Yoda - SW [TLJ] - 12-Inch Figures

Yoda was a legendary Jedi Master and stronger than most in his connection with the Force. Small in size but wise and powerful, he trained Jedi for over 800 years.

Yoda is featured a little more prominently in the Star Wars [The Last Jedi] toy line than the average Original Trilogy character. Perhaps the rumor of him turning up in Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi is true, but if it isn’t, Hasbro cannot go wrong adding such a pivotal Star Wars character to the toy line once again. In the Force Link basic figure line, Hasbro provided kids and collectors with a nicely sculpted, albeit an imperfect version of Yoda. It was met with mediocre praise, although most could admit he looked good. “New” technology was brought forth into that figure: a reverse ball-socket head; and this allowed the owner of the action figure to replicate and mimic his cocked head movement just like the puppet did in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. But Hasbro hasn’t stopped there. They’ve just released Yoda in the controversial 12-Inch Figure line, affectionately (maybe not affectionately) known as “shampoo bottles” scale. Admittedly the figure looks pretty great. The coloring isn’t perfect, and the articulation is far from perfect, but you won’t convince us to use words like “garbage” and “junk” to describe it. Part of the third wave of 12-Inch Figures in the Star Wars [The Last Jedi] lineup, Yoda was packed alongside Kylo Ren, but Yoda will likely be the hot figure of this case assortment. He turned out better than you might expect. We know we’re happy with him. But will you be? Will you be?

Yoda comes with the standard seven points of articulation that most other 12-Inch Figures have. He looks perfectly scaled from where we sit and comes with many more accessories than the average 12-Inch Figure as well. His sculpt is quite beautiful. The portrait is nicely detailed as well as nicely painted. Hasbro accomplished a great deal here and they should be commended for their efforts. The rest of the figure is nicely tooled too, but the simple articulation adds cuts to the figure that just come across a little too jarring. The extra accessories are likely added because of his demure stature, but it would be nice to see the figures in this larger scale get this kind of treatment when it comes to accessories. The new Hasbro team has difficulty separating Prequel Trilogy Yoda from Original Trilogy Yoda. Sure, it’s likely that Yoda had his lightsaber SOMEWHERE with him on Dagobah, but it would be nice to see the lightsaber accessory ignored for a faithful recreation of the original take on the character. His lightsaber, which is based on the prop he utilized in Episode II and Episode III is nicely detailed (and a bit long in our opinion) and breaks down into hilt and blade very easily. Admittedly, Yoda looks pretty neat posed with just the hilt in his hands and it does look interesting to see and Episode V Yoda wielding a fully lit lightsaber. It’s just technically screen inaccurate is all.

Where Yoda really shines is with his Original Trilogy accessories. He comes with his infamous gimer stick (now we have something to beat up R2-D2 with) and his necklace. We would have loved to have seen a soft-goods outer robe added here, but we’re sure that would have killed the budget for the rest of the wave. But the greatest inclusion here is the snake. It’s not solid orange or brown, but it does imitate the snake that came with Sideshow Collectibles’ Yoda (Jedi Mentor)1:6 Scale Figure, and we think that is pretty awesome. The snake comes with an alternating cream and orange pattern and has been appropriately curved to fit around his neck and hang around his hands just like the 1981 vintage Kenner figure. You can’t help but be jettisoned back to your childhood which really allows you to appreciate what this figure brings to the Star Wars toy line. Yoda isn’t perfect by any means, but he is far from “terrible, ” and he is a proud addition to our collection. It would be really awesome if Hasbro continued this trend of adding Original Trilogy aliens to the 12-Inch Figures line. Like every other format, aliens turn out so much better in action figure form that humans, and it is pretty cool to get “large” 5POA (really 7POA) figures for such a reasonable price. Yoda is proof that simple and cheaper toys can be done well, and we’re very happy with how this one turned out.