You wouldn’t have blamed Kenner for sticking with the simple sculpts, wild colours, and telescoping lightsabers that helped make the 1978 Star Wars toy line such a huge success. Yet for 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, the company instead re-doubled its efforts and focused on creating the best Star Wars action figures possible.
The Retro Collection Luke Skywalker (Bespin) – based on the vintage figure first released in 1980 – is a perfect example of this action figure evolution in action…
While simple by today’s standards, it’s a figure that *feels* like a more accurate representation of the character than anything that came before.
Compared to the original 1978 Luke Skywalker figure (check out the Retro Collection review here), Luke Skywalker (Bespin) has better proportions and a sharper, more detailed sculpt. Even so, Kenner was still only getting started – and there are some glaring features that harken back to its freewheelin’ late-’70s work.
Starting with the subtler details, the head sculpt is remarkably similar to that of the Star Wars Luke Skywalker. The details are a little sharper for sure, as Luke Skywalker (Bespin) has a better defined jaw structure and chin. But then, undercutting that progress, the figure is capped with an almost-identical mop of bright yellow hair.
The accessories straddle the past and future in a similar way. On the one hand, Bespin Luke’s blaster pistol is excellent; well scaled with a potent blend of simplified details. Yet Luke can’t actually hold it that well. It fits best in his right hand, but even then it’s still slightly askew.
Straight-shootin’ Luke, this is not.
On the other hand – quite literally, as it fits best in his left paw – Bespin Luke’s lightsaber design is a big step forward from 1978.
Whilst being removable makes it approximately 10,000 times easier to lose, the lightsaber itself looks much better without the telescoping function. Furthermore, Luke’s proportions are much better in large part due to not having to conceal the sword up his sleeve.
Yet in the action figure version of “the more things change, the more they stay the same”, Kenner once again gave Luke’s lightsaber a lore-shattering bright yellow colour.
The thing is, the complete toy looks altogether amazing with its yellow to brown palette and black accents. Inaccuracies to the source material be damned; the Retro Collection Luke Skywalker (Bespin) works as a product in and of itself.
Despite what the Star Wars toy line has become in the decades since 1980, it’s tempting to think that this is what Kenner was going for all along.
