Out of the white mailer box, and my first impression is awe at just how big this guy is. I was suitably impressed with the Red Lion’s size, but Yellow Lion is considerably larger. The toy comes in the same style of window packaging as Red Lion. Its not really fair to call this thing a box as about three-quarters of it is made up of clear plastic with just a cardboard back and base. The back panel shows the toy in action along with some of its features. You also get a shot of Voltron showing the Yellow Lion as his left leg. The lion stands on an illustrated cardboard tray with clear plastic supports that holds him in an action pose. A little careful clipping with some scissors can free the lion from the base without mangling the package. The overall presentation here is pretty amazing, as the toy looks absolutely fantastic in the package. But with all that having been said, I still would have preferred a standard regular old box. I’m storing all my lions in their packaging until I get them all together, and these window “boxes” aren’t exactly easy to store.

In hand, Yellow Lion is a nice, big and sturdy toy. His body is one solid piece, as opposed to Red Lion, which has the elbow joint in the middle. This along with his bigger size just makes Yellow Lion feel more substantial and solid. The rounded hump that makes up his shoulders also gives him less of a boxy look and his head is more naturally positioned than his Red brother. Granted, all of this design element comes from the fact that the two Lions form different limbs. I’ve got nothing against Red Lion, its a great looking toy, I just think that the leg design makes for a better looking Lion vehicle and I suspect that will follow through when we eventually look at the Green and Blue Lions.

The coloring here is nice and vibrant and relies mostly on the color of the plastic, rather than a lot of paint apps. Again, Mattel went with a pale grey colored plastic for the legs, and while some will take issue with it, I’m glad they went this route. Technically these pieces are supposed to be a chromed, steel finish. Some argue that white would have been better. I’d rather they be distinguished from the white parts of the Lion’s face and so grey works fine for me.

If you remember my look at the Red Lion, you’ll recall I had issues with the leg articulation, and the same holds true with the Yellow Lion. I’m happy with the strong ratcheting joints at the tops of the legs and the ankles are fine too. Its the middle joints, which only bend backward on the back legs and forward on the front legs that really bugs me. It really limits the poses you can get. Other articulation includes two hinges in the tail, and the head can pivot up and down and rotate left and right at the neck. The jaws also open and he can hold his blade weapon in his mouth. If you flip the lion over you can see a button on his belly. Pressing this while he’s folded up into the leg mode will automatically convert him back into lion mode.

Take the key that came with the Hunk figure (or any pen or pencil) and you can unlock the cockpit and open the Yellow Lion’s back. While Red Lion’s cockpit splits open, Yellow Lion’s just swings open on a hinge in the back. Its a lot less sophisticated, but the idea is the same. Inside you get the same sort of cockpit with a sculpted chair and some stickers for instruments. Hunk fits inside, but the arm rests make the back of the seat too narrow for him to lean all the way back into it. As a result, it feels like the cockpit was designed for one of the thinner figures. Nonetheless, you can still get him in there and close the hatch with room to spare.

It may sound like I have a lot of issues with this toy, but when all is said and done, I’m still plenty happy with how he turned out. As much as I liked Red Lion, I think Yellow is a better lion, because the design of his transformation allowed him to be. He has that same great nostalgic 80’s toy feel as Red. I don’t think its something Mattel was expressly going for, but it just kind of happened. And while I didn’t shoot any pictures of him in his leg mode (I’m saving all that for the end), when I converted him, I really began to appreciate just how big the Black Lion is going to have to be, let alone Voltron. Sure, when you consider Yellow Lion and Hunk set me back about seventy bucks with shipping, it seems rather steep, but I still think it’ll all be worth it in the end. Besides, try hunting this set on Ebay and you’re already looking at paying over $100 in a lot of cases.

And now begins the wait for the next Lion. Sigh… it’s going to be a long year.