Yoda - Unleashed

Yoda emanates a vast wisdom and power made all the more impressive by his humble deportment and diminutive size. A rarely seen species from an unknown homeworld, Yoda possesses capabilities that give him impressive strength and speed. While he is clearly the wise, elder statesman in the Jedi High Council, Yoda is also a superlative warrior who can overcome virtually any opponent. Well into his eighth century, he has learned to apply caution and reflection in discordant situations, but when war erupts, he does not hesitate to fight. He battles head-to-head with another powerful wielder of the Force, displaying great agility and masterful skills with his lightsaber. As the two foes clash, Yoda, empowered by the Force, leaps and twirls in the air, relentlessly battering his opponent. When he is forced to choose between saving the lives of his compatriots or executing the final blow in battle, Yoda chooses life over victory, allowing his enemy to escape. Yoda's powerful warrior skills as well as his wisdom will now be tested as the galaxy collapses into full-scale war.

There are some Unleashed figures that are just “OK” and then there are some that will flabbergast and wow you. The later should definitely be the reaction for collectors when it comes to the Unleashed Yoda figure. Although this miniature sculpture shows Yoda when he was embattled with Count Dooku at the time of the supposed “screen cap” of time, Hasbro decided to focus all attention on the little green Jedi Master so you could take it his energy, prowess and alignment with the Force. Yoda is delicately sculpted and Hasbro ensured that every last emotion like determination, bravery and limitless energy were forever frozen in his face. And the accenting “Force effect” which perches him up as if he is floating in the air reinforces the fact the side indeed does not matter when the Force is your ally. Yoda brings something new and fresh to the Unleashed line. Hasbro certainly thought outside of the box here. As a small character, it seems as if something else was needed to accompany Yoda. And Hasbro found the perfect enhancements and environmental backdrop on which to capture this explicit emotion. Yoda is without a doubt a favorite of ours, and should be for you too. You really haven’t seen Yoda this raw (and frozen in time) ever in Hasbro’s line and we think they did a stupendous job with the final release.

There are significant differences between the Prequel Trilogy Yoda and the Original Trilogy Yoda. What’s so excellent with the Unleashed Yoda is that just by the sculpt alone (forgetting about the backdrop for a moment), there is no way possible to confuse that this is Yoda from Attack Of The Clones (specifically). He has a “younger” appearance and he is wielding a lightsaber. Those should be the definitive factors obviously, but even the flow of his cloak and the lack of his Episode V details like his flute make the point evident that he is reacting to Sith Lord Count Dooku. What is extra special for us with this release is that Hasbro left no detail unaccounted for here. Remember how Yoda walked into the Geonosian hangar to “rescue” Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker and he utilized his cane? At this point in the film, none of us expected Yoda to wreak havoc on Count Dooku, did we? He drops his cane, whips out his lightsaber and begins a duel with Dooku. Hasbro actually sculpted the “dropped cane” into the base of this Unleashed figure? How poignant is that? Again, we feel that nothing was taken for granted with this release and Hasbro wanted to produce an all-encompassing version of an Episode II Yoda. We think they succeeded brilliantly. A dynamic sculpts in a stunning action pose are things that once achieved will draw collectors in unabashedly.

But then there are the paint operations. How well did they fare? To put in succinctly, gorgeous. Yoda is not only colored in the perfect shade of green, Hasbro mixed other elements into the color to give Yoda texture and variances throughout his skin tone. It even appears as if a few final washes were added to help accentuate these details. Even his cloak, the outfit under his cloak and the base have all been given generous amounts of color that are all screen accurate to what was seen in Attack Of The Clones. We couldn’t be more impressed with the final outcome here. For those of you that love articulation with your Unleashed figures, you’ll be happy to know that Yoda comes with two swivel hands. This allows for a little more range of movement with the included Force effect, as well as allowing him to turn his lightsaber hilt (and removable blade) as you desire. The Unleashed Yoda figure breaks down into six separate parts which include the Yoda figure, Geonosis hangar base, Force effect, lightsaber blade and two “movement” effects (which serve as the stand on which Yoda sits. From the near-rage in his eyes to his alarming quick movement, Yoda has been forever captured in a way that none of us will ever be able to clearly freeze frame from Episode II (without it being blurry). That is what is so nice about these Unleashed figures. You really get to see our favorite Star Wars characters in their most accent packed movements clearly.

As a bonus feature to this review, we have provided the original artwork created for this Star Wars: Unleashed figure. Click the thumbnail to the left to see the amazing illustration.