Ahsoka Tano - TCW [B] - Basic (No. 9)

Anakin's padawan Ahsoka both amuses and exasperates her master with her plucky attitiude 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.

It was inevitable that a new main character (among others) would be introduced in The Clone Wars and Ahsoka Tano was the one to get this main billing designation (aside from all the familiar main characters). Filoni and company decided to go with a young Padawan that was of the same species as Shaak Ti, the Togruta. Interestingly, it is a little bit hard to swallow her very revealing and sexy look. That "expressive" style is usually reserved for the less modest Twi'lek species (or others, we don't want to be ethnocentric here). But if she is a young girl of the same culture as Shaak Ti, well, let's just say that Shaak Ti was very conservative and we sort of expected her to look similarly. We understand the grace of poetic license, but when a species is established with certain traits and characteristics, it stinks when that is interrupted with non-canon final products. (It's almost like Lucas not utilizing Wookiees for the Endor battle – he established them as a technological species – Shaak Ti is a conservatively dressed species and likewise younger offspring would as well be conservative – not a huge deal, but just something to think about.) It appears that an attempt was made to bring together the Twi'leks and Togrutas cultures to make a character that falls somewhere in the middle. Don't get us wrong, Ahsoka works for us, but she also annoys us a bit too. Surprised that she wasn't part of the original waves of action figures, Ahsoka Tano came to us in a very distant wave 2 from the debut of the line in July 2008. She is pretty much everything you would want her to be: feminine, athletic, agile, thin, and "pretty". Her colors have been matched to her appearance in the series quite well and her costume is very faithful as well. Claiming an impressive 12 points of articulation, her long fingerless gloves really make it impossible to give her ball-jointed elbows. We think she has been given just the perfect amount of articulation.

Ahsoka Tano has a very impressive paint operation on her head. Besides the alternating zebra-like stripes on her head-tails, she also has a green necklace/crown like accessory that drapes behind her. Every color and detail has been included on the action figure and we are easily amazed how well it got translated into a toy. As we mentioned earlier about her lack of clothing, the apparel she is wearing is simple and well painted and looks great against her orangey skin color. She has a small soft-good skirt underneath a plastic molded loin cloth (diamond shaped and quite thin) and the great news is that movement is NOT encumbered by this. Congratulations Hasbro, this is very impressive and makes us very happy! Her limbs are very delicate but can move very nicely and her legs are strong enough to hold her up. And she is very capable of being posed in a variety of positions. She is truly designed very well and can handle being played with as she is durable and strong too. A very clean figure, Hasbro decided not to include any battle scuffs or marks on her frame and this is fine for this action figure. If she sees additional releases in the line, perhaps Hasbro can treat us to different paint applications here and there. Ahsoka Tano has been an extraordinarily strong seller and both kids (parents) and collectors alike have been scoffing her up at retail. Outselling even the most popular clone troopers, Ahsoka Tano has unbelievably struck a chord with those who watch The Clone Wars. And for good reason, she really appeals to the general masses and that is the unset goal of Star Wars. The stories and characters should transcend age, culture and any other typically limiting parameter.

Obviously the bonus in this set is the Rotta the Hutt accessory and backpack. Probably an insurance policy to a potentially "risky" female action figure, we think Hasbro's back-up plan was foiled due to the simple fact that this character took off despite not being "male". Rotta is excellently detailed and had tons of creases and chubby baby fat that looks plain adorable. While we can't smell his supposed awful odor, we can say that he is marvelously sculpted (for something that is so small) and fits beautifully in the backpack. He also comes with two swivel elbows. The backpack also attaches to Ahsoka very well and she can stand upright without issue even while wearing the backpack with Rotta inside of it! Again, awesome job Hasbro! Ahsoka has another accessory as well; her signature green lightsaber. It is very bright and has a very simple hilt but looks just spectacular. It can be held in her hand very well and she looks even better when posed with it. Ahsoka Tano will be carried forward into the red phase of The Clone Wars line so there will be additional opportunities to acquire her. She is without a doubt astaple character, so expect to see her in every line look change that includes The Clone Wars banner on it. This will be a mainstay in the Hasbro Star Wars line and until attention gets diverted to something else Lucasfilm, Ltd. deems more important, we should see plenty more of The Clone Wars for quite some time. Enjoy her, she is a great figure to a very excellent line! And she comes with a bonus articulated Rotta the Hutt, Jabba the Hutt's son!