Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,259: Luke Skywalker (The Force Awakens Value 6-Inch)

LUKE SKYWALKER Titan Guardians-Esque
The Force Awakens "Dollar Store" 6-Inch Figure
Item No.: Asst. B3946 No. B6333
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber blade
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $6.75
Availability: February 2016
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: Convinced he can turn his father away from the dark side of the Force, Luke Skywalker surrenders to Darth Vader and is brought before the Emperor. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Commentary:  Hey kids, it's Luke Skywalker!   What's funny is we spent years asking Hasbro to do more versions of this outfit - the "Death Star II" Jedi outfit - because it was pretty scarce for quite some time.  Now it seems to be their go-to, having given us several over the past decade in numerous sizes and formats.   Even Jakks Pacific got in the fun, with this particular figure looking very similar to the 3 3/4-inch release a couple of years back.   Luke has jointed shoulders, plus moving bits at the neck and waist - and that's pretty much it.  The lightsaber blade pops into a hilt forged into his right fist, so the entirety of the weapon will never be completely removable from his hand.  You've got The Black Series if you want that, but the price can't be beat as far as figure inches for the buck.

Luke's head is actually about as good as the smaller one - which is to say, not great.  Han kept his trademark scar.  Vader and Kanan are hard to mess up.   Luke?  Well, Mark Hamill has been a tough likeness to nail over the years and we've had some pretty good ones, a lot of iffy ones, but very few that anyone would probably consider to be great.   They did a fine job with the assets they seem to have been given, meaning it's a toy.  He's partially hollow, and has absolutely no problems standing or being posed to fight Darth Vader.   If you want him to do much more than that, you're going to be disappointed.  Since I don't, well, this works for me.   This is a really awesome example of what Hasbro can do for under seven bucks and I hope we see a few more like this.  Not a ton - but Chewbacca?  Boba Fett?  R2-D2 and C-3PO and Rey and Poe?  I'd buy them.

Luke's outfit is pretty simple - mostly black, almost unpainted.    His left hand is painted flesh, and his belt buckle has some pigment too.  The boots are glossy.  Other than his head and lightsaber, there's not a lot to see here.  It's a decent recreation of the costume, and with the lowered expectations it seems to deliver.  Hasbro has largely avoided making inroads on the lower-end of things in Star Wars lately, what with 3 3/4-inch figures actually getting a sizable price increase for the new movie and articulation mostly going away to Walmart.  

Seeing the $20-$25 figure format simplified down to $7 gives me hopes for the future, mostly because those looking to do some serious troop building and diorama populating would find a lot to like if Hasbro did more troopers in this style.  Heck, if they keep the releases down to a few per year I'd actually keep tracking down and buying this format - right now it has no official online distribution, so you're stuck hunting US Family Dollar locations.   (I have yet to see them elsewhere.)   I'm not saying it's worth the effort, but I feel like I got my $27's worth for these four figures.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Family Dollar.  Wave 1 was international only so far (Australia, Mexico) and Wave 2 is in the USA so far.   Wave 1 came in window boxes like the 12-inch figures, Wave 2 came in open "tray" boxes.   They're basically scale with 6-inch The Black Series.   I should note that Kanan, Vader, Han, and Luke have all-English packaging - no French, no Spanish, and that's downright unusual these days.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,259: March 11, 2016