Yoda - Vinyl Collectible Dolls

130mm Tall!
Perfect realization of Yoda as seen Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
Includes: cane, flashlight, and Yoda snack!

Sometimes there are very unique (and quite special) Star Wars collectibles released that never get a chance to be seen by the masses of the Star Wars collecting public. Companies like Medicom Toy and Sideshow Collectibles rising to the forefront of high-end Star Wars collecting and are gaining a larger following thanks to the amazing products they’re releasing under their corresponding Star Wars licenses. Being a direct-to-market vendor is cost-effective, but it isn’t necessarily easy. You have a good relationship with your fan base, but it’s a little more difficult to get your products “out there” so that they can be universally loved and adored. Big box is great for the cheaper Hasbro stuff, but when it comes to the more refined Star Wars things, there is probably little room to debate that Medicom Toy is near the pinnacle of excellence. It’s bittersweet that their products aren’t more readily available, but between the higher price point and limited availability, it’s hard to sell them, even if they are some of the greatest Star Wars collectibles on the face of the earth. If these products were more readily available however, they would attain a whole new following or audience of collectors that would sincerely appreciate and buy up these products. Yoda, from Medicom Toy's Vinyl Collectible Dolls (VCDs) line is a collectible that is so beautiful and special that it went for a premium on the aftermarket shortly after it was released. Released at the end of 2006 in Japan, it didn’t reach the states until 2007, thanks to an exclusive arrangement with Sideshow Collectibles.

Although the VCDs line are mostly unique and can’t be categorized as anything else (especially the super-deformed style), the realistic style in our opinion is a direct offshoot of the Real Action Heroesline. Not only are the realistically styled VCDs in perfect scale to the Real Action Heroes, they have ample articulation to make them “interact” with the RAH figures as well. The only thing really working against the VCDs line, if you can even call it that, is that there aren’t too many Real Action Figures that appear in the Star Wars films alongside the characters in the films made in the VCDs line. So while it’s great to have Wicket, who are you going to pose him next to in your collection. Obviously, you’ll need to branch out into other lines like Hasbro and Sideshow Collectibles, but it would be nice if Medicom Toy released products in themes once in a while. So we have established that Yoda is not meant to be a one-sixth scale figure. VCDs may have limited articulation, but the articulation added to Yoda is stunning, and it allows you to create some amazingly screen accurate poses in lifelike ways. He possesses some important key points of movement including a ball-jointed head and ball-jointed wrists. Again, the contemplative and expressive gestures you can recreate on him is just incredible. If you're an articulation junkie however, you’ll likely be disappointed by what this figure can’t do more than how awesome it looks (which is quite sad to us).

We absolutely adore this figure though and Yoda has a great likeness (with a little interpretation added in)and a fabulous sculpt. He comes complete with the lamp and rations portion from Luke Skywalker as well as his signature walking cane/gimer stick. But what brings this piece to life are his soft-goods clothing pieces. He has a burlap-looking outer robe and a brown shirt underneath. Yoda's middle section is all one piece. He has no articulation in the legs (and frankly this stinks because he is prone to falling forward sometimes). He has an interesting ball-joint in the head which gives you a lot of versatility, whether it’s pitching his head to the left or right or upwards and downwards. This head sculpt can do it all and in any direction. Thankfully, if you need a better balance for Yoda, his gimer stick works well in holding him upright. And while sometimes difficult, he can hold all of his accessories well in his hands without issues. Yoda looks phenomenal next to Sideshow Collectible's Luke Skywalker (Rebel Commander: Bespin) 1:6 Scale Figure and they are in perfect scale to each other, or it’s so darn close we can’t see the issue. This is pretty neat because it doesn’t seem that Medicom Toy has any plans to release a Real Action Heroes figure of this particular Luke Skywalker anytime soon. We actually prefer the realistic style of the Vinyl Collectible Dolls line to the super-deformed style. The Yoda VCD is difficult to find now because it sold out almost instantly when it became available for purchase. We think it is one of the greatest highlights a collector can have in his or her collection.