SWTOTW, Week 32, 2020 Yoda
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StarWarsFan
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StarWarsFan said:
Nice little green men. Thanks for sharing
StarWarsFan
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Snaketibe said:StarWarsFan said:
Nice little green men. Thanks for sharing
Yoda! Quite simply one of my favourite figures. I think he's fabulous! At first glance, parents (and some kids!) back in the eighties might have thought this was poor value for money, since it cost the same as the other larger figures. However, that is to ignore the fact that, firstly, the sculpt is terrific (one of the vintage line's very best, IMHO), and secondly, no figure ever came with more accessories! Count them, there's 4 of them! That makes Yoda joint top on the accessory count front alongside Leia Endor and Squid Head, but those last two were from Jedi. Yoda came not only first, but years earlier, and eclipsed all of his fellow ESB figures on the accessory front with his Gimer stick, belt, cloak and hissing necklace ;-)
So yes, Yoda is tiny, but he's got it where it counts, and he's also got it on the variant front too! Jay will doubtless be able to enlighten us further with regards to sculpts and their factories of origin, so I will bow to his superior knowledge on that front. However, what I do know is that he came in lots of different shades of green (Yoda, not Jay), from very light green, to grey green, to darker green, to bright 'apple' green, to dark PBP / Lili Ledy green. There's a veritable spectrum of greenery to be had! And then there's his snake and stick which also come in different shades! Fabulous stuff!
Here's my spectrum, from left to right:
Palitoy 30 Back, light green with light brown eyes, light green with cherry eyes, darker green with dark brown snake, darker green with light brown snake, darker green with green snake, brighter darker green with orange snake (a Kenner issue, I think!), grey head, Poch 'apple' green (at least I think this is what is commonly referred to as 'apple' green, but please correct me if I'm wrong), and lastly a PBP (which again, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe is almost identical to the Lili Ledy Yoda).
And lastly, on the carded front, I have a Kenner 32B (the very first ESB card I bought when I got back into collecting again in the 90's) and a Palitoy 30 back reseal.
So yes, Yoda is tiny, but he's got it where it counts, and he's also got it on the variant front too! Jay will doubtless be able to enlighten us further with regards to sculpts and their factories of origin, so I will bow to his superior knowledge on that front. However, what I do know is that he came in lots of different shades of green (Yoda, not Jay), from very light green, to grey green, to darker green, to bright 'apple' green, to dark PBP / Lili Ledy green. There's a veritable spectrum of greenery to be had! And then there's his snake and stick which also come in different shades! Fabulous stuff!
Here's my spectrum, from left to right:
Palitoy 30 Back, light green with light brown eyes, light green with cherry eyes, darker green with dark brown snake, darker green with light brown snake, darker green with green snake, brighter darker green with orange snake (a Kenner issue, I think!), grey head, Poch 'apple' green (at least I think this is what is commonly referred to as 'apple' green, but please correct me if I'm wrong), and lastly a PBP (which again, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe is almost identical to the Lili Ledy Yoda).
And lastly, on the carded front, I have a Kenner 32B (the very first ESB card I bought when I got back into collecting again in the 90's) and a Palitoy 30 back reseal.
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StarWarsFan
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Snaketibe said:
Wow amazing
StarWarsFan said:
Thanks
Ruby2511 said:Heres mine, a recent acquisition and have enjoyed getting the original parts needed to complete him
20200716_115745.jpg
A lovely clean example.
Thanks for sharing
A great array of Yoda's so far, nice "spectrum of Yoda's" Jeremy. 8)
Here are my couple of loose and MOC.
***Absoultly no idea why Yoda MOC has decided to lay down***
Here are my couple of loose and MOC.
***Absoultly no idea why Yoda MOC has decided to lay down***
Attachments
Mini99 said:A great array of Yoda's so far, nice "spectrum of Yoda's" Jeremy. 8)
Here are my couple of loose and MOC.
***Absoultly no idea why Yoda MOC has decided to lay down***
Thanks Nick. Those are some nice examples of your own... As for why your card is laying down, did it get knocked over when the mice got at it? ;-)
TheJabbaWookie
Sith Lord
Great stuff guys. I'll read this in more detail when I'm back from the Isle of Wight and post up mine. Been looking forward to this thread and typical that it had to come when I was away from my collection :lol:
Pomse2001
Grand Master
Ruby2511 said:Heres mine, a recent acquisition and have enjoyed getting the original parts needed to complete him
20200716_115745.jpg
nice yoda figure, thanks for sharing it and congratulations with getting the parts
Pomse2001
Grand Master
Mini99 said:A great array of Yoda's so far, nice "spectrum of Yoda's" Jeremy. 8)
Here are my couple of loose and MOC.
***Absoultly no idea why Yoda MOC has decided to lay down***
Thanks mate for sharing that moc and those figures, they look great
TheJabbaWookie
Sith Lord
Yoda is my favourite figure. As Jeremy says what's not to like? He has so many accessories and so many variants.
I'll start off by posting a link to the coo guide created by the might Wolff as this will help identify what the f**k I'm talking about :lol:
https://swspaceclub.com/wbobafett/coo-guide-3-0/esb/yoda/#a
Smile
First up is Smile factory (family III on Wolff's excellent coo guide). There are actually three known variations of the Coo with a 1a, 1b and 1c.
Smile is simples really. There is the early Orange Snake figure which debuted on the 32 cards and ended with the 41 back; and there's the brown snake which first appeared on the 41d and ran to the end of the run.
The light coloured Yoda should be paired with the Orange Snake and light brown cane, while the dark green Yoda (often affectionately called the Pac-Man Yoda because of the shape of his eyes) should be paired with the brown snake and darker brown cane. There is a variant of the dark green Yoda with light paint apps on the limbs (the figure on the right of my three below. This also happens to have the Family III 1c coo not shown on Wolff's coo guide - I'll see if I can add a pic at a later date).
Both the Orange and brown Smile snakes can be identified and differentiated from the Unitoy snake by a gate scar found on the side of the snake as opposed to a sprue found in the mouths of the Unitoy snakes. The Smile Orange Snake is rigid, while the Smile brown snake is rubbery.
The Smile factory cane can be identified and differentiated from the Unitoy cane because of a lack of detail on the reverse of the cane. I believe it is always narrow whereas the Unitoy cane is often wide but can be narrow, but always has more detail.
The belt is thinner than both the Unitoys and Kader variants and can be identified by the circular epms found on the belt strap itself. The Smile Yoda can be found with belt version 1, 3, 4 and 6 on TIG.
I'll start off by posting a link to the coo guide created by the might Wolff as this will help identify what the f**k I'm talking about :lol:
https://swspaceclub.com/wbobafett/coo-guide-3-0/esb/yoda/#a
Smile
First up is Smile factory (family III on Wolff's excellent coo guide). There are actually three known variations of the Coo with a 1a, 1b and 1c.
Smile is simples really. There is the early Orange Snake figure which debuted on the 32 cards and ended with the 41 back; and there's the brown snake which first appeared on the 41d and ran to the end of the run.
The light coloured Yoda should be paired with the Orange Snake and light brown cane, while the dark green Yoda (often affectionately called the Pac-Man Yoda because of the shape of his eyes) should be paired with the brown snake and darker brown cane. There is a variant of the dark green Yoda with light paint apps on the limbs (the figure on the right of my three below. This also happens to have the Family III 1c coo not shown on Wolff's coo guide - I'll see if I can add a pic at a later date).
Both the Orange and brown Smile snakes can be identified and differentiated from the Unitoy snake by a gate scar found on the side of the snake as opposed to a sprue found in the mouths of the Unitoy snakes. The Smile Orange Snake is rigid, while the Smile brown snake is rubbery.
The Smile factory cane can be identified and differentiated from the Unitoy cane because of a lack of detail on the reverse of the cane. I believe it is always narrow whereas the Unitoy cane is often wide but can be narrow, but always has more detail.
The belt is thinner than both the Unitoys and Kader variants and can be identified by the circular epms found on the belt strap itself. The Smile Yoda can be found with belt version 1, 3, 4 and 6 on TIG.
Attachments
TheJabbaWookie
Sith Lord
Unitoys
This is family II on Wolff's guide. Unitoys began with what is affectionately termed the "Cherry Eyes" Yoda which debuted on the 32 backs. It is called this because the eyes are a darker cherry coloured. This figure is often but not always found with a MADE IN HONG KONG paper tag inside the cloak. It is unclear if it was originally in all of them since the paper is very fragile and can easily disintegrate.
After this, Unitoys switched to the standard Orange Snake Yoda with lighter orange eyes and did away with the paper tag, before switching again on the 41 backs to the darker green Yoda. It is particularly interesting with Unitoys as this led to what we now call the "Apple" Yoda because of his bright green appearance. The transition took place on the 41d cards where you can find the transition Apple with dark green paint apps, dark brown cane but rigid Orange Snake, and later the more desirable version with the rigid brown snake. After this Unitoys stopped producing Yoda's and the moulds were later sent to Kader to produce the POTF, Meccano and European No Coo figures.
As mentioned previously the Unitoys snakes can be differentiated from the Smile factory snakes as they have a sprue in the mouth as opposed to a gate scar on the side. The Unitoys brown snake is rigid as opposed to the rubbery feel of the Smile snake.
The canes are generally but not always wider than the Smile equivalent and have more detail on the back. The belts are thicker than the Smile belts and have three holes in the back on the pouches and lightsaber holder. The Apple cloaks are made from a long pile material which is different to all other cloaks.
This is family II on Wolff's guide. Unitoys began with what is affectionately termed the "Cherry Eyes" Yoda which debuted on the 32 backs. It is called this because the eyes are a darker cherry coloured. This figure is often but not always found with a MADE IN HONG KONG paper tag inside the cloak. It is unclear if it was originally in all of them since the paper is very fragile and can easily disintegrate.
After this, Unitoys switched to the standard Orange Snake Yoda with lighter orange eyes and did away with the paper tag, before switching again on the 41 backs to the darker green Yoda. It is particularly interesting with Unitoys as this led to what we now call the "Apple" Yoda because of his bright green appearance. The transition took place on the 41d cards where you can find the transition Apple with dark green paint apps, dark brown cane but rigid Orange Snake, and later the more desirable version with the rigid brown snake. After this Unitoys stopped producing Yoda's and the moulds were later sent to Kader to produce the POTF, Meccano and European No Coo figures.
As mentioned previously the Unitoys snakes can be differentiated from the Smile factory snakes as they have a sprue in the mouth as opposed to a gate scar on the side. The Unitoys brown snake is rigid as opposed to the rubbery feel of the Smile snake.
The canes are generally but not always wider than the Smile equivalent and have more detail on the back. The belts are thicker than the Smile belts and have three holes in the back on the pouches and lightsaber holder. The Apple cloaks are made from a long pile material which is different to all other cloaks.
Attachments
TheJabbaWookie
Sith Lord
Kader
Kader did not produce an Orange Snake variant and in fact the Figure didn't debut on a card Back to much later in the run probably on a 48 back.
Early Kader Yodas also featured a MADE IN HONG KONG tag, but this is made of cotton and is much harder to find (only a few known examples). Perhaps, and this is just speculation on my behalf, they were found in the figures found in the baggies that came with the Darth Vader carry case or the ESB 6-pack.
The Kader Yodas are sometimes called "Grey Heads" and "Green Heads". The grey heads were made of a plastic that tended to discolour to a grey colour with time, hence the name, whereas the later green heads do not discolour.
The Kader snakes are rubbery like the Smile snakes but are easily identified by the circular epms that can be located on the top or bottom of the head and half way along the body.
On the grey heads, like the head of the Yoda itself, the snakes are prone to degradation, turning a greenish colour and so are often termed "green snake" Yodas. There are some Yodas termed "true green snake" which have a proper green snake, but these are all Smile Yoda figures and all trace back to the same seller, and can not be verified.
On the transition green Head Yodas and later Kader no coos an tan epm version of the snake that doesn't degrade can be found. You can see this on the green head figure on the right of the pic below.
The Kader canes can be found in dark brown and red brown colours and can again be identified by the circular epm found on the arch of the cane. The belts can also be identified by the circular epm on the lightsaber holder (v5 on TIG).
Kader did not produce an Orange Snake variant and in fact the Figure didn't debut on a card Back to much later in the run probably on a 48 back.
Early Kader Yodas also featured a MADE IN HONG KONG tag, but this is made of cotton and is much harder to find (only a few known examples). Perhaps, and this is just speculation on my behalf, they were found in the figures found in the baggies that came with the Darth Vader carry case or the ESB 6-pack.
The Kader Yodas are sometimes called "Grey Heads" and "Green Heads". The grey heads were made of a plastic that tended to discolour to a grey colour with time, hence the name, whereas the later green heads do not discolour.
The Kader snakes are rubbery like the Smile snakes but are easily identified by the circular epms that can be located on the top or bottom of the head and half way along the body.
On the grey heads, like the head of the Yoda itself, the snakes are prone to degradation, turning a greenish colour and so are often termed "green snake" Yodas. There are some Yodas termed "true green snake" which have a proper green snake, but these are all Smile Yoda figures and all trace back to the same seller, and can not be verified.
On the transition green Head Yodas and later Kader no coos an tan epm version of the snake that doesn't degrade can be found. You can see this on the green head figure on the right of the pic below.
The Kader canes can be found in dark brown and red brown colours and can again be identified by the circular epm found on the arch of the cane. The belts can also be identified by the circular epm on the lightsaber holder (v5 on TIG).
Attachments
TheJabbaWookie
Sith Lord
POTF, European No Coo and Meccano
Things are definitely getting complicated here. If you're interested in reading up about it you should head over to the Vintage Yoda Action Figures group on Facebook where Jon Meade has posted a very comprehensive guide to the Kader factory figures.
Suffice to say Kader received the Unitoys moulds and scarred the Coo to produce these 3 sought after variants. Each differs slightly from the other in its paint apps with the Meccano for example having darker limbs and "true black" eyes.
The POTF and European no Coo variants are found with a mixture of Kader No Coo EPM / Kader No Coo and Unitoys accessories. The "tan" Kader no coo snake is based on the Unitoys mould and is unique to these figures. There is also a softer more flexible Cane based on the Unitoys mould.
The Meccano variant has a soft cane also but it is different to the Euro no coo. The belt is based on the Unitoys mould but is softer and light browner in appearance.
Things are definitely getting complicated here. If you're interested in reading up about it you should head over to the Vintage Yoda Action Figures group on Facebook where Jon Meade has posted a very comprehensive guide to the Kader factory figures.
Suffice to say Kader received the Unitoys moulds and scarred the Coo to produce these 3 sought after variants. Each differs slightly from the other in its paint apps with the Meccano for example having darker limbs and "true black" eyes.
The POTF and European no Coo variants are found with a mixture of Kader No Coo EPM / Kader No Coo and Unitoys accessories. The "tan" Kader no coo snake is based on the Unitoys mould and is unique to these figures. There is also a softer more flexible Cane based on the Unitoys mould.
The Meccano variant has a soft cane also but it is different to the Euro no coo. The belt is based on the Unitoys mould but is softer and light browner in appearance.
Attachments
TheJabbaWookie
Sith Lord
Lili Ledy
Kader sent their original moulds to Lili Ledy (probably around the time they took over producing figures with the Unitoys moulds). Lili Ledy produced two figures. Retorno (the first) using the original family I Hong Kong Coo, and later the Regreso using a scarred version of this Coo.
Both figures have unique accessories with a richer redder cane and rounded corner cloak. The cloak and snake often have paint marks on as they were packed wet, and the Regreso figure is often still tacky after all these years.
I only have the Regreso. Still looking for a Retorno at the right price.
Kader sent their original moulds to Lili Ledy (probably around the time they took over producing figures with the Unitoys moulds). Lili Ledy produced two figures. Retorno (the first) using the original family I Hong Kong Coo, and later the Regreso using a scarred version of this Coo.
Both figures have unique accessories with a richer redder cane and rounded corner cloak. The cloak and snake often have paint marks on as they were packed wet, and the Regreso figure is often still tacky after all these years.
I only have the Regreso. Still looking for a Retorno at the right price.
Attachments
TheJabbaWookie
Sith Lord
POCH
Parts were also sent to Spain to produce the Poch Grey Head and Apple Poch figures.
Poch figures are almost always found with melt marks and have a unique paint application. There is an extremely light paint variant as well as a darker variant. The key here is the consistency as there is a Kader light paint app which is very similar in colour but is never applied with the same consistency (see last pic).
Because Kader took over the production of Yoda figures with Unitoys moulds figures and accessories from both factories were sent to Spain, assembled, painted and kitted out resulting in figures not only with varying accessories, but also mixed up Heads, bodies and limbs.
For example my Apple Poch with light paint apps has Unitoys head and body but Kader limbs.
Also both my Apple grey heads have Kader heads but Unitoys bodies and limbs.
Parts were also sent to Spain to produce the Poch Grey Head and Apple Poch figures.
Poch figures are almost always found with melt marks and have a unique paint application. There is an extremely light paint variant as well as a darker variant. The key here is the consistency as there is a Kader light paint app which is very similar in colour but is never applied with the same consistency (see last pic).
Because Kader took over the production of Yoda figures with Unitoys moulds figures and accessories from both factories were sent to Spain, assembled, painted and kitted out resulting in figures not only with varying accessories, but also mixed up Heads, bodies and limbs.
For example my Apple Poch with light paint apps has Unitoys head and body but Kader limbs.
Also both my Apple grey heads have Kader heads but Unitoys bodies and limbs.
Attachments
TheJabbaWookie said:
Terrific post, Jay. Thanks for sharing your wonderful collection of Yodas and for all the fascinating information.
If only every TOTW post could have this much detail! :-D
Just these 2
Dr_Ball_MD said:
Lovely examples! Thanks for sharing
