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Review |
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| Sculpt: |
| Jedi Grand Master Yoda, astride his kybuck steed, as seen in Cartoon Network's STAR WARS: CLONE WARS, Volumes I and II. Yoda rode this horned, bipedal mount into battle several times during the Clone Wars, most notably during the seige of Coruscant. The animal, native to the Woolwarricca prairies of Kashyyyk, was a gift to the grand master from a Wookiee chieftain, in gratitude for healing a Woolwarriccan princess. Yoda kept him in a menagerie deep within the Jedi Temple. There, the creature lived a life of safety with other specimens from many other worlds. Yoda didn't consider himself the animal's owner, but more his friend. He never even gave him a name, but called to him through the Force. The animal developed a bond with Yoda, however, and as he could easily carry the Jedi's slight weight, he was fitted with an appropriate saddle and bridle. Yoda admired the animal's loyalty, but always tried to limit his use. Since he was more trustworthy than a hover-chair and responded to the Force, it was considered the best way to convey the tiny Jedi general on the battlefields of various planets. Yoda's sculpt is mostly new, although the head sculpt is the same as that used for the REVENGE OF THE SITH Yoda with Firing Cannon (III-03) figure, and his lightsaber sculpt dates back to the Saga/Clone Wars Yoda: Army of the Republic ('03, #44) figure. The kybuck is completely new, and is a very remarkable rendering from the stylized animation of the CLONE WARS micro-series into the movie-realistic style of the Thirtieth Anniversary Collection. A few details aren't exact: the horns are spread farther apart than they should be, the bridal is missing the clear eye protectors seen in the micro-series, his ears are now non-existent, and he's proportioned too large in comparison to Yoda. Still, it looks incredible out of the package, with Yoda riding it: 8.5 out of 10. |
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| Paint: |
| Yoda's head, hands, and feet are molded in a medium green, with an olive green wash applied to bring out sculpting details. There are light green drybrushed decos to his face. His eyes and hair have white paint apps, with his irises green and his pupils black. His finger and toe claws are given yellowish-ivory paint apps. His torso, arms, pelvis, and legs skirt are molded in a medium brown color. There is a light cream paint app on his pelvis and legs. His bandolier is molded in white, with silver decos. His pelvis and legs are molded in cream, with a purple wash to bring out sculpting details. His lightsaber is molded in translucent green, with silver and black paint apps. The unlit hilt is painted silver and black. His softgoods cloak is a dark brown material. The kybuck is molded in the same medium brown as Yoda's torso, arms, and legs. His head has a dark brown wash to all furred areas, and his horns are an alternating brown and gray striped deco. His bridle is painted gray. There are white, brown, and black paint apps to his eyes. There is some slight gray added to the fur at the kybuck's "cheeks." The torso and main body has a rusty brown underside paint up to the neck and belly. The saddle is gray, with blue an light gray drybrushed paint apps for weathering. There are silver decos to the buckles on the straps for the saddle. A Clone Trooper-styled belt runs across the kybuck's chest, attached to the saddle, and is painted white with a dark gray wash. The kybuck's shortened forelegs are given the same dark brown wash on the furred areas, with medium gray paint apps to the hooves. The large, powerful rear legs have the same paint scheme as the forelegs, but with two dark gray pouches with blue drybrushing added to the right leg. The tail gets the same wash, but with some streaks of rusty brown and white, too. A very involved paint job, with lots of small detailing: 9/10. |
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| Articulation: |
| Yoda's neck, shoulders, and ankles are all ball-jointed. His waist, wrists, and hips have standard planer-cut joints. The kybuck has a ball-jointed neck, but it's very limited by the sculpt. His shoulders, hips, and tail are all planer-cut joints, with the tail packed separately from the body and needing to be snapped into place: 8/10. |
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| Accessories: |
| Yoda comes with a lightsaber, lightsaber hilt, removable bandolier, softgoods hooded cloak, and character-specific collectible coin. Reins on the kybuck's harness that Yoda could actually hold onto would've been nice, but otherwise, 8/10. |
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| Packaging: |
| The new 30th Anniversary Collection card uses stylized "painted" imagery of the characters on the individual cards, with the new STAR WARS logo in stark white and cut in on an angle. It's a design that initially had collectors divided: you either loved the new look or hated it! The film each figure comes from is at the bottom right edge of the card, while the character's number in the collection is on the blister insert. Yoda & Kybuck are collectively figure number 32, and are from the "Expanded Universe." The cardback features an actual screen shot from CLONE WARS, and has text that explains the characters' roles in it and a "Character Profile": 8.5/10 |
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| Availability: |
| As of this writing, the figure has been appearing at retail for over a month, and is available from various online sources. It initially sold out quickly, but now seems to be not quite as hot, but it doesn't exactly rate as a pegwarmer, either: 7.5/10. |
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| Conclusion: |
| Fans have been hoping for a kybuck figure since it was first glimpsed in the opening battle montage of CLONE WARS: Chapter One. Although most had hoped to see it in the Animated toy line's style, this is still quite a stunning rendition: 8.3/10. |
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