One of my fondest memories of collecting the original Kenner Star Wars line was walking into my local Kay-Bee Toys shortly after seeing The Empire Strikes Back and being greeted by a wall of Yoda figures. There was an entire endcap stuffed with just Yoda, which was crazy to see at the time. I could not have been more excited to get my hands on that figure, and he quickly became one of my favorite figures from Kenner’s entire run. So when Yoda was announced for the Star Wars Black Series, the first Star Wars line I’ve seriously collected since the Kenner days, a lot of those same emotions came flooding back. Now, the good news, at least for me, is this new Yoda shares several attributes with that first Yoda figure, so it’s scoring some serious nostalgia points, but I can see where some fans of the line may take umbrage with that, wanting something more in keeping with a $20 highly articulated collector-oriented line. Yoda will certainly be one of the more controversial figures released so far, perhaps even more so than Darth Vader, so let’s take a look at him and see what we’re getting.
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Right off the bat, he looks tiny in that package. I mean, Yoda should be small, but with that huge amount of empty space in the packaging, it’s easy to feel as though you’re not getting your $20 worth with this figure. However, the original Yoda didn’t cost less than any other figure at the time either, so this is just one of the realities of any action figure assortment. A Hulk doesn’t cost more when he’s a single-carded Marvel Legends figure just because he’s huge, so that really goes both ways. It can be a tough pill to swallow, especially when you feel as though you’re paying for a bunch of empty space in a box.
I do have to say, though, he looks pretty great the way he’s positioned in the package. Just seeing him reminds me a lot of the Kenner figure.
What we get is Yoda with a snake around his neck (just like the Kenner figure), his green lightsaber, and his cane. The black box he wears around his neck… I’m blanking on it. I can’t place it in the original trilogy, and I don’t know the prequels well enough to say definitively that it’s from there either.I want to say it’s something he had when he was training Luke, but I just can’t remember.
He comes with a fair amount of gear, but the value we’re getting here still doesn’t feel as though it’s in line with the cost. Now, he’s the same size as Marvel’s movie Rocket Raccoon, but Rocket came with a Buil-A-Figure piece and Star-Lord’s huge blaster contraption, so it was easier to feel OK with what we were getting with Rocket. I can’t help but feel Yoda should have come with… more. Like the blue backpack he uses with Luke maybe?
Just like with the Kenner figure, we get a Yoda in sculpted brown robes with a tan soft goods robe overlay, a belt to hold the robe in place, and a snake around his neck. The homage is strong with this one. The only issue I really have with him is his hair. I can’t help but feel it should be more sparse — or not even there at all. It brings to mind the prequels, and I’d prefer a Yoda that was a straight-up representation of his Empire Strikes Back appearance when his hair was… less.
Now, his soft-good robes are a concern because they fray like crazy. Evey time I pick him up and play around with him, it feels like they’re disintegrating, which isn’t good. After this shoot, I had a small pile of threads he had “shed,” which concerns me greatly. It makes me want to not pick him up all that much.
The head sculpt is great and they nailed his likeness. The sideburns bother me a little bit, but I’ll get over it. I’m happy I ended up with one that has well-painted eyes, although they could be centered a bit better. That’s not something that’s all that noticeable when he’s sitting on the shelf, so it’s not a big deal.
For accessories, aside from those he can wear, he comes with his green lightsaber and his cane. Both do the job and look good. His hands seem to be sculpted to hold one or the other, but it’s pretty easy to tell which would work best where.
Under his robes he’s wearing a another set of sculpted robes, and here it becomes evident what his articulation scheme is lacking. His legs are a concern because he has thigh cuts, but no knee joint. He also has ankle swivels, so that makes the portion of his leg between his ankle and the thigh cut just spinning meat, basically. So he has a useless thigh cut, but no bicep swivel. I’ll admit it — that’s aggravating. I would love a Yoda that can hold his cane with both hands, but that’s just not possible here. At least he can still smack R2 with it. His full breakdown:
- Ball-jointed head, hips, and torso joint
- Hinge-and-swivel shoulders and right wrist
- Double-jointed elbows
- Swivel ankles and left wrist
- Thigh cuts
Aside from the jointed elbows, I really feel like this figure is an upscaled version of the old Kenner figure. There is just so much here that’s similar.
He’s about the same size as R2-D2 and movie Rocket Raccoon, which feels appropriate, and he looks good when displayed with Bespin Luke and Obi-Wan.
Overall, I think he’s a good fit for the line, but he’s not perfect. The articulation scheme and the soft goods are going to bother people, and they’re not wrong to have these issues with the figure. As forgiving as I typically am, I am concerned that so much about this figure bothers me. However, I can’t help but feel all the warm fuzzies when I have him displayed on my shelves, so, as a pure display piece, he’s working for me. Your mileage will definitely vary, though.
Yoda preorders sold out at Big Bad Toy Store, but he should be popping up randomly at Amazon, if you want to try your luck. His wave is just starting to hit stores now as well, so he should be around and obtainable shortly.