Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,080: Ahsoka Tano (Padawan, The Black Series)

AHSOKA TANO (Padawan)
The Black Series 2023 Closed Box Line Look The Clone Wars Packaging
Item No.: Asst. E8908 No. F7100
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #13 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Includes: Lightsabers
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $24.99
Availability: October 2023
Appearances: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Bio: Ahsoka Tano, a young Togruta, was the Padawan learner to Anakin Skywalker and a hero of the Clone Wars. (Taken from the packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

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Commentary: I can't complain about Ahsoka Tano (Padawan) as the figure is a great "live action" recreation of the season 3 cartoon costume, which also appeared on the Ahsoka TV show, and looks more or less like that. But maybe older. This is what the figure should look like - for long-time fans of the cartoons, this is pretty much what you would have in your head and the people at Hasbro did a nice enough job that you'll see this at $25 and go "OK, I want that."

The costume looks like what you saw on TV over ten years ago. She lost the tube top for a sleeveless number with gloves, arm bands, boots, and ventilated pants - which I guess may not seem Star Wars-y, but having left my house and seen airports I can assure you that the young people still do wear pants with rips in them. Functionally, it's probably pretty similar. How it works out for sword fighting, I have no idea. I sit at a computer for a living. Much like The Vintage Collection figure, she has two lightsabers. You can plug them into her belt if you like! Her belt fits well, the sculpting all turned out well and it seems multiple molded color pieces were stitched together to keep her looking her best for the longest possible time. You want things molded in color - paint scrapes. If the head is white plastic and pink plastic, at least those parts will stay nice if it falls and dings on the ground.

Since this figure is $25 I'm always torn between "do something to get the prices down" and "maximize the quality to make it worth $25." Ahsoka seems to be the latter. She has an extra joint to allow for extra arm movement, so inside her torso is an extra purple piece that connects to her arm and leets her have a bit more room. The figure's pose is pretty good too - her left hand has fingers extended in a "Force user" pose. The designers sculpted her to have a good center of gravity, so she actually stands on my desk while I hammer out this review. I didn't have a problem getting her into some neat poses, and I had no problems getting her to hold her lightsabers either. Hasbro even snuck in a surprise bonus joint - not only do you have rocker ankles, but the top of the boot is a swivel joint. I assume it was done because it helps keep paint costs down, but you can rotate that boot if you want. I don't think it's necessary but it is wonderful Hasbro budgeted it in there so nobody can complain that they didn't.

As I keep writing, I'm cutting my pre-orders for the 6-inch line and probably won't be buying a heck of a lot more - but I like this one a lot. I don't know if I'll keep her (and indeed them) forever, but she'll be one of the last to go. It's a pity the Anakin and Obi-Wan were really hard to get, because it would be great to have them to go with her - but maybe there's still room for Season 3 redesigns as figures, to keep things going. Hasbro did a nice job here, and if you are a fan of Ms. Tano I highly recommend getting this figure and watching The Clone Wars. (The Ahsoka show, well, if you have some time on a plane, sure.)

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,080: November 9, 2023