Yoda (Jedi High Council) - SW [S - P1] - Basic (’02 #53)

One of the more disturbing things about Episode I for many fans was the drastically different appearance of Yoda. While George Lucas attempted to keep the story seamless by using a puppet for the "younger" Yoda, many felt the extreme difference between the Episode I puppet and the Original Trilogy puppet was just too much and ultimately looked like a different character. If you live to be 900 years old, does a paltry 20 years make you look all that different? Whatever. Hasbro embraced the new likeness of Yoda and released an action figure based on the puppet in the Episode I toy line. In 2002, for reasons unknown, Hasbro resurrected the sculpt, repainted it, and attempted to force an Episode II action figure out of it. Well, it doesn't work. Repainted, retooled, and repackaged, Hasbro released Yoda (Jedi High Council) under the Star Wars "Saga" banner. Why Hasbro decided to do this for Yoda is beyond our comprehension. Yoda became a CGI character in Attack Of The Clones, so why are they reverting to the puppet version in the action figure lineup? However, if you're looking for a refreshed Episode I version of him, well, you may be in luck.

At best, Yoda (Jedi High Council) is an update of 1999's EI Yoda figure. Again, there is no way that you can attribute this likeness to Episode II, and we're a little bit disappointed that Hasbro got "lazy" here and attempted to reuse the old tooling for this purpose. If you are looking for an enhanced version of the Episode I figure, however, you may be pleasantly surprised. Hasbro added a magnet into the figure's left hand so that it's able to "hold" the lightsaber or utilize the "force attract" feature. Admittedly, the tiny metal lightsaber hilt is charming, and the removable green blade is an excellent addition. Yoda (Jedi High Council) also comes with the same Jedi High Council chair that the 1999 figure came with, and Hasbro repainted it to refresh it for what we see in Episode II. We aren't entirely sure if they matched the color scheme completely, but they haven't matched the shape or contour. This action figure doesn't meet our expectations. It probably won't meet yours either. Hasbro got too lazy when they decided to produced a version of Yoda that is more static in Attack Of The Clones.

With other better and screen-accurate versions of Yoda already produced in the Star Wars "Saga" line, we're surprised that Hasbro didn't choose another Yoda action figure to pair with the recycled Jedi High Council chair. Hasbro likely estimated that it would take a lot more time and effort to go that route, so the easier path to take was to retool and repaint an existing figure instead. But they didn't do that right either. The color of Yoda's head doesn't match the rest of the body. What is incredibly humorous to us is that the packaging shows a CGI Yoda from Episode II. Yet, the figure inside of the packaging is a glaring Episode I puppet version. Hasbro erroneously billed this figure as an Episode II version of Yoda. Sure, Yoda didn't use a lightsaber in Episode I, but who cares? You now can recreate some behind-the-scenes magic with the beloved character for events unseen in The Phantom Menace. There will still be collectors that won't have room in their hearts for this figure. They don't like the Episode I puppet of Yoda, and we really cannot blame them. We're on the fence with this one, but it isn't a necessary purchase by any means.