Yoda - RC - Basic

The Star Wars Retro Collection is inspired by the 1980s STAR WARS figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from the galaxy far, far away!

Back in 1980, Kenner made young Star Wars fans wait until the end of the year to get the long-awaited Yoda action figure. The new character was a huge secret and revealed in The Empire Strikes Back, and that required holding back some toy plans, of which Yoda was one of them. But when Kenner finally released Yoda, it was a treat. The first action figure to come with four separate and removable accessories, it was unprecedented to receive an action figure with so many interactive parts as well as a soft-goods cloak. The last figure with soft-goods was 1978’s SW Jawa figure. Yoda flew off of shelves like there was no tomorrow. And both the character and all of the merchandise based on the character has proven successful with incredible sell-through and steady sales. We’re thrilled to see Yoda as part of the second wave of the Retro Collection. We wish that the Retro Collection released more figures than it does, but we’re mostly happy with the character selection they choose for this line.

If there is one Retro Collection figure that will be difficult for collectors to tell apart from its vintage Kenner counterpart, it’s going to be Yoda. We’ve added three comparison pictures showing the Retro Collection Yoda against the 1980 ESB Yoda at various levels of undress, and while differences exist, they are so close to each other that you’ll need to verify the date stamp to be certain. The Retro Collection Yoda has a slightly darker mint green skin and smaller irises in the eyes. The cloak is plusher, and the cane is lighter. Lastly, the orange snake is ever so slightly duller than the vintage Kenner release. The 1980 ESB Yoda snake is shinier, The Retro Collection Yoda comes with an orange snake that appears duller in the light. But when fully outfitted, you’re going to experience difficulty when attempting to tell the two figures apart from one another. Ultimately, Hasbro makes that easy for us with a distinct date stamp, but without it, the comparison will prove challenging.

Coincidentally, Hasbro made the same mistake with the Retro Collection Yoda’s packaging that they made with the TBS6 [TESB40] Yoda figure. They used the incorrect still image of Yoda to develop the card art. You’ll need to have eagle eyes to see the differences between them, but with a careful gaze, you’ll notice that both of the modern figures differ from the artwork presented on the 1980 ESB Yoda vintage Kenner figure. We’ve mentioned this before, but we’re disappointed that Hasbro didn’t update the card backs of the Retro Collection wave 2 with The Empire Strikes Back logo. Also, it would have been beautiful if they recreated the color block style of the original 1980 card backs to show the other figures in the Retro Collection line. And we’re still disappointed with the Retro Collection sticker on the front of the card. Many collectors have different results, but some stickers come off easily, while others (like ours) don’t come off of the card back for anything.