| Luke Jedi Knight Protomolded Figure | |
| By the time of the company's Return of the Jedi line, Kenner had begun to use protomolded figures--prototype injection molded figures created wholly inside Kenner--as photo and Toy Fair models, roles which traditionally had been the province of hardcopies. This Luke Jedi is a prime example of this type of figure. Nearly every part of this figure is significantly different from the way in which it appears on the final production model. The cape, for instance, is a very dark brown, appearing just as it does on the back of some ROTJ blister cards; and the light saber (two of which are included with this figure), is merely a blue painted version of the Luke Bespin figure's yellow weapon.
As you can see from this image, the feet lack holes as well. This is because the figure was produced using a preliminary mold, into which the final details, including foot holes, had not yet been added. The gun of the figure was probably also produced from inexpensive, temporary molds, as its details lack definition. Although it is hard to tell it from these photos, the proportions of the figure's body parts are also a little out of whack, the head appearing a little too large for the torso. This is likely due to slightly odd shrinkage ratios caused by the particular type of plastic used for this type of application. This is defintely a neat piece. Although this one originated at the 1983 Toy Fair in New York, a very similar figure was surely employed for the photos used by Kenner for a variety of promotional and packaging purposes. |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Will Grief |
| From the collection of: | Will Grief |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Return of the Jedi |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1983 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Action Figure Related |
