SWTOTW, Week 8, 2020 Luke Skywalker
- Thread starter Pomse2001
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Can't wait for this thread to unfold, iconic figure with many varients. I still have my childhood one which I got in a Woolly's 8 pack without saber. Will try and get a photo up tomorrow. 
lejackal said:
Nice one. Thanks for sharing
Good old original Luke Skywalker! A fabulous figure in its day, and one the 6 year-old me simply adored :-D. Mind you, even back then as a child, I marveled at the stupidity of a saber tip that broke if you so much as looked at it! Not that mine did, because I was a good boy that looked after his figures (if sadly not the packaging, which was looked after by the dustman), and at the end of every play session, carefully removed sabers from arms and placed them, along with all other weapons and non-attached accessories, into a small orange plastic snap-shut box for safe-keeping. And that ladies and gentlemen, is how I never lost a single weapon ;-)
But back to Luke! Of course as an adult collector, I am now fully aware of the double-telescoping history of the figure and hence (up to a point!) why the non-double-telescoping version of the saber is the ridiculous shape that it is. I say up to a point, because quite frankly it didn't exactly take Nostradamus to foresee that leaving a much thinner tip to the saber could only result in most of them bending and or snapping off! Kenner could and really should have known better and altered the design... except that I imagine it was probably cheaper to change the mould from that used to make the double-telescoping sabers into that for the saber we all know, rather than redesigning it into something more robust. I don't know this for a fact, but since money usually talks, I imagine that was the primary motivator.
Anyway, Luke! There are lots of variants to be had on Luke, and perhaps strangely for a collector like me that clearly loves the vintage toys, I personally, whilst completely respecting those collectors for whom they are grail items, have never been all that taken with the double-telescoping saber figures. This is perhaps just as well, since originals cost an absolute fortune these days (when you can find them), and it is for this reason alone that a set of Revalve-it DT sabers crept into my collection years ago. I don't really regret buying them, but neither do I feel it appropriate to display them in my main figure cabinet any longer, as they were the only things in there that weren't vintage originals, so out they've had to come. I only include the DT Luke here because the figure itself is a different COO from the others, so if the repro saber offends your sensibilities, I beg your forgiveness on this occasion and ask that you focus on the figure itself instead of the fakery protruding from his arm.
As for the variants themselves, I have a mix of different hair, leg and eye colours, including light brown, dark brown and very dark brown hair Lukes. Sadly I have no ginger haired Luke farmboy (and given the current prices of those, I doubt I ever will), but I do have a pleasing Palitoy 12 back reseal comprised of all original parts that I resealed myself.
But back to Luke! Of course as an adult collector, I am now fully aware of the double-telescoping history of the figure and hence (up to a point!) why the non-double-telescoping version of the saber is the ridiculous shape that it is. I say up to a point, because quite frankly it didn't exactly take Nostradamus to foresee that leaving a much thinner tip to the saber could only result in most of them bending and or snapping off! Kenner could and really should have known better and altered the design... except that I imagine it was probably cheaper to change the mould from that used to make the double-telescoping sabers into that for the saber we all know, rather than redesigning it into something more robust. I don't know this for a fact, but since money usually talks, I imagine that was the primary motivator.
Anyway, Luke! There are lots of variants to be had on Luke, and perhaps strangely for a collector like me that clearly loves the vintage toys, I personally, whilst completely respecting those collectors for whom they are grail items, have never been all that taken with the double-telescoping saber figures. This is perhaps just as well, since originals cost an absolute fortune these days (when you can find them), and it is for this reason alone that a set of Revalve-it DT sabers crept into my collection years ago. I don't really regret buying them, but neither do I feel it appropriate to display them in my main figure cabinet any longer, as they were the only things in there that weren't vintage originals, so out they've had to come. I only include the DT Luke here because the figure itself is a different COO from the others, so if the repro saber offends your sensibilities, I beg your forgiveness on this occasion and ask that you focus on the figure itself instead of the fakery protruding from his arm.
As for the variants themselves, I have a mix of different hair, leg and eye colours, including light brown, dark brown and very dark brown hair Lukes. Sadly I have no ginger haired Luke farmboy (and given the current prices of those, I doubt I ever will), but I do have a pleasing Palitoy 12 back reseal comprised of all original parts that I resealed myself.
Cardbackkid
Jedi Master
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Cardbackkid said:There's something special about a palitoy 12bk luke 8) ... here's my Luke one of only two surviving figures from my childhood now framed and displayed
Very nicely done. A great personal memory for you.
Thanks for sharing
Dr_Ball_MD said:
Lovely examples. Thanks for sharing
UKS
Jedi Knight
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- 470
My first Luke was given to me by my older neighbour. He had grown out of them at the age of around 11. (this would be 1982 I think)
Yellow hair of course!
I had I think at least one more (brown hair) that was eaten by the lawnmower. I remember lots of tears when my jawa was chopped to pieces before this, but not so much for Luke. His bits did live in a pile on top the microwave for many years with the jawa. Kind of like an elephants graveyard for the unjustly mown.
Why wasn't I more upset? This maybe because I had a fair few of them from those aforementioned "woolies" bags. (That I picked up in Fine Fare) All brown hair (and I've just realised/remembered) no Sabres.
TBF, I never liked it as a figure. As a nerd I disliked the lightsaber arm thing (not realistic!) and the way his top didn't fold appropriately when sitting. (not realistic!) That "edam cheese" effect annoyed me on all figures that had it.
I was by all accounts an odd child.
Yellow hair of course!
I had I think at least one more (brown hair) that was eaten by the lawnmower. I remember lots of tears when my jawa was chopped to pieces before this, but not so much for Luke. His bits did live in a pile on top the microwave for many years with the jawa. Kind of like an elephants graveyard for the unjustly mown.
Why wasn't I more upset? This maybe because I had a fair few of them from those aforementioned "woolies" bags. (That I picked up in Fine Fare) All brown hair (and I've just realised/remembered) no Sabres.
TBF, I never liked it as a figure. As a nerd I disliked the lightsaber arm thing (not realistic!) and the way his top didn't fold appropriately when sitting. (not realistic!) That "edam cheese" effect annoyed me on all figures that had it.
I was by all accounts an odd child.
Ruby2511 said:Here's mine
20200224_181743.jpg
Another nice Luke! Thanks for sharing
TheJabbaWookie
Sith Lord
Snaketibe said:
What a magnificent collection of variants that you have and I think it is ok with the repro dt saber, I also have all 3 of them that I bought many years ago, but many years ago I removed them again from my collection because I felt it was wrong to display them. I hope I one day can replace them with original sabers but I guess there is only a chance for me to get a luke saber the 2 others are to expensive for me. You are correct I think, I have also heard kenner cancelled the dt production because this sabers was to expensive to make, so they made the one that always break to save money. As I understand it they allready changed it in 1978 :? But it surprise me today that they did not make a better saber from 1978 to 1985, they must have heard from kids and moms and dads that they break :shock:
I also love your reseal, thanks for sharing your great collection 8)
Cardbackkid said:There's something special about a palitoy 12bk luke 8) ... here's my Luke one of only two surviving figures from my childhood now framed and displayed
Cool that you have framed the last 2 surviving childhood figures, thanks for sharing them
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