Hot Toys Empire Strikes Back Yoda figure review

Since we’re in the season (pick one) where TNT is running another Star Wars marathon, I figured I probably should try to finally knock out the Hot Toys Empire Strikes Back Yoda figure.

I’m going to be greatly disappointed if you didn’t immediately do the next line. Anyway, this guy has been waiting patiently to harass my Hot Toys Empire Bespin Luke so let’s get to it.

Packaging:  Hot Toys has a simple outer package for the Original Trilogy with the elegant flat and glossy shades of black.

His interior package art isn’t as elaborate as some of the others simply showing him in a pair of iconic moments.

Unlike most Hot Toys figures, Yoda isn’t as impressive in the tray due to his smaller stature and half the tray filled with his accessories. Not surprisingly, there’s a lot to take in on that front.

Likeness:  Over the years I’ve grabbed a “few” Yoda figures. Let’s officially welcome everyone to the gold standard. It’s not hard to appreciate the terrific sculpt on the head sculpt that captures the weary and tired Jedi Master. Staying in quarantine in a swamp for 19 years will have that affect on anyone.

I love all the detail with the wrinkles and bags under Yoda’s eyes. Not that I wouldn’t expect this level of detail, but the human character likeness doesn’t allow for as much texturing as is evident on Yoda.

Instead of going the painted route, Hot Toys added a tuft of white hair. Yoda isn’t bald and has more of a George Jefferson deal going on, which is reflected much better with fabric hair instead of trying to paint it.

Scale:  Yoda doesn’t interact with anyone in Empire besides Luke, Obi-Wan and R2-D2.

This reminds me that I don’t know if I’d be able to resist a Force Ghost version Obi-Wan from Hot Toys.  Anyway, he shouldn’t come up very high even on the shorter than average Luke.

Paint:  Once again the paintwork here is fantastic. Hot Toys did amazing work here from the gradient green and the mix of brown wash throughout. This is a paint element that never really turns out well in the 6” scale, but on this size figure it turned out amazing.

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Outfit: Yoda wears a traditional Jedi tunic, but since he’s been in isolation it’s gotten raggedy and worn over the years. Conveying that with fabric that could fray with some handling was a bit of a challenge although Hot Toys pulled it off right down to the holes in the right sleeve.

It hangs off Yoda well and doesn’t look oversized on him. The only thing is it would have been nice for him to have some grime and dirt to properly convey his life on Dagobah.

Articulation: At this stage, Yoda doesn’t need to flip and jump around as he’s content hobbling around messing with Luke or standing dignified observing his final pupil’s training.

Unfortunately there’s no Dagobah fatigues version of Luke so we can’t do scenes where Yoda is getting a piggyback ride on Luke’s back. The articulation is definitely strong enough that it would be possible if Hot Toys ever gets around to that Luke variant however.

Yoda is fairly pose expressive for a figure at this scale and shows off a lot of personality.

I do wish there were a way Hot Toys could have articulated the ears to further sell more of his expressions.

Yoda has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• bicep
• elbow
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• torso
• waist
• hip
• thigh
• knee (double-jointed)
• ankle

 

Accessories: Yoda’s accessories are terrific. He comes with a lot of Luke’s supplies that he set up after crashing his X-Wing. There’s the crate container, the lamp Yoda wants to trade for in exchange for his services and the power unit. He’s got his necklace, which hangs properly.

The power unit lights up, which means more fun with Hot Toy’s lovely battery setup. These have reached a new level of frustration for me as the screw is so tiny that you need a specialized screwdriver to actually place the batteries.

And apparently I don’t have any micro screwdrivers lying around. When you’re paying over $200, Hot Toys needs to either come up with easier screws or include the very specific screwdriver. I gave up after a few attempts since all I was doing was stripping the screw.

He also has his trademark cane, which fits in his hand nicely.

Yoda’s biggest accessory is the Dagobah diorama base with two levitating rocks to show his simplest control of The Force. The base isn’t as wide as I’d like as it’s not much wider than Yoda. At least this won’t hog up a lot of space on your display.

Additionally, Yoda has an alternate head sculpt with eyes closed to simulate his retrieval of the X-Wing. It could also work just as well for disapproving Yoda after Luke’s failure at the cave.

Worth it? Yoda was $200. The base helps a little in explaining the cost and we’ll tack on a few more dollars for the light-up lamp assuming you could actually unlock the case. Is that $200 worth? Well, maybe not.

It’s a moot point now since he goes for nearly double that now. For any Hot Toys Empire Strikes Back fanatic Yoda is essential to any display.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

There was no way I was passing on either version of Yoda and Hot Toys did an amazing job on him. But Hot Toys’ continued issues with the screws and battery setup remains a problem.

Where to get it? Sideshow Collectibles sold out of Yoda so you’re going to have to track him down through a great deal on eBay. Or maybe you get real lucky and find one on Amazon.