Star Wars The Black Series Luke Skywalker (Mandalorian) & Mara Jade Skywalker review

It's nothing new to know that Luke Skywalker was depicted as an iconic hero for the Rebel Alliance and redeeming his father from the corrupted forces he was consumed by for years. Many fans would remember the time when Like met Mara Jade, got married to her, and raised a child in what was once looked back on as the best continuation for the original Star Wars trilogy...that is until Disney made things retconned as Legends and we got Jake Slywalker instead before we saw Luke's debut in Disney Star Wars as part of The Mandolorian. No sign if Mara Jade will return, but until then, George Lucas is not her creator and wants YOU to get out of this office right now let's cover this couple!

Here is Luke Skywalker in-hand, depicted in his iconic black Jedi attire. This was my favorite appearance or Luke Skywalker, as it both shows his evolution from whiny farmboy to a new leader for future Jedi, and I especially love the that the vest is matte while the rest of the suit is a shinier black; it makes him look more layered than had they both been the same kind of black. There is no paint apart from the belt, but the right hand has a glove to hide his robot hand while the left hand has his normal hand intact.

Head sculpt is well-rendered in terms of the likeness to 1983 Mark Hamill, and probably the best we're going to get for this character since most of his figures in the line haven't been that great if I'm honest. It does look a little odd, though it might be due to its recovery from the accident it had before they filmed The Empire Strikes Back. His articulation gives him a double-ball neck, shoulders that move front and back, in and out, butterfly joints, swivels at the elbow, a bend that nearly works as a double joint, a diaphragm joint, hips move front and back, thigh swivels, knee bends, ankles hinge front, back, and pivot side to side. He can hold his lightsaber with no issues, even with both hands when posed right.

His cloak is another accessory he possesses which can wear like in Return of the Jedi or his scene in The Mandalorian. It does make the poses and hood a little tricky to work with because it's not wired, especially when you want to make it look cool. The lightsaber sucks at staying on his belt, though. I feel like this Luke should be good enough for fans who want what's arguably the best iteration of the character in the series. Still, between this, the Grogu Training version, and the ROTJ anniversary release, Hasbro must have had too many copies of this guy laying around in case their involvement in selling Sequel Trilogy toys would bite them in the ass.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

And here we have Mara Jade Skywalker, former Dark Side user and later redeemed wife of Luke, both of which would later raise their son Ben Skywalkee, not to be confused with Ben Solo, who would turn to the Dark Side like Jacen did. This figure appears to be a mostly new sculpt for the limbs, but part of her torso appears to be reused from another relative in the Legends Skywalker continuity, that being Jaina Solo. It's nice to see her shoulder harness, bandana, and her goggles in-between said bandanna and her chin. She also has gloved hands which thankfully give her some paint for the cuffs so they don't end up looking like they're flesh-colored. Her belt and holster are the same as Jaina's, but colored in brown this time.

Her head sculpt is very well-made for a figure that has been represented in artwork only, even though she is modeled after Shannon McRandall, who has used her likeness in the covers and promo art. I do wish her hair had a wash; Luke doesn't have one but it does look less like flat plastic on him by comparison. Her articulation, as with the females, is mostly the same as the males, but her knees bend at two points while there are no butterfly joints. Her gun can fit in her right hand easily, but her left hand is more problematic with holding her lightsaber: it's too flexible for a good grip and it doesn't help that it refuses to work this way for me.  I do like that it's purple, which predated Mace Windu's, interestingly enough.

Overall, this figure is great to have for a fan like me who wanted a Mara Jade to go with Peak Luke, but I'll admit that she has problems of her own that keep me from recommending her at full price. Mostly with the hands, but also that package that she has. Now Luke's box has the closed window package that I think isn't great (as is the case for EVERY figure in Hasbro's line doing this), but at least it's a normal box. As for Mara Jade, her box attempts to replicate the book cover idea since she debuted in the books, but instead of something logical like a velcro piece, Hasbro just used the same cardboard connector flap like on every other box. Honestly, I feel Hasbro bashing can be cringe as hell, but this is cringier somehow.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐