Telescoping Luke (after): This is the telescoping Luke figure. It is also known as the Early Bird Luke or Double Extending Lightsaber Luke. The reason it's called the Early Bird Luke is that many of these Lukes were shipped with the Early Bird package, however some Early Bird Packages did not come with this version of the Luke figure.
The saber is made up of two independent, yellow parts. The tip slides in and out of the base. These figures are extremely rare and seem to be a bit more difficult to find than vinyl cape Jawas. They can even be found on card, although extremely few of these are known to exist.
It is very common for people to confuse these telescoping saber figures with the more common production figures. The lightsabers appear to be the same in certain photos but the major difference is in the features of these sabers. The common production lightsabers have a thick stem and a fixed, short thin tip that extends about 1 cm from the stem. The telescoping sabers also have a thick stem and short tip, but the thin tip slides in and out of the the thick base of the same color. Look at the before and after pictures for these telescoping saber figures to see the effects of this telescoping feature. If a Ben/Luke/Darth saber does not extend as far as the after shots of these figures, then it is not a telescoping saber.
Description: Gus Lopez