Pros : Head sculpts (both of them) are excellent. Loads of detail in the outfit with plenty of intricate details and textures
Cons : The arms look a little odd around that elbow joint. The arrow piece does not work and is misshapen and difficult to pose
Yondu was one of the characters from the first Guardians movie in 2014 that never made it to figure form, at least in the smaller scales. Roll forward to 2017 and Hasbro finally allowed us to add the anti-hero and sometime mentor to Star-Lord to our displays. He even beat the likes of Gamora and Nebula to shelves, arriving in the first wave of Guardians 2 figures with Star-Lord and Drax.
He was part of the Titus BAF wave and came with one of Titus's arms. At the time of writing he has not been re-released and his secondary market price is rising. I purchased mine loose and he was also missing the smiling head, which I then tracked down separately.
The smiling head comes with the smaller fin and is as he appeared in the first movie and throughout much of the sequel. THe likeness to Michael Rooker is good, but not from all angles. The skin is a single tone, with the only darker area around his whiskers. This does mean the scarring, which is sculpted, is not visible.
Yondu is sculpted with a smiling expression. This is nicely done and around the mouth the lines and muscles are reactiving realistically to the smile. The teeth are a bright white, and that is a shame as Yondu certainly didn't have the best nashers when we see him in the two Guardians films.
The outfit is multilayered and carries a lot of detail across all the parts of clothing. The outer jacket carries a lot of folds, stitching and varying patterns, and is washed to dirty it up. We get the Ravagers badge on the lapel and strapping around the shoulder. Under this is more straps and a burgundy patterned undershirt. Round the waist is a belt with a working holster (more on this later) and then we have the darker burgundy trousers.
These trousers have that problem with varying finishes between the upper thigh and rest of legs - with the groin and top of thighs being quite glossy. The other issue I have with the body is how they've tackled the arms around the elbows. These just look like a chunk has been cut out of them and it does ruin the look if you pose Yondu with the arms down and to the side.
Yondu's coat is removable if you wish. The body underneath is sculpted, but he looks a bit skinny once the coat is off and not something I would want to have on display.
Yondu carries 18 points of articulation. The main trunk of the body is jointed at the head and again with a t-joint in the torso. Arms are ball jointed shoulders, bicep swivels, double jointed elbows and pivot and rotating wrists. Legs are also ball jointed at the top, with a thigh swivel, double jointed knees and rocker ankles. The waist, often a 19th point of articulation on other Legends, is fixed on Yondu.
The leg joints feel a little loose, but providing you balance the figure in terms of the weight of the coat, he stands really well.
Yondu comes with a second head. This is the one with the taller fin we see at the end of the movie. This time Hasbro have sculpted this with a whistling mouth, perfect for recreating that stroll through the Ravagers ship with Rocket and Baby Groot. The heads swap on and off easily with a satisfying pop.
The expression, like the smile on the first head, is well done and again the rest of the face is doing what you'd expect when a humanoid head was whistling. The eyes on this head are more intense, I am not sure if that is deliberate. We are still missing any paint apps or washes to bring out the subtle scarring down either side of the face.
Yondu is armed with his arrow. Hasbro have decided to realise this by sculpting the arrow and then attaching an FX piece to reflect the tail it leaves behind as it flies.
The arrow itself is very soft in terms of plastic and is mishapen and bent. The tail is also a softer plastic, but as this is meant to be curling and curving the plastic composition is not an issue.
The idea is to use the working holster on the belt to have the arrow flying out or flying in, that leaves the FX piece trailing around the body. THis works to a degree, but because of the weight of the piece and the softer plastic you will find it tends to be closer to Yondu's feet rather than be flying up and away. There is a couple of cheats, including slotting the trail into the shoulder of the coat to have it flying much higher.
If you are not a fan of FX pieces, then this will go straight in the bits box. It is a pity therefore that just a plain arrow was not thrown in to fill that holster if you chose not to employ the FX piece.
I am a big fan of Yondu and his journey with the Guardians throughout both films. While this release is badged as a Guardians 2 figure, he will work just as well as an original Guardians movie figure - albeit that he is missing the neck scarf.
The gripes are with those odd arm sculpts to accommodate the elbow joint, and with that arrow which is misshapen, too soft and very difficult to get into a decent "pose". That being said, the sculpt and decor is exceptional and the two head sculpts give you differing options. I do wonder if Hasbro came anywhere near considering having two heads and swap out fins, which would have given more options for display?
I award Yondu 4 out of 5.
