Updated with Part II. More here. Sorry, picture heavy.
IntroductionMy first Star Wars action figure was a Kenner 3.75 in Luke Skywalker in Bespin gear. While I do not have a fetish for this figure like some other people seem to, it strikes me as fitting that I got this Hot Toys set, and that it might very well be the last Hot Toys Star Wars set I end up getting as such -- between the prices and production choices, and my preferences. Be that as it may, it is a great set, and I'm glad I got it. The set comes in two variants, both ostensibly deluxe, DX24 (reviewed here) and DX25 (special, with an additional Luke head in Vader's helmet and an additional Dagobah swamp base). I got the Luke head in Vader's helmet parted out, and you will see it in a couple of the photos; it
did not come with the DX24 set.
This is Hot Toys' second take at Bespin Luke (the first was DX07, a combo pack). I do not own the DX07 to offer a comparison, but from what I have seen, DX24/DX25 is a definite upgrade, except for the absence of a battle-damaged outfit (and face).
To give credit (and to give you ideas), in addition to my own, I used backgrounds from Wallpaperflare, Battlefront, ArtStation (Philip Gilbert), and Dioramaworkshop.com (Frank Diorio).
PackagingThe box is both familiar and unusual, when it comes to Hot Toys Star Wars sets. Externally, we get the cigar band, now standard, wrapped around the cover (top photo below). But the cover is not a shoe box cover as usual, but a wraparound slip cover that one slides off the box within (middle photo below). That box is open on one side (the right), from which one pulls out another, coverless box. At the top of this there is yet another colorful image of the product, glued to a thin foam layer (bottom photo below). Removing this, one gets to the figure and its alternative hair sculpt, each in its own indent within a thick black foam layer, surrounded by a thin cardboard covering. Remove that cardboard covering and you can also get to the belt and the alternate hand sculpts. The foam layers are a signature of Hot Toys deluxe sets and I appreciate them -- not because they are deluxe, but because they are infinitely more user friendly than plastic treys with lids. Unfortunately, that is exactly what you will find when you remove the thick foam layer -- a plastic trey with its own plastic lid. Inside are stored the base and base add-on, the stand, the blaster, the lightsaber hilt, the translucent lightsaber blades (normal and in fan-like motion), the alternate lower arm and hand with the LED-lighted lightsaber, three batteries for it, a couple of spare wrist pegs, some spare metal caps for the belt, and the little tool for moving the eyes. There is also an instruction booklet inside. Overall, everything is collector friendly and safe.
SculptingThe sculpted detail is up to Hot Toys' usual excellent standards, even if plenty of seems to be recycled from their earlier work. This is likely the case with the light-saber hilt, the blaster pistol, and probably some of the hands. The head sculpt seems to be identical to the one they used for their Mandalorian figure. The neater, puffier hair sculpt seems to be identical to the one from their Luke Snowspeeder Pilot set. The messier, sweatier hair sculpt seems to be new. At any rate, the likeness to Mark Hamil appears to be very good, perhaps better than in earlier attempts. I can't tell which of the two hair sculpts works better for me, but once again, both are very good. There is plenty of fine texturing on the skin on the head and hands, without creating an excessively aged effect. The two hair sculpts can be swapped, and are secured to the head with magnets.
As with Mandalorian Luke and other recent releases, the eyeballs are individually movable (which means you can make him cross eyed), to great potential effect. Because of the relativerly small and deep opening, it is not always easy to manipulate them from the inside of the face with the special tool designed for that job; I found it sometimes helps using the "wrong" end of the tool or even just a sturdy toothpick.
Luke stands about 29 cm (11.5 inches) tall.
PaintThe paint application is also up to Hot Toys' usual high standards. Given the separate movable eyeballs, it is no big surprise they managed to paint the eyes perfectly. They are also glossy and realistic. The eyebrows are painted in exquisite detail with individual lashes and look believable. There is plenty of nuance and flecking to the paint on the head and on the hands, giving them an extra realistic appearance. The belt buckle, blaster pistol, and, to a lesser extent, the lightsaber hilt are all weathered, making them look believable as different kings of metal, although they are all plastic. The weaponry is given a darker and duller, more gunmetal look than some of its earlier iterations. The hair is given Hot Toys' usual metallic paint treatment for blonde and light hair. That is less than ideal, but seems to work reasonably well.
ArticulationI'm going to sound like a broken record, but here it is, again: the Hot Toys body appears to have all the articulation you could possibly want or need -- apart from the point of articulation at the base of the head, since the head and neck are one continuous molded piece. However, Hot Toys' insistence on using padding under the costume does get in the way of the articulation in certain places (especially at the shoulders -- unless of course the shoulders and the garment's cut are at fault). It is possible to do a lot with the figure, but the effort (and worry about damaging something) makes it a frustrating experience. If I can figure out a way to get his outfit off safely, I will remove the padding. But they seem to have taken to stitching the outfits on. We get the usual good articulation at the ankles (aided by the soft boots) and wrists, elbows, knees, waist.
AccessoriesLuke comes with all the accessories a Bespin Luke needs, and that is not that many. He has got his outfit and belt, blaster pistol, and light saber. The pistol fits well within the holster (with some initial effort), while the light saber hangs from a hook on the lower side of the belt; it can easily fall out. There are, of course, alternate and spare parts: a total of seven hand sculpts (pair of light saber grips -- which he comes wearing in the box, one right hand gun grip, one left hand fist, a hand with extended index and middle finger, and a couple of hands with outspread fingers), the swappable hair pieces (he comes wearing the sweaty hair in the box), the swappable lower arm with hand and light saber for the LED-lighting effect. It would have been nice to get pairs of all the hands, including some relaxed hands; this feels like cutting corners.
The translucent blue light saber blade and "moving" fan-like effect can be attached to either the regular light saber hilt or to the hilt that is part of the LED-lighting lower arm assembly. Spare parts include a pair of extra wrist pegs and some small metal caps in case any come off the belt. Then there are the two-part base and stand. The two-part base is excellent. The main part is made to resemble the small round portion of the floor of the carbon-freezing chamber on Cloud City, with characteristic bright red lit panels. The additional part can attach to it from the side or stand alone. It features two carbonite pumping (?) stations that resemble futuristic space fire hydrants. The only let down, for me, is the actual stand, which plugs into the round main part of the base. Instead of the usual crotch-grabber stand, this one is designed to grab the body around the waist. I find these more difficult to use and more visible and distracting.
Light FeaturesThere are three light features altogether. Unsurprisingly, given Hot Toys' past record, the light saber has a light up option, which requires using an alternate lower arm, into which one inserts three small batteries (provided), activating the light with a switch. The light travels into and through the translucent light saber blade or motion fan-like effect, which can be plugged into the opening of the light saber hilt attached permanently to the LED lower arm-and-hand assembly. I don't like swapping the lower arms and did not do this for the figure. However, in several photos, you can see the unattached alternate LED arm-and-hand assembly with both the light saber blade and motion effect. The red light blade used for comparison is with a Darth Maul LED arm-and-hand assembly; the second, blue-on-blue lit light saber comparison borrowed an Obi-Wan LED arm-and-hand assembly for the regular blade. As before, the blue-light effect is far more striking than the red.
The other two light features are found in the two-part base. To use them, you need at least one USB C micro cable, and you need to switch each piece on with its individual power switch. Both pieces require power via USB C, but you can use just one cable if you attach the two pieces of the base to each other via the USB C connector that can be made to protrude out of the smaller base piece. Thus, if you power the smaller base piece with your cable, you can power the main base by attaching it to the powered smaller piece. The two cylinders on the smaller piece light up pale blue near the top, while the light panels on the larger, round part of the base light up bright warm red, almost orange. This is movie-accurate and very impressive. I do not know how widespread this problem would be, but on my set, the USB connection between the smaller and larger base pieces is a little tentative. It required some pressing and pushing to have it work and keep it working.
OutfitLuke's "Bespin" fatigues -- which he was wearing before setting foot on Bespin -- are recreated in loving and exact detail. So much so, they are sewn on the body and do not open, nor are the pockets functional -- unlike those on the old DX07 outfit. Prioritizing the visual over the functional is fine to a point, but the restricted articulation, especially at the shoulders, is a very frustrating issue. As I mentioned above, I'm not certain whether the issue is primarily due to the padding or the actual garment or both. I wish the sleeves were just a little bit longer, although an overly-exposed wrist, annoying as it is for a visibly-jointed action figure, might be screen-accurate.
Speaking of the boots, these are a variation of the boot type recently seen on the Snowspeeder Luke, and, of course, of the boots provided for the previous version of Bespin Luke, DX07. Unlike DX07, however, DX24/25 uses pleather. Hopefully it will not fall apart anytime soon. The boots are still soft enough to not impede ankle articulation.
Source AccuracyOverall, the set is a very good rendition of Luke's appearance at Bespin. But there are some minor details that are not quite right. The outfit is just a little bit too clean and neat, even for Luke first setting foot in Cloud City -- although I have seen at least one (publicity?) photo where it is indeed this pristine, it was not so onscreen. Moreover, the pants should be a little bit baggier or bunched up above the boots. The belt on the old DX07 set was more screen-accurate accurate in its configuration of boxes or pouches and the surface of its buckle than the one provided with the new DX24/25 sets. The two caps or rivets on the holster's leg strap should be visible at the front (they were at the back on mine out of the box), but luckily the strap can be easily readjusted -- I discovered this after taking the photos, so they do not reflect the correct appearance.
Fun FactorApart from my annoyance at the restrictive or difficult articulation at the shoulders, I think Hot Toys produced a very good figure, in most respects a vast improvement on the DX07. Those of us seeking to replicate the climactic end of Luke's duel with Vader, however, would need to modify or swap the outfit, and get a wrist stump. Otherwise, Luke is good to go socializing with his friends or with his father, or whatever else tickles his budding Jedi fancy.
ValueRenditions of a Star Wars protagonist released by Hot Toys in 2023, the sets retailing at (USD) $285 (DX24) or $345 (DX25) would come as no great surprise for anyone who has been around these high end collectibles. Which is not to say that the price feels justified, especially considering how much of this set is made up of items Hot Toys has already designed. The light-features base elements are great, but ultimately non-essential; the fancy box even more so. It is still simply a figure with a gun, a lightsaber, and two swappable hair sculpts. The $60 difference between DX24 and DC25 also seems excessive: the Luke in Vader's helmet head is very neat (and I picked it up parted out), but the Dagobah base, while nice, does not feel particularly exciting. Ultimately, one's feelings about the value of these sets would come down to how important it was to own these versions of the character and how much one is willing to invest in a sixth-scale figure set. All the more so for those who are getting this as an upgrade from an earlier version like DX07. I do not own an earlier version (though I had picked up one of the DX07 outfits parted out), and am glad I got this set, although I cannot say I liked its price.
Things to watch out forNot a whole lot. It would be easy to misplace the eye adjustment tool, but you could always use a toothpick or something else to achieve the same results. The lightsaber hilt can easily fall off the hook on the belt. It is not impossibly small, but still not too difficult to lose.
OverallAlongside their Mandalorian Luke, which used the same head sculpt, Hot Toys' Bespin Luke is arguably their best rendition of Mark Hamill in the iconic role as the protagonist of the Star Wars Original Trilogy. And this without even taking into account the critical importance of the sequence and film climax associated with this appearance of the character. To be sure, "Bespin Luke" could have been more easily poseable, even more accurate, and less expensive, but he remains an excellent sixth-scale collectible.
Where to buyI got mine for $277 (preorder discount) at Timewalker Toys. The reason I preordered is because I expected it to sell out. And it did. Looks like most people went for DX24, because there are still a few DX25s out there:
Big Bad Toy Store still has DX25 for $360 ($4 flat rate shipping).
Cotswold Collectibles still has DX25 for $345.
Sideshow has them on wait list.
I hope this was informative, let me know what you think. If you like it, I will post a few more photos that didn't make it so far and some of the slightly corrected version compared to my reconstituted/kitbashed DX07.
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: The Next Generation 1:6-scale figure collection.
