Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight Outfit)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DON’T RELY ON JUST THE COO TO IDENTIFY A FIGURE. Mould, paint colour, plastic colour and figure assembly traits are also needed to confirm your figure’s origins.
SMILE HONG KONG
Above you can see following figure and accessory combinations (left to right):
Hong Kong COO Pinkish face w/Smile snap cloak, dark grey-brown Palace blaster and blue saber
Hong Kong COO Pinkish face w/Smile stitched cloak, dark grey-brown Palace blaster and blue saber
Hong Kong COO Pinkish face w/Smile stitched cloak, light grey-brown Palace blaster and blue-green saber
Hong Kong COO Pale face w/Smile stitched cloak, light grey-brown Palace blaster and green saber
No COO Tanned face w/Smile stitched cloak, light grey-brown Palace blaster and light green saber
SMILE MACAU
No COO Tanned face w/Smile stitched cloak, brown Palace blaster and light grey-light green saber. Commonly found in France, so considered to be exclusively a Meccano release.
Smile Luke Jedi debuted in the 65 back era, and as a major character was produced in high volumes and exported globally well into the late Trilogo era.
The initial version of the figure features a pinkish hue and dark detailing to Luke’s face, before softening the detailing and face colour to a lightly tanned/pale paint application.
The earlier 65-a Smile releases were paired with the blue saber before the changeover to green on the 65-b. The reason for the early blue saber relates to the Return of the Jedi film featuring Luke Skywalker’s saber with a blue colour prior to Lucasfilms decision to alter the saber to green for greater visual contrast against the blue skies of Tatooine. By the time this directive was passed along to the Hong Kong vendor Smile, a significant number of blue sabers had already been produced.
Another notable running change was the production decision to remove the metal clasp that comes with the earliest 65-a releases of this figure. The altered version was instead simply stitched together at the collar. It’s likely this was done purely as a safety or cost-reduction exercise. The fabric used for the cloaks over time was prone to degradation, and green-ish or yellow shades can also been found (see example above). The ribbing on the fabric is generally horizontal, but can also be found running vertically most likely where offcuts could be used in order to be efficient with offcut materials.
Smile was a prolific manufacturer of the Luke Jedi figure. We have noted three different mould families used for the Luke Jedi character. In the graphics below you can clearly see significant upgrades on the stem used to mount the head to the torso, plus improvements in the moulding of the characters feet.
Comparison images below courtesy of Thomas Gill.
HONG KONG/MACAU NO COO ACCESSORY COMBINATIONS
M3 light green handheld saber
M1 Smile light grey-brown Palace blaster
Smile small hood, ribbed fabric w/green-brown stitching
Mixed combinations exist between these eras as the early accessory stocks were depleted.
The family 3 No COO is a late era figure produced from Smile’s Macau based operation. This figure has been found on Meccano 65 back and early French Trilogo cardbacks. Smile Macau Luke’s were carded in France, sourced from the Macau stamped baggies. Meccano was the only license which went to the trouble of applying the “Made in Macau” sticker to their cards, however they also stickered Hong Kong Luke Jedi cardbacks in the process.
This figure features minor alterations primarily to the torso and feet from his Hong Kong produced predecessors. Even further down the rabbit hole still, there’s some very minor moulding variations to the torso. I don’t know if these are a running change made during production or permanent variations between the cavities.
A production moved from Hong Kong to Macau, overstock HK parts were included in that move. It’s therefore possible to find F3 Luke Jedi’s mixed with Hong Kong parts.
Comparison images below courtesy of Thomas Gill, James Gurney and Mark Andrews.
The accessories for this variant are analogue with the No COO figure.
UNITOY 1983 MADE IN HONG KONG
Above you can see following figure and accessory combinations (left to right):
Made in Hong Kong COO w/Unitoy degraded yellow snap cloak and accessories
Made in Hong Kong COO w/Unitoy mid-brown snap cloak and accessories
Made in Hong Kong COO w/Unitoy degraded gold-brown stitched cloak and accessories
Made in Hong Kong COO w/Unitoy degraded light brown stitched cloak and accessories
Made in Hong Kong COO w/Unitoy dark brown stitched cloak and accessories
Made in Hong Kong COO w/Unitoy degraded reddish brown stitched cloak and accessories
Unitoy Luke Jedi debuted on the 65-a, and had a short run through to the 77-a. Afterwards, the moulds were sent to Lili Ledy hence the shortened Kenner run.
The Unitoy Luke Jedi figure features brown facial details and a tanned face.
The initial Unitoy cloak had a short run with a metal clasp, before changing to a stitched collar. The fabric used for the Unitoy cloaks were highly prone to degradation and a wide variety of shades have been found (see example above). The material used is thicker and fluffier than cloaks from the other vendors and the collar stitch is positioned lower by comparison.
No Unitoy blue saber production versions exist.
ACCESSORIES
M2 Unitoy green handheld saber
M3 Unitoy brown Palace blaster
Unitoy thick, fluffy fabric w/grey-brown stitching
LILI LEDY 1983 MADE IN HONG KONG
Above you can see following figure and accessory combinations (left to right):
Made in Hong Kong COO w/Lili Ledy brown cloak and accessories
Made in Hong Kong COO w/Lili Ledy greenish-brown cloak and accessories
Made in Hong Kong COO w/Lili Ledy reddish/pink cloak and accessories
Made in Hong Kong COO w/Lili Ledy degraded yellow cloak and accessories
Lili Ledy Luke Jedi is found on the 30 back positive cardback.
The Unitoy Luke Jedi figure features black facial details and a tanned face. Otherwise, the figure is nearly identical to the Unitoy counterpart.
The fabric used for the Lili Ledy cloaks were highly prone to degradation and brighter green, pinkish and yellow-gold are examples only and can vary beyond what’s shown. The material used is much thinner, the hoods are typically smaller and the overall length is shorter than the Kenner versions. The lapel on the LL cloak is right over left which is the opposite direction to the Kenner cloak.
Carded examples of LL Luke Jedi have be found with the LL white General Madine baton. This is most likely a situation where a shortage of LL sabers meant the production line improvised and opted for the Madine baton as a short term alternative. This pairing shouldn’t be considered a correct combination, as it’s a supply workaround.
You could assume there should be the same colour variants on the Luke Jedi cape, because of the same fabric used like for the Squid Head capes, but besides the greenish one the colours are totally different.
On Luke Jedi we have mainly three colours used for the cape. The greenish one seems to be the exact same material used also for the Squid Head (see above). The reddish or more pinkish one, is the one most people associate with a LL Luke Jedi figure. On those I often noticed a very obvious greyish stitch to connect the cape on the throat. Last one is a greyish, more brownish cape.
The reddish one seems to be the only one that is cut a bit longer. In fact all three are much shorter then Kenner capes, but it also seems like the cut is always a bit different to the reddish ones.
I pictured mine with dark-blue and greenish-grey blasters, which is in fact wrong (as I know now). There is not one carded example known with the dark-blue blaster. These belong only to the AT-ST Driver.
Besides two slightly different coos there can only be one more difference noted: The facial details can be thin or thick sprayed. It looks like an accidental mistake while using the spray mask, but I have to say they are all fat or thin and they are all equal fat or equal thin. I tend to believe that something was changed (spray mask?) at some point while producing.
UNIVERSAL MANUFACTURERS 1983 MADE IN TAIWAN
Above you can see following figure and accessory combinations (left to right):
Made in Taiwan COO. Dark brown moulded head w/Taiwan snap cloak and accessories
Made in Taiwan COO. Light brown moulded head w/Taiwan snap cloak and accessories
Made in Taiwan COO. Painted face w/Taiwan stitched cloak and accessories
The Taiwan Luke Jedi has one of the more interesting stories for this figure. The earliest 65-a release features a moulded head, where the head is shot in a lightly tanned plastic and the hair is painted on (two hair colour variations have been noted). Shortly afterwards, this process was reversed so the head was shot in the darker hair coloured plastic and the pale face painted on. This is possibly due to feedback from Kenner about paint wear to the hair, or could simply be a production decision for the sake of efficiency. Read more about other mould-colour figure alterations HERE.
The most commonly found Taiwan Luke Jedi figure features the pale face which can also be found on a 65-a. There’s minor paint variations, but broadly speaking this pale painted face variation is the one that ran through the end of production on the 92 back POTF card.
The date & COO stamps on the Taiwan Luke Jedi figure has signs of retooling. This has been noted on other ROTJ Taiwan era figures such as Boba Fett, where the original Hong Kong COO was removed, suggesting the LJ tool Taiwan received from Kenner originally had another COO.
As with the other factories, the first Taiwan cloak was produced with a metal clasp, before shortly afterwards changing to a stitched collar. The ribbed material used is similar to the Smile version, however the hood on the Taiwan cloak is noticeably larger and the collar is stitched together with a light brown fabric.
No Taiwan blue saber was produced.
TOP TOYS No date or COO
No COO. Green cloak w/brown stitching
No COO. Brown cloak w/green stitching
No COO. Green cloak w/brown stitching and vertical ribbing
Instead of using Kenner tooling, Top Toys made a cast from the Kenner figure to create their tooling. Top Toys figures were a licensed product, however the result is a poor quality figure with many imperfections including bad articulation, excess flashing and low quality control in every department. Due to the near bootleg quality of the Top Toys figure, it is impossible to identify which Kenner figure was cast to create the new tooling.
The Top Toys Luke Jedi figure is moulded in a highly glossy plastic. The paint application most closely resembles the later Taiwan version with the pale face, but with the final coat of a darker tanned “wash” that easily wears off. The figure is shorter in height as a result of being cast from a production Kenner figure. EPMs are found on the limbs which Kenner went to the trouble of avoiding visibly (in most cases). There are no peg holes on the soles of the feet.
Top Toys created their accessory moulds in house and they only passingly resemble the Kenner versions. The direction of the cloak ribbing changes as edge of roll sections would be used to avoid wasting fabric. I personally don’t see the shorter capes or ribbing directions as a variation, however that’s down to each collector to decide for themselves.
You could assume there should be the same colour variants on the Luke Jedi cape, because of the same fabric used like for the Squid Head capes, but besides the greenish one the colours are totally different.
On Luke Jedi we have mainly three colours used for the cape. The greenish one seems to be the exact same material used also for the Squid Head (see above). The reddish or more pinkish one, is the one most people associate with a LL Luke Jedi figure. On those I often noticed a very obvious greyish stitch to connect the cape on the throat. Last one is a greyish, more brownish cape.
The reddish one seems to be the only one that is cut a bit longer. In fact all three are much shorter then Kenner capes, but it also seems like the cut is always a bit different to the reddish ones.
I pictured mine with dark-blue and greenish-grey blasters, which is in fact wrong (as I know now). There is not one carded example known with the dark-blue blaster. These belong only to the AT-ST Driver.
Besides two slightly different coos there can only be one more difference noted: The facial details can be thin or thick sprayed. It looks like an accidental mistake while using the spray mask, but I have to say they are all fat or thin and they are all equal fat or equal thin. I tend to believe that something was changed (spray mask?) at some point while producing.
