Well, I got my much anticipated Gentle Giant Yoda statue today. The piece was actually due out this past April or May, but, as is the way with most Gentle Giant collectibles, he was delayed… until December.
Yoda retails for approximately $140.00 through Gentle Giants official website; however, he can be found for around $110.00 + shipping at most etailers. I was fortunate enough to grab him for about $93.00 shipped. If I wasn’t a big Yoda fan, I might actually be a little disappointed with the “bang for your buck” factor. He is basically the same dimensions of any basic bust sold by Gentle Giant that typically averages approximately $35.00 – $45.00, and even as low as $15.00 – $25.00 if you hunt around ebay and collectible forum “for sale” sections. In a lot of cases, the amount of resin material used on the Yoda statue happens to be less than most busts.
But with that out of the way, he is a very nice piece! It seems that Gentle Giant used the exact same colors, and paint application techniques as they did with their EII Yoda mini bust masterpiece. The cloak has less of a yellow tinge to it than the EII bust, but 100% accurate, in my opinion, to the original ESB Yoda costume. The pink at the bottom of his eyes really is not as obvious as the photos may imply. however, I personally would have left the pink off of the sculpt… after all, they were trying to emulate the ESB puppet, which didn’t have the “pink…” but I’m starting to show my “anal-dorkiness,” so on with the blog.
I’m ok with his expression; not too happy, not to sad (although he does seem to be starting a slight crack of a smile.) I would have gone 100% serious, but it’s really not that big of a deal (just a personal preference.) The hair, which always seems to be a car wreck on most Yoda collectibles, seems to have turned out perfect. It works well, and doesn’t stand out. The paint applications on my piece are not sloppy at all, which always seemed to me to be a curse with Gentle Giant products since 2005.
The statue is glued to the base, which might bother some. Personally, I would certainly prefer him to be detachable, but no matter… it really doesn’t bother me. As for the sculpt, I think that it is one of the better Yoda sculpts out there, but it still isn’t dead on, (which really surprises me with Gentle Giants scanning ability.) I figured that they could nail this one on the nose. Perhaps they didn’t have the aid of the scanning this time around and molded him from scratch. Non-the-less it is certainly a “close enough” sculpt that should please any Yoda fanatic.
The only downside that I can see to this piece is really the price. It really is quite unreasonable, and one really has to question what Gentle Giant was thinking when they priced this bad boy. Still, if you can find him for a bargain, or you just love the piece and don’t mind spending an average of $110.00 for less than a mini bust, go for it. It really is a nice piece when you eliminate the price factor from the equation.
Padawan Dad 
Leave a comment