Aayla Secura - ROTS - Basic (III 67)

Aayla Secura is an empathic and highly intelligent Jedi Knight with impressive fighting skills. During the Clone Wars, she leads a battalion of clone troopers against the Separatist forces on the planet Felucia.

Hasbro released a pretty good version of Aayla Secura early in the Revenge Of The Sith line. Knowing that it would be wise to capitalize on the sculpt to amortize tooling costs, Hasbro found a clever way to get it out to the buying public again (but in a different way) later in the year. Part of the first newly dubbed “Repack & Repaint” wave ever, Aayla Secura now comes again to collectors in translucent blue plastic to recreate her “appearance” as a holographic image in a few select scenes in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. Interestingly, everything that was packed with 2005’s ROTS Aayla Secura (III 32) figure is repacked here, except of course for the fact that it is now cast in blue translucent plastic. Even her lightsaber comes apart into two separate pieces: the hilt and the blade. The figure doesn’t fail by any means, but its use of well-designed points of articulation actually work against it in this format. Because the plastic is mostly transparent, you can see in the inner workings of the ball-joints (and other points as well) and it leaves an odd result for your eyes wishing it would appear differently than it does. The smoothness and oneness of her image looks interrupted with such a well-articulated mold.

Aayla Secura is already a blue-colored Star Wars character. But she looks poignantly blue in holographic mode. Just like wave mate Plo Koon, this sky blue figure has been enhanced with the inclusion of some glittery substance to give the figure that extra depth and believability that she is actually an image and not a tangible character in Episode III. It’s great to get a fully sized Aayla Secura hologram. Holographic images are inconsistent in size throughout Episode III. Some are 1:1 scale while others are only a fraction of actual size, so it’s cool that Hasbro has begun the new hologram format with two characters that are true to normal scale. Just like the original figure, Aayla Secura comes with 14 points of articulation. She definitely looks a little odd where she’s articulated as we’ve mentioned, but in all honesty the figure doesn’t look too shabby as a hologram. The aforementioned multiple piece lightsaber and a holographic Felucian inspired display base also join her to help add some play value to this seemingly static figure. (But most of us will probably choose to display her without a fully lit lightsaber in her hand.)

The last two waves of the Revenge Of The Sith line arguable included some of the best and most interesting figures in the line. Obscure characters were joined side by side with much anticipated clone commanders and new interpretations of the Wookie species. And let’s not forget about the great R4-P17 figure! The holographic versions of both Plo Koon and Aayla Secura were refreshing for multiple reasons too. First, Hasbro revisited the way holographic figures are made. (Editor’s Note: And this method has been followed ever since, excluding 2009’s LC Darth Sidious Hologram (BD10) figure.) And second, Aayla Secura is a hugely popular Jedi that most Star Wars collectors will want to buy up for their collections anyhow. The Revenge Of The Sith line indeed went out with a bang. And if holographic figures have not been your thing up until this point, we bet that figures like Plo Koon and Aayla Secura will change the way you think about them. Aayla Secura (as a hologram) may not be your first choice as an action figure, but she’s relevant to Episode III and looks pretty good. We’d recommend finding one for your collection. She’s necessary.