Yoda - TBSA - Six Inch Figures

Yoda is a legendary Jedi master and stronger than most in his conection with the Force.

Wow! What a difference “photorealistic” technology does to a 6” action figure. One of the most eagerly anticipated 6” figures in the entire line was Yoda. But when The Black Series [Phase II] Yoda (#06) figure finally hit store shelves, collectors were disappointed to see what a mess Hasbro made of the figure’s paint operations. The sculpt of the figure had a fantastic articulation system, but between the murky shade of green chosen for his skin color and the “deer in headlights” look in his eyes, collectors of the line were disappointed. Now with the introduction of The Black Series Archive line, Hasbro can go back into their vault and after improving the figures, re-release them to help meet market demand, as well as correct the sins that plagued the original releases of the figures. Yoda may the single-most wise choice of the entire The Black Series Archive line to date. As one of the most popular characters from the Star Wars saga, and with the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back rolling in for 2020, there’s no better time than now to get a beautifully updated figure like Yoda back into the line again. And we’re glad Hasbro did. Yoda looks astounding, and we believe he will be more of a highlight in this years’ line than some of the all-new figures introduced for 2019. It’s quite impressive how a revitalized paint job makes an action figure go from being barely acceptable to exceedingly desired.

The Black Series Archive Yoda 6” figure is a fantastic release. Hasbro designed a spectacular sculpt here. Now that we have corrected deco, we can appreciate the finer details of this figure more. Yoda’s expression is flawless, and his proportions different. The details in his hands, feet, and the outfit under the soft-goods honestly couldn’t be sculpted any better than they have. Collectors who grew up with the Kenner line are going to go crazy with extras like the snake accessory as well as how Hasbro designed his costume. If you think about 1980's The Empire Strikes Back Yoda Kenner figure, they’ve been approached identically in every way. Hasbro is nodding to the legacy Kenner left us from a long time ago is a wonderful thing. Granted, there were many different shades of light and shadow throughout The Empire Strikes Back line from Kenner. But the original color Hasbro chose for this original release of this figure wasn’t right. Now it’s right. Additionally, all of the other details on the figure as well as the included accessories appear to have the perfect coloring. The new deco is a breath of fresh air here, and it should be the focus of the reason why you’d repurchase this figure. For us, we’re quite satisfied with how the paint operations came out on Yoda. He is near perfection now, and it would be great to get this version of him packaged for the 40th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back line if Hasbro hasn’t included him in it already.

Yoda’s articulation is quite good. We have noticed that Hasbro has backed off from using ball-jointed articulation in the torso and hips and they instead use the simpler ball-socket type of articulation. This interrupts the full range of motion a ball-jointed point of articulation possesses, so that is a minor disappointment for us, but it’s something we can easily overlook. Yoda has a ball-socket neck (like most other figures in this line too), but it does not give him enough range of motion. We would have loved to have been able to pose Yoda looking up (or down for that matter) just as he did in Episode V, but you get the most movement rocking his head left and right much more than you can up and down. We find this slightly disappointing. We are also a little bit on the fence about his double hinge-jointed elbows. We know what controversy this type of articulation caused in the 3.75" scaled line, but we wonder how collectors will feel about it with Yoda in the 6" line. Yoda can scratch his ears thanks to this "enhanced" articulation, but this joint prevents any horizontal movement (or left to right) arm motion. The approach seems to work out better for larger characters. We also would have loved to see ball-jointed knees added here, but between the rest of the premium articulation and the excellent sculpt, we honestly are quite taken with this figure regardless. Besides, focus on the new paint operations on his face. You’re going to fall in love with him all over again.