other items on the market in other toy lines at the time. Remember, 1998 is only three or four years removed from the Kenner Congo line, so these are huge improvements over the norm for the day even if, by today's standards, they're fairly primitive.
Collector's Notes: It's cheap, so if you want one, you can have one. Given the unknown nature of the 2007 coin collection thus far, a similar (if not identical) coin might be on the way shortly. As such, you might want to hold off buying this figure if just for the coin. Since it's in the process of being upgraded and replaced in The Saga Collection, the main reason to get this figure is for a curiosity or a strong urge to collect them all. The 1998 line is excellent, though, so I have to say you can do a lot worse than figures like this one.
Day 139: September 22, 2006
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