Today is a special day in the hearts of Star Wars fans. It’s funny because I remember when someone first said “May the Fourth be with you”. I looked at them with a puzzled look and they returned it, I thought maybe they had a sudden lisp. I have been a Star Wars fan since I can remember and yet this endorsed holiday somehow slipped under my radar. But here we are and it’s now an international day filled with a many internet specials, a new LEGO cartoon, and the first trailer for Star Wars Rebels! Wow, what a time to be a Star Wars fan, right?

Well on the collecting end of things, yes. It’s amazing it took this long for a Star Wars 6 inch action figure line to be released. I have a rather larger collection of the 3.75 series that started up in the late 90’s and continued through the prequel movies. After that I basically stopped and moved on to collecting Marvel Legends. I would buy random figures that piqued my interest, mostly consisting of expanded universe characters. I loved those comic two-packs that were being released there for a while.

So now everything is under the flagship of “The Black Series”. Super-articulated action figures that come in two sizes, the classic 3.75 inch and the NEW 6 inch. I picked up a loose Mara Jade on Ebay recently and I compared her to the predecessor to the one I will be reviewing today. Let me tell you there is a HUGE difference since the classic days of “Pimp Wars”. That’s a story for another day. Back in the day, I collected most Power of the Force series aka the initial release, and you can imagine that these things have evolved over the past twenty years.

Anyways, I have been very hesitant on picking up doubles of these 6 inchers. I would have definitely snagged another Boba Fett (if not for the rarity and price), and I am still considering a Han for review and display. But for now I will stick keeping these MIB and single. I did happen to find a Bespin Luke Skywalker on-sale at my local TRU and I said what the heck! So in honor of this international holiday, I picked up the toy for a review!

The Black Series is currently on its 3rd series. I have had luck finding both of the figures I really wanted, but I am still missing the Stormtrooper. I hear there will be a repack coming in the near future, so hopefully I can get my hands on at least one. The Obi Wan is not my desired version of the Jedi but I still liked the prequels version, so be it. The highlight of this series is the Luke Skywalker in his Bespin fatigues. The outfit that he wore the first time he faced Vader, the best lightsaber battle of the series, hands-down!

empirestrikesbackbdcap7_originalYou know, that scene. Luke goes and gets his hand chopped off, OH SORRY SPOILER ALERT! The Black Series comes beautifully packed in my favorite sort of action figure packaging, the window box. What I really like about what a few different action figure lines are doing these days, including a removable backdrop. Something that is a great tool when taking pictures.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I am impressed with the paint app on this figure. The “washed look” of Luke’s outfit really comes off authentic, dirty from his time on Dagobah. Overall the figure has very clean paint lines. There is a decent amount of detail sculpted into the clothing, enough to make it look more realistic. I am not overly impressed by how the outfit comes off as being simple. Compared to what we are seeing from Funko at this price point, I expect a little more of a dynamic look on the clothing. A mix of soft and hard plastic would add a little more to it. The face looks decent and you can definitely see a young Mark Hamill when you look at it. The hair piece is part of the head sculpt, it looks ok. I still prefer the hair to be a separate piece.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The one thing I can say that I love about this figure is the belt. It is a loose accessory that holds both Luke’s lightsaber hilt and blaster. At first I didn’t expect the holster to be of good quality, but once I figured it out and got the gun in there, things went much smoother. The blaster fits in great, and I am glad that they included it. Seeing that this is the “not quite a Jedi” version of the character we all loved. Luke’s right hand is sculpted to hold the blaster properly. When companies don’t take the time to do this I find it to be lazy, not to mention the figure looks goofy on display. So thank you Hasbro for that.

On to the most important part of the action figure, the articulation. What did I think of my first look at a Black Series figure? Impressive, most impressive. Here’s a run down of what you get!

  • Ball-joined head,
  • ball-hinged shoulders,
  • ball-hinged elbows, ball-hinged wrists (side-side swivel),
  • ball-joined torso,
  • ball-hinged hips, swivel thighs,
  • front-back hinged higher and lower knees, and ball-hinged ankles.

This is where every figure at this level should be these days, and I have to give it to the creators here, great job. Luke can hold his hilt with both hands and that is important when it comes to this version of the character. I can’t wait for the Darth Vader figure from this series! I love that double hinged knees are a standard these days, it allows for so many more poses.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I give Hasbro’s Star Wars The Black Series Bespin Luke Skywalker 4.5 outta 5 stars. I am glad that these figures have small release, each consists of 4 figures, and most of the time you can’t even find one of them anywhere! My suggestion to anyone interested in snagging them, check out the official Hasbro online toy shop. They usually have these and more at “normal” retail price and they even offer free shipping on “most” orders of $50. There will be a very select few characters that I will pick up doubles of in this series. I am super jealous of anyone who can get their hands on the AMAZING SDCC exclusive Jabba the Hutt this year, check it out!

Jabba SDCC

May the Fourth be with you!

~CynicNerd