Yoda - LC - Saga Legends (SL09)

The wise Jedi Master Yoda leads the Republic's clone army into battle on the Wookiee world of Kashyyyk. He is assisted in this fateful mission by mighty Wookiee warriors Chewbacca and Tarfful.

Not all of the figures in Collection 1 of 2005's Revenge Of The Sith line were terrible. When Hasbro was able to work in action features into the accessories instead of the figures themselves, the results were much more positive. Take Yoda (III 3) for instance. It was a good figure then and now it's a great figure for Hasbro's Saga Legends line of repacked and repainted action figures. This figure has been carried forward in almost every iteration, now it's part of the 2009 Legacy Collection Saga Legends lineup too. Yoda comes with a very oversized cannon based on the style of a Wookiee blaster and its action feature is launching a projectile. Yeah, so what, it’s not screen accurate. But Yoda is and that’s significantly more important. You should perhaps focus your attention to just how much plastic Hasbro included in this basic figure release anyhow. Yes, Yoda is a very small action figure so it makes sense that Hasbro would include a huge canon with him, but they didn’t have to and we have to acknowledge thanks for this. Is the actual action figure of Yoda perfect? No, but he doesn’t look terrible and he is significantly much better that the other Yoda figure that was released in the line where Hasbro did include an action feature. We are not claiming that this particular Yoda is perfect, but Hasbro needs to keep Yoda in the basic figure line so this is a fine choice.

Yoda is honestly pretty good for an action figure. He doesn’t necessarily come with the best likeness, but he’s very articulated for his small size and the articulation used is premium. There is something off with his portrait and we are at a loss to pinpoint exactly what it is. But is seems that his head sculpt is an unfinished lump of clay, almost as if the sculptor was near completion but just stopped before adding the fine details. A ball-socket head is jointed two ball-jointed shoulders. It gives him a nice range of upper body movement. His left hand is motioning in a way that looks like a Force push of sorts. And his right hand is cupped to accept the hilt of his included shortened lightsaber. He also comes with a plastic molded cloak that wraps about his body snugly. It’s been weathered thanks to a cool paint job Hasbro gave it. Aside from two ball-socket feet, the rest of his included articulation is all swivel points, but you’d be surprised how well it fits him. He really has a good range of motion while looking authentic to the film (aside from some issues with the shape and look of his head sculpt). Yoda isn’t definitive by any means, but he’s holding up quite well. And with a slightly revised paint job, this version of Yoda appears ever so different than the original figure.

The cannon accessory provides kids and collectors with some surprisingly fun entertainment. It’s big and bulky and comes apart in four separate parts. It has a rather curvy design, but the parts stay together very well and the launching of the projectile isn’t compromised by its design at all and it works remarkably well. It totally looks like something the Wookiees would utilize. Keep in mind that although a weapon very similar to this appears in Revenge Of The Sith, it’s handheld by the Wookiees and is much smaller. Hasbro instead made it larger to work in an action feature. An appropriately scaled accessory would have been much preferred, but if it means that the integrity of an action figure won’t be compromised by an action feature, then we’ll gladly accept it as is. Many of the Wookiee weapons are bronze and brown colored and the same is true for the cannon. It’s nice to know that Hasbro remained faithful to color and style of the weapon even if they didn’t match the scale. This is the best Yoda in the Revenge Of The Sith line and it's sort of a welcomed re-release in the Legacy Collection Saga Legends line, but you may have had your fill of him now. As you already know, Yoda has been packaged with Battle Gear which just means six extra weapons to help outfit the current figures already in your collection. We guess it's a way of replacing lost weapons. They come housed in a cardboard locker.