Ahsoka Tano - TCW [R] - Basic (CW26)

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 was the one to get this main billing designation (aside from all the familiar main characters we’ve seen before in some other fashion). Filoni and company decided to go with a young Padawan that was of the same species as Shaak Ti and who could possibly pass for what someone like Ashla would look like a few years into the Clone Wars. There have been observations about the way Ahoka is dressed. The "expressive" style of a midriff being shown is not typical amongst the Togruta species. Revealing outfit are usually reserved for the less modest Twi'lek species (and perhaps others as 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. This is the second time Hasbro released her as a basic figure. Part of The Clone Wars [Red] line, this version is a slight repaint of the "eyelashes" version Hasbro released early in 2009 in The Clone Wars [Blue] line look. It's great to see this main character get re-released again because she is selling very well. In all honesty, our biggest gripe with Hasbro is that this Ahsoka figure wasn’t part of the first wave in 2008. For The Clone Wars [Red] version, Ahsoka Tano gets a new sequence number and slightly revised paint operations to make her look more like the television show character (something that was started before this release but seemingly perfected now).

Ahsoka Tano 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 18 points of articulation, her long fingerless gloves really make it impossible to give her ball-jointed elbows (in our opinion). Simply put, we think she has been given just the perfect amount of articulation. Ahsoka 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. Ahsoka 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 has unbelievably struck a chord with all those individuals who watch and love The Clone Wars.

The bonus that comes with Ahsoka Tano is Rotta the Hutt (actually a Huttlet). Although technically an accessory here, Rotta functions a whole lot more like another figure, complete with articulation. (Both of his shoulders swivel.) You also get a lightsaber to duel Separatists and a backpack to carry Rotta around. Ahsoka feels perfectly accessorized. 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. As mentioned, 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! You can even pose her in action poses while the backpack is attached and she looks fantastic. Again, awesome job Hasbro! Ahsoka’s signature green lightsaber is very bright and has a very simple hilt but it looks just spectacular. It can be held in her hand very well and she looks even better when posed with it. This figure isn’t aging and is holding its own in a line where the action figures are getting better and the character choices are getting more interesting. We’re very happy that Ahsoka Tano has been carried forward into The Clone Wars [Red] line because she is a character that should be on the shelves at all times. There should always be additional opportunities to acquire her. She is without a doubt a staple character and deserves all of this attention.