Retro Non-Bot Reviews: Kenner’s Star Wars Power of the Force 2 Luke Skywalker (Bespin), Darth Vader (Removable Helmet) and Boba Fett

I thought I was done with Retro Reviews, and then I realized there was one more non-Transformers one in the bank, from 2020. So, here goes:

Star Wars collecting is mostly alien to me, honestly. But here’s what I know: The original Kenner Star Wars, as a toyline, pretty much invented 3.75 scale. There was a long-running, popular vintage line that ran all the way through the 80’s, tied into the original three movies (and the Droids and Ewoks cartoons), and ended on a last-gasp line called Power of the Force (hence why this one’s called 2). And then, in 1995, exactly a decade later, Kenner brought it back, with this revival line. Here’s a commercial I distinctly remember from my childhood, announcing the line’s ’95 debut:

In hindsight, I’m not really sure why they chose to do this in 1995, since there wasn’t really much new Star Wars media out at the time to tie into. The Special Editions and the Prequels happened years later, though maybe they knew they were coming, and this was in preparation for that. However, I do know one thing: Power of the Force 2 figures are really, really cheap on the secondary market. Everyone wants the old Vintage figures, or the newest releases, so those command the big bucks. These middle-of-the-road ones can often be had for less than ten dollars, on card. That’s why I also feel no guilt about de-minting them. Can’t devalue something that didn’t have value to begin with! The last convention I was at, I picked up a whole grab bag of them, but let’s look at the first three I opened.

Luke Skywalker (in Bespin Gear)

So, a lot of the first series of Power of the Force 2 figures had really odd, bulging, muscly sculpts, apparently because the designers were trying to imitate the stylings of other 90’s action figures of the time. Seriously, check this Luke out:

Luckily, these green-carded ones are from a little bit later in the line, after they’d decided to mostly chuck that look, so we have a much better Luke here.

A lot of these action figures are very “What you see is what you get,” so let’s use Luke as a template to look at the rest of the line. This Luke is based on his appearance from the Empire Strike Back finale. He’s got a pretty good sculpt for the scale. His face isn’t hyper-real, or photo-printed, or anything like that, but it’s a fair degree better-looking than the 80s ones, and honestly, does the job to me. It’s a stylized take on Luke that works.

His outfit, meanwhile, is an equally nice piece of sculptwork, covered in wrinkles and folds, and with a nice light spray of dark brown to suggest dirt and weathering, on top of the outfit’s light brown coloration, and dark brown and silver paint apps.

Okay, so let’s talk about features, or lack thereof. Star Wars figures have always been pretty basic, and this is no exception. Articulation is bare minimum, as was the style of the time (and still is today, on some figures). Hips, waist, head and shoulders were the standard, and he’s got them all, as well as the ability to stay standing just fine.

He does have an extra joint, though, in the form of a gruesome gimmick: You can remove his hand, something even the box itself called out, which means he also has a wrist swivel for his weapons.

He’s got two accessories: A blaster, and his lightsaber, a solid stick of clear blue with a grey handle, which he can hold just fine.

And really, that’s all there is to say. There’s not much to him, but what he does, he does well. He’s a figure of few joints, good sculpting, a couple accessories, and most importantly, a low price tag. He does the job, and hangs out on my nighttable really well.

Darth Vader (with Removable Helmet)

This is one of the later Vader figures in the line, and did more than just give him a new head. It gave him a more accurate body, for one thing. There’s one mild criticism, though: The rubbery helmet came out of the package a bit warped, but fortunately, only at the back.

Let’s start with the removable helmet they felt the need to call out. This is a really good gimmick for this scale. The helmet piece is black rubber, fits over his face perfectly, and you can’t tell it comes off at a glance. And the headsculpt underneath is surprisingly well-done, resembling the actor, and including all of the gnarly burn-scar makeup details.

Vader’s got a rubbery-feeling cape you can remove, and a rubber skirt, neither of which impede him. In fact, I really like the material they’re made out of. Cloth goods never seem to look good on figures, to me, and stuff like this manages to hold its shape, while being bendable enough to allow for articulation. Speaking of articulation, his wrist swivels, again, because of a removable hand, and they even gave him an extra elbow joint seemingly in order to dramatically pose his arm. His only flaw is that his head is hard to turn with the helmet on, as it tends to slip off, so you have to take it off to twist it, or else grip the whole thing carefully.

For an accessory, he has a clear red saber to counter Luke’s, with a black handle. Weirdly, this one’s kind of a light, watery red. No clue if that’s a linewide thing or if this sample was left out in the sun, or something.

Overall, he’s a bit more ambitious than Luke, and I think it payed off.

Boba Fett

Fett’s a bit of an earlier release in the line compared to the other two, which means that he comes with a really long, extended bio on the back of the box. Check this out:

I wish more figures came with this level of detail and worldbuilding. Even if you don’t know anything about Star Wars, you have a good idea of who he is, and what he can do.

Figure-wise, right off the top, Fett the weakest of these three, though. The reason is simply that he’s sculpted in a shooting pose, with one leg forward, and the other one back. In practice, this means that he has trouble staying standing, and requires a fair amount of fiddling and balancing.

On top of that, one of his accessories is a blaster with a big plastic bar back that likes to collide with his arm, making it hard to aim it straight. In terms of accessories, he’s got a removable jetpack, and molded-on cape piece that clips around his neck, like Vader, and they both look pretty great.

Sculptwise, he’s a bit barrel-chested, since they made him just as they were phasing the bodybuilder thing out.

However, he’s extremely detailed, and the most well-painted out of these three, with a seemingly unlimited paint budget to replicate all of the suit’s different colors, and bits of damage and dings.

Overall, he’d be great, were it not for his problems standing up. As it stands, he looks nice, and can still be had for pretty cheap, which really makes me think of it as less of a problem.

Overall

It’s pretty straightforward: These guys are cheap and fun, and remind me of my childhood. Modern figures might have more detailed sculpts, or more articulation, but there’s a certain specific charm to this era, one that’s certainly driven by nostalgia on my part. More importantly, though, these figures are really cheap on the secondary market, and viewed through that lens, are often legitimately good value for what you get.

If you can get a good deal, it’s worth having a few to populate your desk, and it’s hard to go wrong with whichever ones you choose, since they’re not complicated figures, meaning what you see in the package is what you’re getting.

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