Tag Archives: Ahsoka Tano

#3269: Ahsoka Tano

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

AHSOKA TANO

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“Anakin’s padawan Ahsoka both amuses and exasperates her master with her plucky attitude and impertinent comments. She is tasked with keeping Jabba’s son safe as she and Anakin try to escape their attackers. She affectionately nicknames the child “stinky” because of his odor, the characteristic stench given off by the Hutt species.”

Before she was the glue that holds the non-film Star Wars canon together, Ahsoka Tano was the obnoxious tag-along kid sidekick added to The Clone Wars purely for kid appeal.  Also, she was the worst thing ever to happen to the franchise.  Worse than Jar Jar.  Worse than the Ewoks.  Worse than Bea Arthur.  But, it’s okay, because she’s had like 30 other things replace her as the “worst thing in the franchise.”  Also, her writing improved by leaps and bounds very quickly, and by the end of Clone Wars, she and the other all-new central character for the show, Captain Rex, had firmly become the heart of the series.  Today, I’m jumping back to her very first figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ahsoka Tano was figure 9 in the 2008 Clone Wars line-up.  She headed up the second assortment of the line, which hit a little bit after the movie and series had dropped, and added not only Ahsoka, but also the previously reviewed Commander Cody, Clone Pilot Oddball, and the Super Battle Droid, as well as mixing in the cleaned up variants of Rex and the standard Clone Trooper.  She was based on Ahsoka’s initial look on the show, since that was all they had to go by at this point.  The figure stands 3 1/4 inches tall and she has 18 points of articulation.  While Ahsoka looses out on the elbow joints that the other Jedi got early in the line (largely due to her arms simply not being large enough to sustain the joint construction), she gets a quite literal leg up on the other early Jedi by gettin full knee and ankle movement, which made her surprisingly posable for this point in the line.  Her sculpt was an all-new one, as expected.  It wound up getting re-used a few times for boxed sets and deluxe releases while this was still her main look on the show.  It’s a pretty solid offering, and does a respectable job of capturing her younger animation model.  As with all of the early line releases, she’s a little more rounded and “real world” in her proportions, but the general feel of the character is still very much there.  This marked the line’s first venture into mixed media, as she gets a cloth skirt in order to maximize posability on the hips.  Ahsoka’s paint work is pretty decently handled.  I especially like how the markings on the face look.  There was a variant to the paint as well on this figure.  Early versions were without the eyelashes, while the later releases added them.  Mine is the later one, and it’s for the better; the eyes are just framed much better.  Ahsoka is packed with her lightsaber, Jabba’s son Rotta, and a backpack for carrying Rotta around.  The Rotta figure is pretty fun; he’s got posable arms, and he sits really nicely in the pack.  It’s a very inventive accessory.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I will admit, I wasn’t sold on Ahsoka early in the show’s run, but she grew on me fairly quickly, and I liked her well enough to want a figure of her by the end of the first season’s run.  Of course, her figure was pretty scarce at the beginning, so it was probably until about the end of 2009 or so that I finally was able to get her.  Towards the end of my senior of high school, I used most of my spare cash for Clone Wars figures, and she was one of those figures.  She’s pretty solid for an early offering for the line, and I think she still holds up really well.

#3139: Ahsoka Tano

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

AHSOKA TANO

STAR WARS: RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

“A Clone Wars veteran and now wandering Jedi, Ahsoka Tano forges her own path in the galaxy, righting injustices that she discovers”

Though not particularly well-received when she first debuted in The Clone Wars, Ahsoka Tano has become one of the franchise’s most consistent through lines, and a definite fan-favorite. Season 2 of The Mandalorian finally brought the character to live action, and that led to a follow-up in The Book of Boba Fett as well as her on spin-off show, which is currently in the works. She’s currently kind of rolling in the toy coverage, and today I’m taking a look at her Retro Collection figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

 Ahsoka is another of the six figures in the second mass-release assortment of the Star Wars: Retro Collection line. She’s notably the only non-helmeted figure in this assortment, which is a fun little side note. The figure stands just shy of 3 3/4 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation. The motion on the neck is a little bit restricted, but otherwise the mobility is the same as the rest of the line. The sculpt is all-new, and does a very nice job of dialing in on her appearance as it would be in the vintage line. The broadest of the details are all still present, but dumbed down a bit, as they would have been back in the day.  It works out pretty well overall.  The paint work is likewise pulled back a bit, compared to, say, the Black Series release.  The grey becomes a bit more present, and the blue detailing on the head tails is simpler.  Even the gloves are full, instead of being fingerless like in the show.  Ahsoka is packed with her two lightsabers, reworked to look like the ESB and RotJ Luke sabers, albeit with her distinctive curved handles.  They’re also all white, as well as being two different lengths, as they should be.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ahsoka’s a pretty important character these days, and I’ve enjoyed her OT-adjacent role as of late.  Getting an OT-adjacent figure seems pretty appropriate for the direction the character is headed.  This one’s a pretty good one.  It hits the right notes, and it, like the rest of the series, is just pretty fun.  And, really, what more can you ask for from a Star Wars toy.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3118: Ahsoka Tano

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

AHSOKA TANO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A Clone Wars veteran and now wandering Jedi, Ahsoka Tano forges her own path in the galaxy, righting injustices that she discovers”

Shifting the Black Series focus a bit for today, I’m moving from The Bad Batch forward in the timeline to the post-OT world of The Mandalorian.  While the first season was largely populated by characters original to the show, the second season saw a number of returning faces from elsewhere in the franchise.  Continuing her role as the connective tissue of the Star Wars TV shows is Ahsoka Tano, who serves as Din and Grogu’s first contact in the wider Jedi world.  She’s subsequently re-appeared in The Book of Boba Fett, and is slated for her own series next year.  She’s no stranger to toys, of course, but she’s just recently gotten a whole swath of live action-inspired figures, including a Black Series release, which I’m taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ahsoka Tano is figure 19 in the Mandalorian sub-set of Black Series‘ Phase IV incarnation, the first of the three Mando figures in the second assortment of 2022.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Ahsoka’s articulation scheme is actually a pretty impressive set-up, all things considered.  The legs, specifically at the hips and knees, have been designed to allow for a very wide range of motion, while also still maintaining the cohesion of the sculpt.  It’s a careful balance, but one that works out very well here.  There are some restrictions in a few spots, of course, notably on the neck, due to the head tails, but given the overall nature of the design, it’s commendable that they got it working as well as they did.  Ahsoka’s sculpt is an all-new one, and it’s a strong one at that.  The likeness on the face is a solid recreation of Rosario Dawson in the role, and the body sculpt is realistically proportioned and has some really sharp texturing and detailing.  Ahsoka’s paint work is generally pretty basic for the line.  The printing on the face makes her suitably lifelike, and they’ve done a nice job with the markings on her face and head tails.  The body gets all the basics.  Nothing really crazy; just some blues and greys.  The application is cleanly handled for the most part, though there are a few spots on my figure where some of the masks were clearly a bit misaligned.  In particular, her right wrist bracer’s greys are off by just a bit, making the whole thing look oddly shaped.  Ahsoka is packed with her two lightsabers.  The blades are removable, and the hilts can be hung from her belt.  It’s definitely on the lighter side, but it’s also about what’s expected from this line.  I can’t really think of anything else she could really get, apart from maybe a soft goods cloak.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I enjoyed Ahsoka’s reappearance on The Mandalorian, and I really dug Rosario Dawson in the role, so, despite her only being minorly different from the other Black Series Ahsoka I have (on the outside, at least), I was still interested in seeing what Hasbro could do with the updated design.  She works really well.  I dig the new articulation set-up a lot, and I think this design works pretty well for the format.  Of the two Black Series Ahsokas I have, this one’s definitely my favorite.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2383: Ahsoka Tano

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

AHSOKA TANO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Anakin Skywalker’s apprentice Ahsoka Tano left the Jedi Order before it was destroyed during Order 66. She would reemerge years later as Fulcrum, a leader in the fledgling rebellion against the Empire.”

Continuing down this road of looking back on older Black Series figures, let’s jump around a bit.  Recently, we’ve gotten an *almost* complete selection of the main characters from Rebels, thereby showcasing the line’s ability to adapt animated characters into a more realistic style.  One of the two earliest examples of this translation was today’s figure, Ahsoka Tano, one of the most prolific animation-only characters in the cannon (who will, incidentally, finally be getting a live-action counterpart in the second season of The Mandalorian), and certainly a solid choice for trying such a prospect out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ahsoka was figure 20 in the Black Series line-up, hitting in the gap between The Force Awakens and Rogue One, in an assortment with the previously reviewed Kanan and Farmboy Luke.  The whole assortment was relatively difficult to get at first, but while the other two eventually showed up in greater numbers, Ahsoka was always the most in-demand of the three.  There are a number of designs to choose from for Ahsoka, but this figure opted to adapt her adult appearance from Rebels, which given the pairing with Kanan, made quite a bit of sense.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and has 29 points of articulation.  Given what period of the line she hails from, Ahsoka’s articulation is actually pretty alright.  Not only does she have more points than the average release from this period, but they generally have a better than average range.  The ball-jointed torso in particular adds a lot of posing variety.  In terms of translation from animation to the “real world” style of The Black Series, Ahsoka was definitely more successful than her assortment-mate Kanan.  I don’t know if it’s just that she’s got a more easily translated design, but it a much smoother transition, and she looks more like a real person, albeit an alien one.  Honestly, the alien thing probably helped more than anything.  Like Kanan, she does a nice job of giving the various parts of her outfit distinct textures, which sells the realism bit even a little more.  Ahsoka’s skirt is a mixed media piece, with the actual skirt being a simple cloth piece, and the more fanciful details being a rubber overlay.  More recently, that cloth part has been removed from figures, and Ahsoka kinda makes me miss it, because it works well here.  Ahsoka’s paintwork may predate the move to the new style faces, but you’d be a little hard-pressed to notice.  It’s again largely due to that whole alien thing, but also she’s just got a really sharp paint scheme, definitely the best of this particular era of figures.  It looks really solid.  Ahsoka is packed with two distinct lightsabers, like she wielded in the show.  They are the unique pale blue they should be, and can be hung from her waist piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t get Ahsoka when she was new for a few reasons.  Firstly, I was still desperately trying to cling to my “no prequels” rule.  Secondly, I only saw her one time at retail.  Thirdly, I was moving at the time, and one extra figure was hard to justify.  And lastly, I hadn’t yet seen any of Rebels, so my only real knowledge of Ahsoka was from Clone Wars, and I honestly wasn’t that big a fan of the character.  After getting more into Rebels and rewatching Clone Wars, I came to appreciate her a bit more, so I was finally willing to add Ahsoka to my collection…just in time for her to jump way up on the after market.  Fortunately, one got traded into All Time right before the shut down, and they pretty much just gave it to me.  She’s a surprisingly good figure, and I’m glad I was able to finally get one.