Review – Star Wars Play-Doh Can-Heads Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader

When I first saw Hasbro’s Star Wars Play-Doh line (find at Amazon.com*) with the Can-Heads my brain told me how very clever Hasbro had been with the design of the series. Little Star Wars playthings that used the Play-Doh cannisters as “figures” is pure genius.

Well, after opening the Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader* set my brain confirms its initial thought: Hasbro was damned clever with these toys. Far, far more clever than I had realized because the toys are even more playable and imaginative than they appear if you glance at the box and don’t look closely.

Memories

Scent is one of those things that can trigger a flood of memories, and the instant I opened this Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader* set I was transported back to the days when I was a kid and played with Play-Doh. And yes, as a kid I had the original Star Wars Play-Doh Action Set complete with the little figure molds and X-Wing vehicle, but I can happily report that today’s Play-Doh sets — if this one is a representative example of the line — are dramatically superior to that original 1979 set.

X-Wing

The first vehicle I want to share from the Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader* set is Luke’s X-Wing starfighter. The toy requires assembly — snap on the top two wings — but it only takes a moment, and I suspect most young kids won’t have troubles with this. It’s a nifty little toy, but what makes this a remarkable Play-Doh toy is how Hasbro has designed little molds into the wings and body of the ship.

The X-Wing has molds for weapons and an R2-D2 head, and if you take a look at the photos, you can see just how brilliant Hasbro was in their placement of these little molds on the toy. Seriously, between the scent and playability of this toy I was a kid again as I smushed Play-Doh into the cavities and pulled out little shapes.

Lightsaber Cutters

To help trim the Play-Doh shapes, the Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader* set includes two plastic lightsaber cutters that can be snapped onto the vehicles for storage. These aren’t particularly amazing or shocking, but they are imaginative ways to incorporate the Star Wars theme into Play-Doh play.

TIE Fighter

The second vehicle in the Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader* set is Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced, and like the X-Wing you have to snap the wings onto the toy. Again, this was quick and easy, and most kids won’t have any problems at all preparing the toy for play. Hey, I handled it.

As with the X-Wing the TIE Fighter also includes weapon molds in the wings, and the box comes with enough Play-Doh (four small cans) that kids should stay entertained for a long time mixing and matching weapons and colors. And I can report that the sensation of scraping Play-Doh from beneath your fingernails triggers almost as many memories as smelling the Play-Doh. This entire Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader* set sparked so many memories of my childhood that I had to stop and smile as I was playing with the set.

Closing Thoughts

I know that this isn’t the sort of thing many of you expect to find at battlegrip.com, but it’s a nifty toy and I can see where the entire Star Wars Play-Doh line (find at Amazon.com*) would make amazing Christmas presents this year. The box says 3+, and at four decades over the age grading I can report that a Star Wars kid of any age is going to smile once the box is opened and the Play-Doh smell fills the air.

The Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader* set is a fantastic buy! It’s inexpensive, features a clever design, and is fun.