Yoda - TBS [TESB40] - Six Inch Figures

Remembering how exciting it was to see older The Black Series 6” figures get the Photo Real treatment? One of the most eagerly anticipated 6” figures in the entire line was Yoda. But when The Black Series [Phase II] Yoda (#06) figure arrived to store shelves, collectors quickly became disappointed with the final product. The sculpt of the figure had a fantastic articulation system for such a small-statured character. Still, between the murky shade of green chosen for the figure’s skin color, and the “deer in headlights” look in the eyes, collectors felt cheated and upset that Yoda didn’t meet their expectations. Then in 2019, Hasbro released The Black Series Archive Yoda update. What a difference! Now, they’ve repackaged The Black Series Archive Yoda for The Black Series [The Empire Strikes Back 40] lineup, and the packaging helps to make the figure look better than ever. With the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back rolling in for 2020, there’s no better time than now to get the beautifully updated Yoda figure back into the line and available to collectors again. Yoda looks astounding. Maybe not the most exciting figure to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Episode V with so many other characters needed, Yoda still shines and helps provide anchoring to this commemorative collection of figures.

We’re able to appreciate the finer details of Yoda. The figure’s expression is flawless. 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 ESB Yoda Kenner figure, the accessories have been approached identically in every way here. Getting a nod to the legacy, Kenner left us from a long time ago is a wonderful thing. Of course, 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 screen-accurate 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. But now the reason to repurchase the figure is for the packaging. The only remaining issue for Yoda is that the figure is too large when compared to Luke Skywalker (Bespin). Imagine this Yoda figure on Luke’s back. It would be odd.

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 inferior joint 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 the figure enough range of motion. We would have loved to have been able to pose Yoda looking up (or down for that matter) just as the character did in Episode V, but you get the most movement rocking the 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 the 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 type of joint prevent any horizontal movement (or left to right) arm motion. If you love useless trivia, Hasbro didn’t use the same frame of film reference for the figure’s card back. It exists online. We’re not sure why they goofed this one up too.