3) Advanced Mould Family Overview Part 2 (HK Small Family)

A Detailed Breakdown Of The Bespin Luke Figure Variations

Part II - HK Small Family

HK Small – Yellow Hair

The specific variation with the yellow hair was the first to use the alternate sculpt (Although there where three unique sculpts, the first two where basically the same, one simply having more defined detail than the other). The COO for this figure is HK Small in which two molds where used baring slightly different COO markings, and he can be found with both versions.

As with all the yellow haired Luke’s this figure can be found pretty much right up until the release of the ESB 41 Back D cards, which introduced the new brown hair variants. Early Kenner card releases that can be confirmed for this figure are, ESB 31 Back B, ESB 32 Back B and ESB 41 Back A. As with the other yellow haired figures, finding this figure on or after the ESB 41 Back D is not impossible because of overstock being used and possible re-carding, but typically speaking, it’s a rare occurrence and any yellow haired Luke’s featuring on ‘post’ ESB 41 Back D card’s should be considered as scarce, so far the only example I’ve seen of this figure was on a ESB 48 Back B. This specific variation was also the first Bespin Luke that Canadian’s received, appearing on the ESB 31 Back A card. It’s likely that this was the only yellow haired Luke that was released in Canada as I’ve never come across example of the other yellow haired variations on any Canadian cards. He also featured in the Canadian Sears exclusive 7 Pack Special.

This was also the first version of Bespin Luke to be released in the U.K. on Palitoy cards, featuring on the palitoy ESB 30 Back A cards, to my knowledge, this was the only figure that could be found on the 30 Back A and could not be found on any other Palitoy card either, as the next Palitoy card to be released for Bespin Luke was the ESB 41 Back B all of which featured the mustard haired Luke’s.

This figure definitely got around a bit, as he’s also turned up on Meccano ROTJ 65 Back cards, probably the only example of this figure on any ROTJ card, and this was also the figure that could be found in the Japanese Popy box. In the case of the Popy box, the picture on the front shows the yellow haired HK Large figure, but the figure inside was this one packed in a ESB C baggie. He also made a very brief appearance in the incredibly short lived ESB Special Offer display stand which was discontinued shortly after its release. Although quite a common figure, it can actually be quite hard to find in mint condition, the hands seem to be quite susceptible to fading. There are also accounts of white haired Luke’s, which are basically faded examples of this figure.

HK Small – Dark Ginger Hair

Well how do start on this one, probably easiest just to say, with the possible exception of the Poch versions, this is unquestionably the rarest Bespin Luke variation that exists, and that’s just in Bespin Luke terms, in the wider picture I’d say in as a whole, his scarceness far out weighs many of the figures that are generally regarded as rare. This needs bit of back story.

I first noticed this variation back in my early collecting days after seeing a picture on the internet, his hair was clearly a different colour than the standard mustard haired versions. So I added him high on my list of ‘wants’ totally unaware of the quest that lay ahead. This was probably about 7 or 8 years ago. I was relentlessly searching the web, ebay, classifieds, toy shops, toy fairs, everywhere, but nothing. A mustard haired version or the light ginger version can look very similar if taken in bad light or at a crappy angle, and I must have bought twenty that had potential but ended up just been the other versions. Finally a glimmer of hope! I saw a figure on ebay that was unquestionably the one and bought him! However on arrival the figure I got was the HK Large ginger Luke, at which point I realized that this seller was regularly using ‘stock’ photos. Although somewhat annoyed by this, at least I had seen further evidence that the actual figure existed because of the original photo. About a year after this incident, the same seller again put up a ‘ginger’ Luke up for sale, and again the photo was clearly the right one, but I couldn’t remember if it was the same as the previous, and also now it said 2 available! So I e-mailed the seller and asked if the figure in the photo was one of the ones for sale, the reply; “One is the one pictured, the other is very similar”, so to avoid any mix up I simply bought both. Much to my dismay, of the two figures that arrived, neither was the ‘one’, another ginger HK large and a light ginger HK small. At this point I would have complained, but the ginger HK Large was mint (which is rare), and the HK small was a COO variation I didn’t have. The quest continued. When the moment finally happened, it was a complete surprise! I had bid on a Bespin Luke that looked to be in good shape, however the photo was really bad, taken from his feet looking up. Because of the angle not much hair could be seen and also the camera had focused on the lightsaber sticking out and left the head area slightly out of focus and therefore blurry. The paint work look excellent though and the saber looked original so I bid and no one else did so I won him for 99p. I had two figures coming that week, him and my first molded head Jedi Luke. One morning a parcel arrived, I opened it and pulled out the figure, generously wrapped in bubble wrap, as I went to open it I happened to glance down the top of the wrapping an noticed some glossy ginger hair and automatically thought it was the Jedi Luke, but then I saw the tan outfit and my heart skipped a beat! There he was finally, totally mint condition with both original weapons and all by absolute chance. It had taken four years to find him by this point!!!!!

Unfortunately by this stage in my collecting, I had been introduced to the world of COO stamps, and all the other HK small hair colour variation I now had with both stamps and the reality was already dawning on me that the chances where high that the dark ginger haired version would also most likely be available with both as well. The thought of going through all that again, was daunting to say the least, more so for the fact that if I did find another, there was no guarantee that it would be the one I wanted, and therefore the search would go on. The problem is, not only did I want him; I also would never be comfortable until I could say for certain that he did exist with both stamps as I had already begun my research by this stage. As with before there were a few potentials no actual. Then one day sat at a friend’s house I was browsing ebay and there he was, clear as day, no questions on this one and it was buy it now for 8 quid, so I did! The few days that it took to arrive have to the longest in all my collecting years, I knew what was coming, but I didn’t know if it was the right one. When he arrived I must have held in my hands for about a minute before I plucked up the courage to turn him round. Thankfully and much to my joy, he was the other version and the quest was over and this time it had only taken a further three years! Since then I have seen two more which appeared in a very small space of time, one I bought for 2 pound, the other was sold as part of a large collection and correctly described, it sold for about 25 pound, but I didn’t bother with that one as I already had the two I needed.

Below is a photo that you really won’t see very often, the three dark ginger Luke’s from the story above.

The one on the right is from my collections, as is the one on the left. The one in the middle is the third one I bought and is no longer mine; he now resides in probably the greatest loose collection on Earth, Wolff’s! Wolff had e-mailed me after I first posted some photo’s of my Bespin Luke’s and asked about that figure an explained how he had never managed to get one, so when I came across the lucky third one, I bought it and donated him to Wolff.

So then, why so rare? Well I have a theory on that. Now despite been so damn hard to find, during my endless Bespin Luke scouring I have managed to turn up two carded example of this figure and both where on the Kenner ESB 41 Back D cards. Now I appreciate that two examples is hardly enough to base a theory on, but here it is anyway.

Now like I’ve said before, the ESB 41 Back D was the point when the yellow hair stopped and the mustard hair figures began, so there had to have been a decision made at Kenner. Basically someone decided that the yellow hair was inaccurate and needed to be changed. I suspect that the first change was to the dark ginger, but was again deemed inaccurate and there fore changed again, ultimately becoming the light ginger and the mustard colour, both of which seemed to run along side each other. So to me the dark ginger variation is a kind of transitional figure between the yellow haired versions and the mustard haired versions. As a result few exist and where possibly confined to just the ESB 41 Back D cards.

I think probably the bet way to guage the rarity of figures is by the frequency of which they turn up and for at least the last six years I have meticulously watched the vast majority of Bespin Luke sales on the internet, numerous auction sites, forum classifieds, toy shops, toy fairs etc. etc. and in all that time I have only come across the four I mentioned, when you compare this to other known rarities that have been sold with in that time frame it does make you think! I’ve seen probably double that number of ginger farmboy Luke’s up for sale in the time, fifteen plus DT Luke’s, four LL RR Boba Fett’s, a good eight Meccano Fetts, I’ve even seen three carded DT Vader’s go up for sale with in that time frame, and these aren’t even figures I’ve been actively searching for!

At the end of the day, is he really that rare? Jesus Christ, Wolff didn’t even have one in his 900 strong collection! That’s got to stand for something!

HK Small – Light Ginger Hair

The arrival of the ESB 41 Back D card saw a notable change to Bespin Luke…. His hair! From that point on there was two hair colours that basically ran side by side right through until of the line, the light ginger haired version and the mustard haired version. Both can be found in abundance and are probably the most common of all Bespin Luke’s. Of the two, this version the light ginger haired figure is maybe not quite a abundant as the mustard haired version, but still fairly common. This figure can be found with both of the HK small COO variations.

Confirmed card appearances are Kenner ESB 41 Back D, ESB 45 Back A, ESB 47 Back A, ESB 48 Back C, ROTJ 65 Back, ROTJ 77 Back A and the ROTJ 77 Back B. In Canada this figure can be confirmed on the ESB 41 Back and the ESB 47 Back. The Palitoy 30 Back A cards all featured the yellow haired version, but that specific variation never saw any of Palitoy carded release or at least it’s highly unlikely that it did, as the very next Palitoy cards that Bespin Luke was released on (ESB 41 Back B) the hair colour change had been made. Palitoy was still importing figures at this point and this specific figure can be found on the Palitoy 41 Back B.

HK Small – Mustard Hair

The mustard haired Luke’s are certainly the most common of all the variations and at least to me the most boring unfortunately. Again they can be found with both HK small COO’s. These where widely distributed, but because of the no COO versions which appear the same from the front, it’s difficult to track the full extent of there release, for example my childhood Bespin Luke was one of these, which basically means that Palitoy was certainly importing these in the early years. Confirmed examples of this figure are; Kenner ESB 41 Back D, ESB 45 Back A, ESB 47 Back A, ESB 48 Back C, ROTJ 65 Back, ROTJ 77 Back A and the ROTJ 77 Back B. In Canada it was probably less abundant than the light ginger version, but could still be found there appearing on at least ESB 47 Back. The most likely British cards to feature this figure where the ESB 41 Back B, and the Kenner 48 Back C imported card with Palitoy stickers. Two other Palitoy cards that exist for Bespin Luke but are notably harder to find are the ESB 45 Back A and the very hard to find ESB 45 Back B, it’s likely that this specific variation may have also been available on these cards. Toltoys also imported a large amount of Kenner stock, mainly the ROTJ 65 Back with the Nien Numb offer, the Bespin Luke’s that came on this card where this specific variation. It is also likely that these figures could be found elsewhere, but because of the difficulty in telling the difference between it and it’s no COO counterpart, it would be difficult to say for sure. Possibilities would be, Meccano ESB 20 Back Square Card and Clipper Imported Kenner ROTJ 77 Back A.