Yoda - OTC - Basic (OTC #02)

A friend of the Rebel Alliance, Yoda trains Luke Skywalker to be a Jedi Knight. Hiding from the evil Empire on the planet Dagobah, Yoda teaches Luke to use the power of the Force. He wants Luke to be strong enough to fight Darth Vader, who is a powerful leader of the Empire. Yoda tries to teach Luke all the skills he will need for the coming battles.

Even if a figure isn’t super-articulated, if it’s sculpted well it may be all you need to pacify you at the time. That may best apply to Yoda (OTC #02) from The Original Trilogy Collection. An all-new take of the demure Jedi Master, this is the closest that collectors can get to the Original Trilogy interpretation of this fan favorite character. We even feel it is a bit superior to the 2004 VOTC Yoda as far as likeness is concerned (but we feel the VOTC figure is overall better because the enhanced articulation). Yoda comes with a decent eight points of articulation (all of which is located in the upper body) and comes with a healthy does of accessories that ties him specifically to the “training on Dagobah” scenes from Episode V. Besides his infamous gimer stick and an environmental display stand (that interconnects with the first four figures in The Original Trilogy Collection), Yoda also comes with the memorable blue backpack and it attaches to 2004’s OTC Luke Skywalker (OTC #01) figure incredibly.

Yoda comes with a ball-socket head, but the real enhancement made to any Yoda action figure is the inclusion of ball-jointed shoulders. Sadly, this is diminished by the addition of swivel elbows, but Yoda still possesses impressive arm movement which is need when you have him interact with the Luke Skywalker action figure. By himself, Yoda converts into more of a statue than anything else, but he looks good and that is enough for many collections. No soft-goods are included, so this means that Yoda looks good, but there are less ties to the vintage Kenner figure version released in 1981. Now that could be a deal breaker for some collectors. We have to admit that Yoda’s greatest asset would be his head sculpt. We don’t think it’s entirely perfect, but for us it’s hard to find fault in it and the ball-socket articulation gives it quite a bit of personality depending upon what angle you decide to cock it.

Hasbro has focused on many characters from The Empire Strikes Back for The Original Trilogy Collection. This goes a very long way with collectors. In fact, all seven “new” figures in this collection are all from Episode V. Coincidence? We think not. We think that Hasbro has created a marvelous collection of figures for Star Wars fans and they did so in a pinch. The sudden announcement of the Original Trilogy (and the unaltered versions of the films) coming out on DVD was a monumental announcement. Sure there were disappointments that original versions of the films weren’t getting remastered, but it was cool to have a collection of action figures so closely tied to this multimedia event. Yoda is an achievement of sorts from this line. We love his interaction with Luke Skywalker (OTC #01) and we love the forward thinking and consideration they give these new action figures to make them all they can be for collectors. Yoda will age out at some point, but for now, it’s hard to dislike it.