LUKE SKYWALKER — CEREMONIAL OUTFIT

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

It’s Friday!  Welcome to Friday!  We made it Friday!  I mean, I hope.  I’m writing this on Sunday, and really just hoping for the best here, because boy has it sure been touch and go, huh?  But let’s not think about that.  Let’s think about the past, specifically mine, as we flashback for another figure addendum, with a return to Luke!

“In the main throne room of a Massassi temple, Luke Skywalker receives an honorary medal for his part in the destruction of the Imperial Death Star.”

There’s a lot of potential Luke Skywalker variants out there. He got one distinct design for each movie, plus his pilot gear, and at least one other major look for each film. For A New Hope, he actually has four distinct looks. My personal favorite is one that doesn’t actually appear for all that long; it’s the snazzy dress outfit he wears during the film’s final scene, set during an award ceremony. It’s had less figures than other looks, but as a variant of Luke Skywalker, it’s still had its fair share.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalker in his Ceremonial Outfit was released as part of the 1997 assortment of Star Wars: Power of the Force II. He was the seventh of the eleven Lukes in the line, and the second-to-last unique outfit, prior to the line switching over to variations of Farmboy Luke. It was actually one of two Ceremonial Lukes released in 1997, the other being part of the Princess Leia Collection. It was a good year for a look that hadn’t yet seen an action figure release. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation. This Luke marked the debut of Kenner’s second POTF2 Luke head sculpt. As noted in the past, it’s not really much closer than the first attempt at a Hamill likeness, but I do tend to prefer this one. The rest of the sculpt is unique to this particular figure. As far as this line goes, it was pretty solid. Sharp detailing, reasonable proportions, and a fairly neutral stance, all of which add up to an above average figure from this particular line. The paintwork on Luke is pretty standard stuff, which is to say the colors are a good match for the film and the application is all sharp. There’s no slop to speak of, and everything stays within its appropriate lines. Luke was packed with a blaster pistol and his medal from the ceremony, which are both missing from my figure, sadly.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was a fairly early Luke in my collection, and is probably one of the Power of the Force figures I purchased closest to his initial release. I got him from KB Toys, during a trip to the mall with my Grandmother. He was purchased alongside a whole bunch of others, but the others were all meant to stay at her house, with this guy being the one who would be going home with me. He’s remained a favorite of mine, and served as my go-to Luke for a good chunk of time. 

In 2017, I got pretty serious about making Power of the Force reviews a regular feature every other Saturday, and by March of 2018, when this review was originally published, I’d kept it going for quite a while.  I pretty much managed to keep it that way until March of 2020, when, you know, everything fell apart.  This was before my big dive back into the line, mind you, so I thought I was actually getting close to wrapping things up.  Quaint.  My actual review feels pretty basic, but not bad.  Missing at the time were his two accessories, which are now his once more.  Check out that medal and blaster action!