Through the first half of ‘98, the Star Wars line was on a gravy train with biscuit wheels.  When a problematic peg warmer crept up, and there were a few, it was as much a result of stores getting double digit cases at once as it was a lack of interest in that specific figure.  Toward the end of this run, the vintage era “wall of figures” phenomenon would actually return.  It was a magical time even if we now regard the figures as mostly junk.  It was around then that Episode I was in full production which was reason for great excitement, but that is when the Night King seized his moment.  Winter was here.  The line went on hiatus to prepare the decks for the Episode I line.  I remember being apprehensive about this.  There were so many OT figures that still needed to be done at the time before the line became the exclusive domain of Prequel product.  There were even original 92’s that hadn’t been made (and two decades later a couple if them still haven’t been made including CJ’s favorite, Sim Aloo).  The final indignity was that the end of the Freeze Frame line was either extremely difficult to find (Ree Yees and Death Star Trooper) or moved to an exclusive (for the time) Fan Club wave (Hoth Leia, Death Star Droid, Pote Snitkin, and AT-AT Driver) at onerous prices.

But WAIT!  A transition line look of sorts was announced. Perhaps Hasbro would use this opportunity to knock off a few of those needed OT figures.  To my disappointment, most of what was announced were gimmicky resculpts of core characters we really didn’t need.  The theme was that all of these figures had some relationship with an Episode I character, either direct or tangential (or massive spoiler), which was revealed via the included Flashback Photo.  When the list of figures was revealed, I honestly thought it was a belated April Fools joke.  Yoda was proclaimed as having real hair! I thought, “Coming from where? His ears?”  Obi-Wan Kenobi was announced as “now with hood up,” as if that was some sort of accomplishment.  It felt like toy industry satire where minor changes are made to existing figures as a chance to get chumps to buy the product again.  I was really disappointed when I bought this product again.  The “upgrades” hardly justified taking up a precious slot in the mainline, and in the case of the Flashback Darth Vader, it was actually a regression.  Wave 2 of the Flashback line would offer some collector gold with the Aunt Beru and Anakin Skywalker figures. But that would come later.  At this point we were saddled with hit-or-miss gimmick-laden figures. 

The gimmicks on the Yoda are twofold.  One is the “real hair.”  It’s as real as the hair plugs from the 80’s.  I’m pretty sure that the hair is sourced from recycled 1970’s fiber optic lamps.  That was very green of you, Hasbro.  The other gimmick is the included accessories, and they’re not bad.  One accessory is the boiling pot which is heralded on the sticker on the bubble.  Finally we could recreate the scene where Yoda makes his gross stew.  The figure also includes a cane, but the figure’s hands aren’t sculpted well to hold it in walking positions.  This is due to the wide grip of figure’s right hand combined with the narrowness of the cane’s handle.  There is a bulge on the top of the cane’s handle which the figure can grasp.  This allows the figure to achieve crotchety old man cane pointing poses.  That has some merit.  The final accessory was a bit of a mystery at the time.  It’s meant to be Luke’s flashlight that Yoda steals resulting in a tug-of-war with R2, but it lacked subtlety.  Fans, being what they are, mocked that accessory relentlessly.  Some of the invective taunts were disgusting.  One that seemed to gain traction was that it was a piece of drug paraphernalia, and this figure became dubbed “crack pipe Yoda.”  This is despite the fact that it bears zero resemblance to a crack pipe.  Haven’t these fans seen The Wire?

Aside from the accessories, which have only tepid appeal, this figure is largely valueless to your collection.  The mono-leg renders this a 4POA figure.  The skin tone is reminiscent of canned peas.  I hate canned peas.  The likeness is iffy at best.  If you don’t care about the accessories, the only other reason to add this to your collection is nostalgia, and that is indeed a cromulent reason.  One last note, as I was staring at this figure in Walmart, seething that it was taking up a precious spot in the line, a boy and his father walked in.  The boy exclaimed, “YODA!”  It’s a double reminder that a) it’s not all about us and b) for some pinnacle characters, accessibility will always matter.