1/6 Hot Toys Luke Skywalker - Dark Empire (Legends)

[Raleig.h]

I just got an extra Bespin/Mando Luke sculpt in the other day to throw on my ROTJ Luke, it looks amazing. I REALLY don’t get why Hot Toys chose to retool their pretty mid ANH proto from almost 10 years ago.

 

[Knightstalker]

The amount of people saying the don’t like this and wont get it makes me hopeful I’ll actually be able to score an artisan one when it goes up for PO in the morning

 

[Raleig.h]

Shoot even if I did want this, Id actually prefer the sculpted version lol

 

[Dave_W]

More pics are up.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Doesn't matter if the headsculpt is a failure.

Though I'm sure people will still get it and swap heads.

 

[Akiratang]

Im slightly seeing Sebastian Stan more than Hamill in the sculpt lol.
Hmm I wanna see if the Artisan comes with a fancier base because the price difference isnt worth it .

 

[Dave_W]

Doesn't matter if the headsculpt is a failure.

Though I'm sure people will still get it and swap heads.

I'll take this new head off anybody that doesn't want it. It's better than the first ANH attempt.

 

[Dave_W]

Im slightly seeing Sebastian Stan more than Hamill in the sculpt lol.
Hmm I wanna see if the Artisan comes with a fancier base because the price difference isnt worth it .

Same base.

 

[Dave_W]

This figure has me more excited about future Vader figures and the suit material than the figure itself. Now if only they could get the helmet right. 1/4 ANH please!!!

 

[Asta]

I'd also go for sculpted if I was to get this. The Artisan looks very wiggy.

But I don't think Dark Empire Luke is for me. My Star Wars period of interest is circa 10 BBY (Solo) to circa 12 ABY (Ahsoka), so he does fit, but he's too specific to the storyline of him pretending to cross over to the dark side so he can get close to Palpatine and disrupt his plans.

The TLJ force vision Luke is still my 12 ABY-ish Luke of choice.


I already have enough figures that don't fit anywhere canonically, such as TLJ Hermit Luke who's as good looking figure, but he's mid-50s, 34 ABY, which is far beyond my range. I ended up putting him with the Tuskens, uncle Fester Boba and Fennec. He fits right into the desert setting, but there's no getting around his age.


(Dooku ended up back with Vader and Tarkin (due to the Peter Cushing connection), and in my head canon is a dark force user who didn't lose his head.

TPM Maul won't fit anywhere, so I exiled him into a non-Star Wars area).


Therefore Dark Empire Luke would be just another oddity.

 

[Akiratang]

"Stunning Hair Craftsmanship" they say...

 

[chrisstbh]

More pics are up.

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So confirmed no pleather. Wonder if they’re moving away from it now.

 

[jimbean]

Actually looks terrible tbh

 

[Felinx]

More pics are up.


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Getting some serious Tom Cruise Lestat/Interview with a Vampire vibes from these pics.

The old ANH Luke headsculpt always had a decent dollop of young Cruise.

 

[rayeknor]

It's a weird sculpt. Clearly the sharpest one with most work put into it, but it's like the.. second least likeness to Mark out of all their sculpts? And based on his ANH look rather then post RotJ.

 

[DarkChocobi]

So confirmed no pleather. Wonder if they’re moving away from it now.

been like that since the latest Obiwan Vader.

 

[lerath666]

Interesting. They did not give him his red saber, but vaders?

Instill have the one hurricane made
For me

 

[sallah]

Cam Kennedy is an amazing artist. Love his Boba Fett run.

AGREED! When I think of 90's Star Wars comics, his art is what comes to mind. Easily one of the most defining & memorable looks of Star Wars comic lore. I am lucky enough to own one of his pages from the Boba Fett comic.

All that being said- I do wish this figure looked a bit more like the Cam Kennedy version from Dark Empire... but I also get that most folks likely remember or at least have a mental image of Dark Empire through the Dave Dorman covers (since that is what greets your eyes and what most image searches bring up). The Vader-inspired look is probably a bit more visually interesting in three dimensions too (though I do still LOVE that Expanded Universe Dark Empire Luke figure).

I am happy that at least the gloves on this release seem more inspired by the Cam design than the Dorman covers, with the tight horizontal lines running the length of them.

As for the head sculpt... I think people are forgetting this isn't based on an onscreen appearance of Mark Hamill as Luke. This is based on comics featuring the Luke Skywalker character, drawn by actual artists and not using digitally manipulated images of the actor. The likeness on the covers (and especially the interiors) isn't 100% accurate to Mark Hamill either. They are fantasy illustrations inspired by his look.

Kind of like the Bad Batch releases. Based on art but trying to blend some Tem Morrison into the likeness.

So in that regard, I am totally fine with this Luke not looking exactly like what Mark Hamill looked like in 1989. I am actually quite happy it looks a little different... It doesn't feel like a customized Return of the Jedi Luke. This FEELS like Dark Empire Luke.

-James

 

[Asta]

I still have my Mando Luke boxed up sans sculpt (which I'm using on my ROTJ Luke), and I was thinking that I might use parts of it to make a Dark Empire inspired Luke of my own in the future.

Now that I see this version, it's not doing much for me though.

I think part of the reason though is that they based it on one of the covers instead of the actual comic art. If I recall correctly, he never had those Vader parts - belt & cod piece - in the actual comic.
If going for the comic look, he should also have a big wired cape to drape dramatically around him.

Host of vileness.


If they ever got the Star Wars licence, I bet Star Ace could make a Dark Empire Luke look just like the comic without even trying.

 

[Johnny Utah]

I would buy the **** out of a comic painted Boba. A rare instance where I would love HT to do that.