I have a hard time saying negative things about Hasbro's current 5POA line. Of all the figures released so far, the only one I truly dislike is
The Clone Wars Mission Series Obi-Wan Kenobi, but that is more about the figure's purple skin more than anything else. In my eyes, 5POA is the genesis of the line and as a classic Kenner collector, a step in the right direction if Hasbro puts the right effort into it.
When I saw the prototype for the
Luke Skywalker (Rebel Fatigues) figure at Toy Fair, I was pretty impressed. Sadly, the tight sculpt didn't translate in the production figure. It doesn't look very much like Luke in
The Empire Strikes Back. Sure, there has never been a perfect Bespin Luke (at least not since 1980), but this one is a step back from the 5POA figure released last year in the 2012
Bespin Battle Battle Pack. The 5POA line could be so strong, but the attention to detail is paramount. The figures have to look like the actors' costume fitting and promotional photos. in my opinion, the
Jedi Luke Skywalker Saga Legends wave released last month delivered that.
The details on the Luke Skywalker (Rebel Fatigues) in this
Mission Series set are all wrong. The costume worn in
The Empire Strikes Back didn't fit Mark Hamill the way this figure is sculpted. The belt looks completely weird, and the colors are strange. The boots are an odd grey that doesn't reflect what his boots looked like when they were clean or when they were post-Dagobah filthy. But the worst paint choice is the one used on the figure's hair. Considering how good the color used on the hair of the Jedi Luke figure, it makes no sense for Hasbro to choose to go in another direction with this follow up figure.
The weapons aren't much better either. The blaster is painted wrong and the Lightsaber has a redundant sculpted loop on the butt end of the hilt. While the effort on that is appreciated, the execution doesn't provide any perceived value. The Blaster fits into the functional, yet ill-conceived, holster at a strange angle as well.
On the plus side, the Darth Vader is the same as the previously released one but this time out Hasbro seems to have filled in the odd hollow chest buttons and opted for a flatter black base plastic.
At the end of the day this set is still decent for the price, but it represents what Hasbro should really be going out of their way to avoid in future releases.
Click the thumbnails above for the full gallery.
