Editor’s Note:  This review has been updated with a second look…

Original Review:  Chris - 6/28/2014 6:44 PM

If you’ve seen this post by our friends at Yakface, you know that this figure has undergone a severe downgrade since the development stages.  The original design was for the ultimate super articulated Episode V Yoda figure.  With the final design we are left with a mere five points of articulation which feels a bit like a gut punch.  It’s long been my fear that Hasbro would bow out of the super articulation game in the 3.75” line and I can’t help but be worried that this specific figure portends my personal collecting apocalypse.  Being petty and fickle collectors, we constantly threaten to quit the hobby and take our lucrative nerd dollars elsewhere, but never actually do so.  It’s just venting.  I can assure everyone that if super articulation goes away, so does my participation in the hobby.

My negative cynical side says that this is the first of many non-premium quality figures that Hasbro will increasingly salt into the premium line as it grinds it to a halt and transitions the premium figure concept to the 6” scale.  Labor costs are sharply rising in China.  It just stands to reason that a larger super articulated figure is easier to assemble, and thus less expensive, than the equivalent figure in a smaller scale.  My positive cynical side says that the Yoda figure blueprint shown at Yakface is indeed coming, but now would not be the right time.  Hasbro has sufficiently teased that the Vintage Collection is coming back as a sub-line around the time of the Episode VII product.  Wouldn’t it make much more sense to save the ultimate Episode V Yoda for that event?  The head sculpt is a brilliant likeness for Yoda, so it could easily be reused on this hypothetical Vintage Collection release.

That head sculpt could have saved this under articulated figure, but, once again, miserable paint applications have undermined that potential.  The hair overspray can be found all over the head, and the eyes are sloppily applied.  This figure does not look like Yoda.  It looks like Clone Yoda.  And not an Army of the Republic clone.  It’s a diminished capacity Family Guy clone.  Would you like to meet clone Yoda, Brian?  Would you like to meet him?  The robe is nicely done, but it’s far too large.  Hasbro seems to think Yoda was swaddled in a bath robe, but Yoda is an old man.  All old men wear robes that are slightly open.  You can migrate the extra material to the back of the figure and secure it in place with the belt, however.  The worst aspect is the recent Black Series rubbery plastic.  The figure’s right hand is an open palm presumably to simulate reaching out with the Force.  This means the gimer stick can only be held in the left hand, but the rubbery hand does not provide a positive enough grasp.  Getting the figure to hold the gimer stick, as opposed to just resting on it, can be a chore.  The last disappointment is the clasp on the back pack.  The early versions showed what appeared to be a Velcro fastener.  Even long haul truckers would admit that the new buckle is far too large. 

If you can find a sample with decent paint applications, you can use it to stand in as Yoda in your display for one or two poses.  For that reason I can’t say that the figure is completely without value like the Luke figure from this wave.  But being limited to only a few poses and the fact that the paint application seem to be performed with paint rollers both in terms of accuracy and volume renders this a 4 out of 10.

Updated Review:  Bret - 11/16/2018 07:05 AM

I don’t know.  I’m reviewing this figure as well as the #21 Luke back-to-back, and I feel like the scores should maybe be switched.  Yesterday I said that I’d be inclined to kick up the Luke rating from Chris’s 1/10 to something like a 3 or 4, because I felt that Hasbro had clearly put in some major effort into the figure.  They attempted a complex form of double jointed articulation with the rest of the figure being standard super-articulated (an upgrade from previous versions of Dagobah training Luke).  It also included a bunch of accessories, even an unlit hilt which seemed to be annoyingly and cheaply absent from other Black Series Jedi figures.  However, the arms were horrendous, the hilt/belt didn’t interact, and the blaster didn’t fit into the holster.  It was almost as if Hasbro put all of their effort into the elbows and didn’t leave anything left in the tank for the rest of the figure.  And then the elbows failed anyway.  Bottom line:  I feel they gave it some thought and effort.

This Yoda, however, is the opposite of trying.  As Chris linked to an image on Yakface of what was rumored to be the original plans for this Yoda, you can see that unlike my take on Luke, Hasbro just totally threw in the towel here.  Instead of a spectacular and definitive super-articulated OT Yoda, we got a 5POA piece of crap - IN THE PREMIUM COLLECTOR LINE!  By this point, Hasbro was already splitting the 3.75” line into two main parts (with confusing offshoots): the Black Series aimed at collectors, and the constantly changing cardback line looks with under-articulated budget figures aimed at idiots.  This figure should have been in one of those crap lines.  The soft goods robe only serves to obfuscate the issue, and help the figure slip past the censors and into the Black Series.  With this figure, Hasbro threw in the towel, and as Chris alludes, it seemed to be a clear indicator that Hasbro was looking to cut corners and eventually do away with the premium 3.75” line.  This belief seemed to be on target as the line continued, with few new figures of quality, while being filled with repacks, repaints, and retools.

The headsculpt and paint apps are laughable.  The 5 POA sculpt would be decent…FOR A 5POA BUDGET FIGURE!  But it is unacceptable for this type of figure in the collector line. The soft goods robe is…ok.  The belt, gimer stick, and pendant are all fine.  The worst problem with the accessories is that Yoda basically cannot hold the gimer stick.  You can, at best, pose him so he’s leaning on the stick, but he’s not actually holding it.  With a bit of luck I was able to temporarily get him to hold the stick horizontally as if he was beating R2 with it.  But it’s kind of fake, because the wrists are not articulated, you can only get so much out of any attempt to get an action pose. 

This Yoda was an utter disappointment when it was released.  And while the Black Series (Orange) had some gems, it was generally up and down up to this point.  But Yoda was the nadir. Unlike Luke, which may objectively be a lesser figure than Yoda, it was this Yoda that was actually a signal from Hasbro that things were going to change for the worse.  5POA eventually became the main thrust of Hasbro’s 3.75” offerings, and the collector figures started to decline in quality and frequency.  This Yoda was the figure that made it very clear to collectors that, sadly, Hasbro’s focus had changed.

Seriously, this figure sucks.  Hasbro needs to go back to the drawing board, or at least draw inspiration from the blueprints shown in the earlier link.  This is not definitive, and Chris was generous to give it a 4.  I’d give it a 0 just because of the sadness that it represents.

Verdict: Re-sculpt 

This is not the Yoda you’re looking for.  If it is, you’re a terrible human being.  It can be had for cheap on eBay.  But don’t buy it.  Click the link and buy something else.  Like a nail file or some aluminum foil.

Verdict Guide:
Re-sculpt = The figure is not definitive, and a new version should be developed.
Re-issue = This version is definitive (or close enough), and shows sufficient secondary market demand to warrant a straight repack.
No Action = This release does not require new attention.