The Mini Directory Home     News Reviews     The List NYTS     Links Ramblin' Man   Gallery						Roy's Toys Shelf
Throne Room Duel Luke Skywalker -  Star Wars, Hasbro Meat and Potatoes; 4.5 Perks; 4.5 Homer Facor; 4.5
					Description; the latest re-sculpt of the Last Jedi.  Throne Room Duel Luke is approximately 3" tall and is wearing the black tunic from his final duel with Vader and Palpatine in 'Return of the Jedi.'  The figure comes with some limited articulation but a solid sculpt.  He also comes with a green lightsaber with removable blade and a stand meant to duplicate one of the platforms in the Throne Room.  It also comes with a  collapsible railing.
	Oh, the agony.  When Hasbro announced they were re-doing a number of their figures from Episodes 3, 4, and 5 (ya know, the GOOD ones), I wasn't sure what to expect.  The first run of figures were pretty cool; more accessories, better sculpts and articulation, over all an improvement over the figures that were already pretty dang good.  Case in point was the Bespin Duel Luke figure.  It was an amazing piece for something only 3" tall, so I was really looking forward to the re-make of Jedi Luke from the Throne Room in 'Return of the Jedi.'  Dreams of more articulation, a butt-kicking sculpt, and a billowing robe came to mind.  Visions of the perfect Skywalker figure danced through my head.  Well, as Morpheus put it, fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.  Meat and potatoes are a mix of 'Oh, how COOL' and 'Man, that SUCKS'.  In terms of cool, the sculpt captures Luke's anger and fury in the final duel with Vader perfectly; that vicious snarl, hair flying, everything.  The entire figure is also pre-posed in a two-handed, over-head strike designed to deliver a fatal lightsaber shot to Vader while he's prone on the ground.  Very nice look, really, especially when you're displaying the figure.  Bad news is since the figure is already posed, he's got this weird hunched back if you bring his arms down.  The articulation is also lacking.  He has movement in the hips and limited motion on the shoulders, but I'm getting ahead of myself, this is something to address in the perks. Perks are questionable.  He comes with the trade-mark green lightsaber with removable blade.  Cool.  Miniature diorama with collapsible railings from the Throne Room.  Cool.  Luke has this funky action-feature where you press the button in his back causing his arms come slashing down.  Actually pretty cool.  This feature also destroys the figures' posability since the limbs are locked into the 'chopping' motion.  NOT cool. Homer factor?  Well, it was VERY high, then chilled down reeeeeeeeeal fast.  After seeing Bespin Luke, I looked forward to an ass-kicking, souped-up Jedi Knight figure; dynamic pose, awesome sculpt, and lots o' articulation to lend itself to lots of display possibilities. Instead, it's a miniature version of McFarlane's Neo figure; great to look at, but not much to mess with.  Is the figure horrible?  No, it is a very nice display piece and if you have the corresponding Vader figure, you have something very cool for your shelf to SHOW.  However, if you're looking for more, you're going to be rather disappointed.