| Unproduced Talking Yoda Doll | |
| The talking Yoda doll is among the most legendary unproduced
toy prototypes from the
vintage Kenner Star Wars line. It was considered as a toy concept in
1980 and got as far as sales samples and finished packaging, but was
cancelled just
prior to release. Early versions
of the talking Yoda doll are known to exist with slightly different
outfits and
alternate rotocast heads with open
mouths. Even
an electroform mold for the conceptual
talking Yoda head has turned up, but all of these items are significantly
different than the final production sample shown above.
The toy features rubber hands, feet, cane, and head with a durable cloth outfit. The pull string activates the voice box to produce random sounds among the eight expressions in Yoda's repertoire. These sounds were sampled directly from Yoda's lines in The Empire Strikes Back (Frank Oz's voice):
From the side view, you can see the cane, belt, and some detail in the cloth outfit. From the back view, the pull string is visible to the bottom left, and by releasing the string, Yoda says one of his eight random expressions. It's amazing that Kenner decided not to produce the talking Yoda doll. Even by today's standards, the toy is impeccable in quality and the voice mechanism stands the test of time. Less than a dozen prototype samples of talking Yoda are known to exist. |
 | |
| Description by: | Gus Lopez |
| Photo: | Gus Lopez |
| From the collection of: | Jessica Newsom |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Empire Strikes Back |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1980 |
| Category: | Toys / Plush |
