Star Wars Luke Skywalker (X-Wing)

Review by Tobias H.

Prelude: Every fairy tale needs both a villain and, of course, a hero, who ensures that everything turns out good in the end. In Star Wars that hero is Luke Skywalker. In the beginning he’s just a normal young boy, who spent all his life on a farm, but during the movies he develops into the saviour of the rebels from the Empire and becomes a Jedi Knight, who manages to make everything right in the end.

It was inevitable that Luke would find his way into the Transformers line. He’s actually one of the first Star Wars Transformers produced. So it is equally inevitable that he gets a review of his own. Luke Skywalker is a science fiction icon, pretty much the archetype of the hero in sci-fi stories. Let’s see if his Transformers incarnation manages to live up to the expectations that the character entails.

Robot Mode: The first question I asked myself after seeing the robot mode was: „Is his really Luke Skywalker?” It might sound stupid, but the question does have merit, because nothing, absolutely nothing, about this robot really identifies him as Luke Skywalker. His blue light sabre is the only hint that this mostly orange robot is supposed to be a Jedi and not your average rebel pilot. That is also the biggest flaw of this figure. You can’t really identify it as Luke Skywalker.

The head is hidden underneath a helmet with a coloured visor, so no facial features are apparent. The orange body mirrors a pilot uniform as the rebels wore it. Not a bad thing in itself, but it doesn’t really make for an individual look for Luke Skywalker. So much for Luke’s biggest problem. Now let’s move on.

As I already mentioned the robot mode resembles a rebel pilot. What I didn’t mention is that many elements of the alternate mode are visible here, giving the figure a pretty distinctive look. You can see the big wings of the jet on his back and shoulders. It kinda looks like an over-sized jetpack, but doesn’t look half-bad. The only downside is that the wings restrict the posability of the arms by a significant margin. Certain poses are thus impossible, even though the figure is actually posable enough to pull them off.

Another problem is the big jetpack in combination with the rather small feet. It is possible to put Luke into a number of poses regardless, but you have to invest some time and patience if you want him to remain upright in them. Another thing worth mentioning is the small minifigure included in the package. It can’t remain in the alternate mode’s cockpit after transformation, seeing as the cockpit pretty much ceases to exist. So the figure sits behind a mechanical-looking plate on the chest of the robot.

All in all a robot mode with some merit, but I would have expected more from Luke Skywalker.

Alternate Mode: Luke Skywalker’s alternate mode is, of course, his X-Wing, which he used during Episodes IV through VI and in which he, among other things, sent the first Death Star headlong into oblivion. The full name of his star fighter is „Incom Corporation T-65 X-Wing Space Superiority Fighter“.

The main characteristic of this star fighter is the folding S-foils with the four big laser cannons, which are responsible for the “X-Wing” moniker. This version, too, has the S-foils, but they can only be folded-out in a rather strange, hard to describe way. It looks a bit strange from certain angles, leaving me with the question of whether it wouldn’t have been possible to do a better job here. Apart from that, though, there is little to complain about here.

The star fighter is pretty sleek, just like the original from the silver screen, and the colour scheme is wonderfully detailed. It looks worn, making the fighter seem as if it had been involved in a number of battles. The fighter also features a landing gear, which is always a plus in my eyes. The single blue light sabre is stored underneath the fighter, where it’s fastened more or less stable.

Unfortunately looking at the underbelly of the fighter offers a pretty good view of the robot mode’s legs. I assume it wouldn’t have been possible to hide those legs any better without taking away from the robot mode.

Another interesting thing about the weapons of the fighter. Not only are the four big laser cannons fastened so that they can move and turn, which I find unnecessary, you can also launch them. But you are in fact launching the entire barrel of the cannon, which looks pretty ridiculous. Just leave the weapon loaded and in its original position, then you get the look of a fully functional X-Wing fighter. This is more of a strange gimmick than a problem.

In the end I must say that the X-Wing failed to win me over completely. The fighter looks pretty good, but it does have some flaws which could have been avoided, I think. But it’s still decent.

Remarks: You go at a figure loaded with high expectations and what happens? You get disappointed. Or rather, your enthusiasm is somewhat lessened. I think a lot more could have been done with Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi Knight and number one hero of the Star Wars universe, if only a little more effort would have been put in.

My biggest problem with this figure is that it really can’t be recognised as Luke Skywalker. Add the various flaws of this toy and I’m left with a headache in regards to the rating I want to give here.

Rating: Basically I do like the figure, but I expected a whole lot more, so I can only justify a C+