Anakin Skywalker/Yoda - TFA - Two-Packs (Forest)

Anakin Skywalker: Tormented by visions of his wife Padmé’s death, Anakin Skywalker turns to the dark side in a desperate attempt to save her.

Yoda: Unable to prevent Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side or the destruction of the Jedi Order, Yoda is forced into exile on the remote world of Dagobah.

The first shall be paired with the last and the last shall be paired with the first…. alphabetically by line look of course. If you don’t get what we’re talking about, we’re only pointing out that Anakin Skywalker, who is the first in the Star Wars [Darth Vader/Revenge Of The Sith] line look alphabetically has been matched up with Yoda for some strange reason, who falls last alphabetically in the same list. So now we will move onward. It’s no secret that the collecting community has been disappointed with the Saga Legends and Mission Series lines when they were first offered back in 2013. Tremendous strides however have taken place and some of the latest offerings are looking quite nice. But thanks to improved calibrating and enhanced attention to detail, some of those earliest efforts are looking better and better, albeit far from perfect. Take for instance the Anakin Skywalker/Yoda Two-Pack from The Force Awakens line. This odd pairing contains two figures that were/are heavily criticized, but in all honesty, Hasbro has improved their paint operations by just a little which has made these figures look less terrible than in the past. This doesn’t mean we’re necessarily happier with them now, it just means we’ve noticed a qualitative difference and borderline improvement with them.

Anakin Skywalker just has a wonky sculpt. There is really no other way to say it. We think he should have been one of the last figures from the original Saga Legends line to be chosen for 2015. He comes with a lightsaber and that’s it. It is welcomed into both of his hands, but you’ll find that his sleeves interrupt how well the lightsaber fits, especially his left hand. In fact, the pressure created from the sleeve and the wrists sometimes forced the lightsaber to eject away from the figure with some pressure. It is borderline obnoxious and because this line is geared towards kids they’ll likely become very frustrated over that and pretty quickly want to separate themselves from the figure (our assumption). Perhaps it’s high time to stiffen the upper lip and acknowledge that this is the direction kid-centric action figures have gone. Or maybe it’s time to keep fighting the fight against simplicity. (That’s really just sarcasm so please don’t take it too seriously.) Things are indeed changing, but Anakin Skywalker is not a great example of change that will be embraced by everyone. He just isn’t a great action figure. His time on shelves has come and gone. Let’s all leave it that way

Yoda is a better example of how Hasbro can make something disappointing to longtime collectors a little bit more palatable. Another repack, the original figure was an all-new sculpt and in many ways a very good one. It has a silhouette like Yoda, a stature like Yoda and the clothing and accessories certainly seem to be Yoda’s, but when you look at the actual figure, you’ll need to do a double take. Does Yoda have the worst head sculpt we have ever seen to date? No, this is absolutely not the case. Again, it actually looks pretty good. But where is lacks most is in the type of plastic used and the final paint job given to it. And once again, Yoda is an odd shade of green. Even he looks like he is nauseously green no matter how ironic that sounds. Both Anakin Skywalker and Yoda come with lightsaber/Force effects in their appropriate lighsabers’ color and each come with a launcher that they’re unable to hold. (This is the play value part for kids.) But since both figures could be had for less than $12 total before tax and now they’re approaching $15, we’re not sure how many people will be repurchasing these. Nicely packaged, the contents are ultimately what you’re plopping down your money for here. And for us it just doesn’t deliver.