Yoda
Yoda's alternate mode
(I can't believe I just typed that) is the rather uncreatively-named Republic
Attack Shuttle. As you'd expect with a Star Wars Transformer by now, it's
pretty spot-on, with the proportions all but perfect and pretty much no
mech mode extras to name of. There is ONE, but I only even call it an "extra"
because of the color-- Yoda's green feet are rather obvious near the rear
sides of the vehicle. But they fit in with the shape of the mode perfectly
to the point where if they were the same white as the surrouding parts,
they'd hardly be conspicious. The color scheme is pretty typical of a SWTF,
with off-white and dark maroon dominating. Yawn. The yellow does help break
things up a little, and goes quite well with the maroon, The wings can
fold up and down at their midpoint, and the guns mounted on the sides of
the cockpit can rotate back and forth, but sadly there's no landing gear,
which this mode really needs given how much it slumps downward without
any.
Yoda is considerably
more complex than your average SWTF-- although not frustratingly so-- but
the payoff in mech mode is totally worth it. Yoda's mech mode is both incredibly
awesome and incredibly hilarious at the same time. It has Yoda's stubby,
short proportions, with rather thick arms and legs. He also has quite a
bit of a potbelly what with the cockpit assembly forming the chest-- on
most figures this would be a downside, but with Yoda's proportions it works.
His arms, legs, and head are all colored a green that rather closely matches
his skin color, emphasizing that he looks more like Yoda in a robot suit
than Yoda piloting a giant mech that has his face. And speaking of his
face, hoo BOY is it hilarious. Yoda just looks royally ticked off and about
to kick some major butt. I LOVE it. The rigid lines on the face and the
colored "hair" on the back of his head are done nicely, envoking the character's
age while still making it all look very tech-y. The biggest pieces of "kibble"
that Yoda has in this mode-- his wings-- actually frame the mech mode quite
well and don't come across to me as downright extras, though they do get
in the way of shoulder articulation a little. There are some minor pieces
of vehicle mode kibble that don't incorporate into the overall shape of
the mode as well, though-- some small pieces of his tailfin which fold
up around the bottom of his stomach, and a few panels just hanging off
his pelvis, just don't look very good. As for articulation, Yoda can move
at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows (at two points), wrists,
hips (at three points), knees (at two points) and ankles (at two points).
However, his bulky short appendages mean he can't get in quite the number
of poses that you'd think from a list of his articulation points, and his
hips are on a very odd, unfixed connection to his waist which just looks
weird when looked at up close. As for weapons, Yoda comes with your standard
lightsaber, though it can't store in his alt mode. Grrr.
Yoda is certainly one
of the most unique-- and uniquely hilarious-- Star Wars Transformers out
there, and I'd almost recommend him just for that. However, even ignoring
the fact that there's actually a Yoda Transformer now, objectively it's
a very good design in both modes, and shows a lot of creativity in the
way parts move during transformation. A few small dangling panels are hardly
enough points against him to avoid a high recommendation from me, even
if you normally don't purchase SWTFs.
Review by Beastbot