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Saga Screen Scene: Jedi High Council Set 2 (Featuring Yarael Poof, Depa Billaba & Yaddle) Review

The second set of the Jedi High Council screen scenes features Yarael Poof, Depa Billaba and the much-anticipated Yaddle figure. I had quite a difficult time finding this set, perhaps because of these characters or perhaps because people just like the High Council sets more than the Geonosian War Chamber sets. In any case, every Target I went to had around 4 of the Geonosian War Chamber sets and the last Target I went to had the one and only High Council set which I of course bought. What does it all mean? I don't quite know, so let's just get on with the review!

Jedi High Council

Featuring Yarael Poof, Depa Billaba & Yaddle
Set 2 of 2

"The Jedi High Council is the main interface between the Jedi and the government of the Republic. The twelve High Council members are chosen from the ranks of the Jedi Masters and represent a gathering of great minds who have proven themselves and their abilities in the service of peace and justice." --Excerpt from the package back

Sculpt: Yarael Poof--4.5/5, Depa Billaba--3.5/5, Yaddle--5/5
First up is Yarael Poof. I wasn't sure if they were ever going to make this character, but WOW--this figure looks excellent. His robes are very well sculpted with tons of detail with plenty of realistic wrinkles and folds. I simply love the way his sleeves look. It is almost a shame that the lower part of his robes are cloth! His cloth robes allow him to sit in his High Council chair. Underneath the robes are well sculpted legs. Unfortunately, his small feet and narrow stance make him difficult to stand on his own. Yarael's headsculpt is right on the money and captures his likeness perfectly.

Depa Billaba is easily the most disappointing figure of the three, partly because she can't sit down and partly because she just doesn't look all that interesting. It's not her fault that her outfit is a bit on the boring side, so I'm not going to count that against her. On the plus side, her robes are well sculpted and look as good as they can in plastic. On the downside, her sculpted robes don't give her the freedom to sit down so she is pretty much a "salt-shaker". They did bother to sculpt her legs underneath her robes, but they cannot move. Her left arm is slightly bent and her right arm is bent at about ninety degrees. This posing is good for both relaxed and action-oriented poses. Depa's headsculpt is one of Hasbro's better human headsculpts, but misses the mark a bit in terms of capturing the actress' likeness. A good all-around figure, but disappointing that she can't sit.

And finally we have Yaddle. A lot of people have wanted a Yaddle figure ever since Episode I and now she is finally in figure form. While I personally am not one of the people who have been requesting a Yaddle figure, I do have to admit that Hasbro delivered on this figure. The likeness is excellent and looks pretty much exactly as she did in the movie. Because of Yaddle's hair, her head and the hood of her robes are molded together. Her robes are well sculpted and her arms are well posed for sitting poses, standing poses and semi-action poses. Now why can't they capture Yoda's Episode II likeness this well??

Articulation: Yarael Poof--4.5/5, Depa Billaba--3/5, Yaddle--3/5
Yarael Poof has the most articulation points coming in at ten points: shoulders, bicep-cuts, wrist-cuts, waist, hinged-hips and bend and swivel knees. All of these points allow you to make slight adjustments to his sitting pose. Hasbro made the strange choice of giving him a hinged hip joint, just like Yaddle or many Yoda figures have. Maybe it's a cost-cutting technique or something. It doesn't bother me much since I will most likely display him sitting for 99% of the time. His knee joints were surprise to me since I didn't think they'd bother to make them bend and swivel. Heck, they don't even look like they're supposed to swivel, but they do. It would have been nice if Yarael had neck articulation, but I can see how that would be difficult.

Depa's articulation is pretty basic: neck, shoulders, bicep-cuts, and wrist-cuts. Because she has no waist or leg articulation, her posing is a bit limited. Thankfully her arms are well articulated and quite a few poses are possible. She also looks great holding a lightsaber.

Yaddle has five points: shoulders, bicep-cuts and hinged-hips. Pretty average for a figure of this stature. Her arm articulation is useful for conversational gesturing and some decent lightsaber poses. The absence of neck articulation is a bit disappointing but it's easy to see how it would be difficult to include.

Features--NA/5
There are no features associated with this set.

Accessories--4.5/5
You get the Jedi High Council base and two chairs. The base is exactly the same as the one from the first set, only this one doesn't have the little hologram glued to it. The bases from both sets can connect to each other at either end. We've seen the chairs before; Yarael's chair is the same as Mace's, and Yaddle's is the same as the one that came with Episode I Yoda or Jedi High Council Yoda. You could argue that lightsabers should also be included in these sets, but I don't think they are totally necessary...although, it would be nice if they at least came with their hilts.

Paint--4.5/5
Pretty solid paint apps on this set. I'm surprised that nothing looks especially "cheap" in this set. You don't get the feeling that cheap or poorly colored plastic was used, and there doesn't seem to be much skimping in the use of paint. Yarael and Yaddle's skin both have a nice wash to them which helps bring out the detail. There really isn't much to complain about with the paint jobs on any of the figures; there's no slop or mispaints on any of mine.

Packaging--4/5
The packaging is pretty much exactly the same as the first set. The only difference is the photo on the back of the box and the title of the set. As before, the large clear bubble allows excellent viewing of the set without opening the package. It's not the most sturdy package but I haven't seen many damaged boxes.

Overall--4.5/5
This is a very nice set overall. We're getting three figures that have never been in action figure form until now and an excellent display base. The sculpting on each figure is great and their paint jobs are well done. Depa Billaba is slightly disappointing because she can't sit, but that is the only real downside to this set for me. Some people are still groaning about the $20 price tag, but if any of the screen scenes are worth $20, this one is it! They're showing up at Target around now and should show up at Toys R Us later.

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