Wednesday, October 20, 2010

It’s Called "Super Deformed Plush" (That Accurately Describes It) But, This Yoda Is A Bust!



The Good: Safe for children?
The Bad: Vastly overpriced, Looks very little like Yoda, Low playability/posability.
The Basics: A barely-recognizable plush Yoda, the Comics Images Super Deformed Yoda doll is not worth buying for real fans of Star Wars or Yoda!


Those who read my many toy reviews undoubtedly know that I am not a fan of the current trend toward toys that look nothing like what they are supposed to. In fact, as toymaking technology has increased in its accuracy in the last few years, I find it offensive that toy manufacturers cheap out and do not produce the most accurate possible toys. This trend seems to be especially bothersome in genre works where apparently deforming and twisting recognizable characters is considered cute or cool. I find it to be neither. Today's rant is centered around the Comics Images Super Deformed Yoda plush.

For those unfamiliar with Yoda, the character is introduced in the middle of The Empire Strikes Back (click here for my review of the film!). Luke Skywalker journeys to the swamp planet Dagobah in search of Yoda, the Jedi Master. There, Luke learns the ways of the Force. This plush represents Yoda in his robes and belt he wore in the Dagobah marshes while training with Luke.

Basics

The Super Deformed plush Yoda is part of a current movement in toys where recognizable characters are distorted. In this case, Yoda is a 7” tall stuffed character where the head is over three inches of the overall height of the figure. Yoda’s face also includes disproportionately large eyes and this is pretty creepy for most fans.

Yoda is dressed in robes which make him look like he did on Dagobah and the cloth robes are fairly accurate and flexible. He also comes with minimal hair, which is also plush. The doll looks like a ridiculously top-heavy stuffed animal and it only bears a vague resemblance to Yoda the Jedi master. In fact, out of context, most people would think this was just a gnome!

Accessories

There are no accessories with this plush doll.

Playability

The playability of this Yoda is severely limited as it is a plush and it does not have articulated joints. Annoyingly, because of how disproportionately large the doll's head is, this figure falls over constantly, so it is poor for posing as well. One supposes little children may snuggle with it because it is entirely soft, but that is about it.

Collectibility

The Comics Images Super Deformed plushes seem to be a failure commercially, as I never seem to have any problem finding any of them, including this ugly Yoda plush. One suspects as the current fad for inaccurate dolls fades, these will rightly become worthless. As it stands now, they are vastly overpriced in the $8 - $10 range. I suspect that that is the peak price and that Yoda’s value will only go down as time goes on and people wake up to the fact that the super deformed thing is a pretty lousy fad.

Overall

This Yoda looks terrible, balances poorly and can't truly do anything but be cuddled or look ugly, so it makes for a poor plush that most “Star Wars” fans are not going to be excited about. It is easy to pass by.

For other plush toys, please check out my reviews of:
Lady from Lady And The Tramp
Giant Microbes Bad Breath

1/10

For other toy reviews, please visit my index page for a complete listing by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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