| |
| |
Review |
| |
| Sculpt: |
| Luke Skywalker prepares to duel Darth Vader in an airless section of a spaceship, as envisioned in an early preproduction painting for STAR WARS by conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie. Longtime fans of the Saga are doubtless aware of McQuarrie early involvement in helping writer/director George Lucas bring his vision for the space fantasy to the screen. To celebrate the film's thirtieth anniversary, a series of special concept art figures based on McQuarrie's art have been created. At the time of this production painting, the hero of STAR WARS was actually known as Deak Starkiller. Although there are some minor tweaks, the sculpt is mostly true to this early painting. It receives a 9 out of 10 rating. |
| |
| |
| |
| Paint: |
| Concept Luke's head and hands are molded in a pale -- and I mean really pale -- flesh tone. His hair is painted a sandy blond, with lighter blond highlights. His eyebrows are sandy blond, and the eyes are white, with blue centers, black pupils, and black lashes. His arms and torso are molded in purple. The torso has a pale flesh paint app at the neck, but it isn't a very good match for his head at all. His shoulder armor and straps are black, with gunmetal colored buckles and a gunmetal control panel on the chest. The shoulder armor on both arms are also painted black. His upper right arm has another control box, with a black paint app. His pelvis and upper legs are molded in a medium brown. The upper legs have a burgundy stripe on each outer thigh. His belt and holster are molded in brown, with silver paint apps to the buckles, snaps, lightsaber holster, and molded-on commlink. His lower legs and feet are molded in the dark brown of his boots, with medium brown paint apps to the upper edges of his pants legs. His lightsaber is molded in translucent yellow, with silver and black paint apps to the removable hilt. His blaster is molded in black, with silver paint decos. The removable rebreather mask is molded in clear translucent plastic, with silver and black paint apps. The two hoses are molded in black, and glued to the mask and tank. The tank is molded in silver, with a dark gray wash applied for weathering. 8/10. |
| |
| |
| |
| Articulation: |
| Concept Luke has ball-jointed head, shoulders, knees, and ankles, with planer-cut wrists, hips, and waist. The elbows are angle-cut joints. Ball-jointed elbows would have been the better choice here, but it still gets 8/10. |
| |
| |
| |
| Accessories: |
| Celebration IV backer card, Hasbro STAR WARS protective case, Celebration IV sticker on case, removable mask and oxygen tank, lightsaber, blaster pistol, and Celebration IV collector coin. Note: The mask does not lift over the head. To remove the mask, push it down to Luke's neck, then pop off his head. You can then remove the mask and tank, and replace the head: 9/10. |
| |
| |
| |
| Packaging: |
| The Thirtieth Anniversary Collection card is basically rectangular, but with several die cut wedges that make it the most serious departure from the basic card design in the modern line. The McQuarrie Signature Series card art features light blue accents and lettering on the front, with the art that inspired the figure enclosed on the front. The reverse of the card features a self-portrait of Mr. McQuarrie, with text explaining his pivotal role in realizing STAR WARS creator George Lucas' unique characters. Instead of a collection number, the Celebration IV logo is on the card insert: 9/10. |
| |
| |
| |
| Availability: |
| These figures debuted at Celebration IV in Los Angeles as GenCon exclusives in May 2007. They were first offered on-line on May 26 by HasbroToyShop.com. This angered some collectors and conventioneers, as the show was still in progress at the time. It's also available at other on-line sources, although for considerably more than the original $14.99 convention price. After an ordering mishap regarding an invalid discount code used on many online orders through HasbroToyShop, the figure was pulled until all orders were straightened out. It became available again the week of June 25th, selling out several times: 7/10. |
| |
| |
| |
| Conclusion: |
| The McQuarrie Luke Skywalker figure is based on one of the most iconic paintings by Mr. McQuarrie. The painting was included in the original STAR WARS Portfolio set, and was the cover image for the portfolio. The figure isn't as accurate as it could have been, though. Making it an expensive convention exclusive with limited availability might not have been the wisest move by Hasbro, but it's well worth the extra effort to score one of these: 8.3/10. |
|
|
|
