Shortly after the announcement of the new Star Wars Black Series Galaxy Collection, four new figures were revealed as part of a mini assortment from the final season of The Clone Wars. The four figure wave would be a Walmart Exclusive in the US - and via the Fan Channel elsewhere - and yet would still be numbered and have the side art designed to line up with the general releases from The Clone Wars. The wave featured a new Ahsoka Tano figure, one of her 332nd Clone Troopers, a loyalist Mandalorian and one of Darth Maul's Mandalorian Super Commandos.
Ahsoka Tano is the 2nd figure in The Clone Wars series of Galaxy Collection figures and the box design follows the yellow colour accent for the Clone Wars releases. The yellow is used as a border under the figure window to confirm the source of the figure as "The Clone Wars". The figure name, Ahsoka Tano, is presented in yellow text
The art panel is in greyscale, with a yellow hue at the base of the image to add some colour. Ahsoka is depicted in a real world setting on the side panel, and perhaps looking a touch too old than her Clone Wars Season 7 appearance.
The yellow bar from the box front wraps the left hand spine and goes round to the back where it now houses the numbering for the Galaxy Collection, putting Ahsoka as #02 for The Clone Wars. Above this is a repeat of the side art, and a short piece of background text.
"Ahsoka Tano, a Togruta female, was the Padawan learner to Anakin Skywalker and a hero of the Clone Wars. Alongside Anakin, she grew from headstrong student into a mature leader"
The text is very generic and does not specifically align to the events of Season 7 and is the same as used on the Rebels version of Ahsoka which is a missed opportunity to update some backstory and context to the figure we are buying.
Like many Black Series Galaxy Collection figures there is a lot of tape in use around the shaped top panel and side panel which does look a bit unsightly. The box is best opened from the bottom flap where only one piece of tape is used. The contents slide out as a complete piece with the window of the packaging not attached to the box - makes recycling much easier.
3.5
Ahsoka features a new head sculpt that takes her Season 7 look and tries to translate it to a real world setting. What we get is a good crisp sculpt and it is recognisable as Ahsoka, but the face print doesn't quite have the same impact when there is no actual real world face to copy and apply. Eyes, mouth and facial markings are neatly applied but the markings on the head tails are a little rough in places.
Ahsoka is wearing her Season 7 grey ensemble with a grey vest trimmed in white, a skirt section in grey trimmed in silver and grey trousers.
Ahsoka's boots and forearms are a direct reuse from the existing Rebels figure and therefore are not accurate to the Clone Trooper armour inspired boots and bracers she was wearing in Season 7. It seems a shame that Hasbro have created a new head, chest and upper arms for Season 7 Ahsoka and yet then do not carry on that accuracy with the boots and forearms.
Side by side, you can certainly see the age difference in the two Ahsoka's we have to date, with the Clone Wars figure carrying a more youthful look than the older Rebels Ahsoka. The two figures are however the same size thanks to the body re-use and I would have expected the Clone Wars Ahsoka to be a touch smaller considering she is a head smaller than Rex when they are standing together in the show. While the new figure uses the Rebels figure legs in their entirety, the issue with the leg length seems to have been fixed allowing Clone Wars Ahsoka to stand pretty well without any support.
3.5
Ahsoka is packed with the lightsabers she receives as a gift from Anakin. These are two new molds, and very different to the sabers included with Rebels Ahsoka. Both are coloured in silver with a rounded segment at the end of the saber and a cut in surround at the emitter end. Black is applied to a couple of parts, with the larger saber also carrying a red switch.
The two blades are cast in translucent blue and will fit into either blade, although the shorter blade is designed for the shorter hilt. The fit is good and the plugs bigger than some of the more recent sabers making them more robust - the trade off is that the blades look and feel chunky and look a little out of proportion when held by Ahsoka. There is no belt options for these sabers when not in use - no hangers, clips or holsters.
3.5
The Rebels Ahsoka on which this figure is based, had an articulation count of 16 in total. Thanks to the new chest piece and upper arms, the new Clone Wars Ahsoka has been upgraded by two additional joints by way of butterfly shoulders.
Head : ball joint neck with pivot
Body : ball joint torso
Arms : butterfly shoulder, ball joint shoulder, single joint rotating elbow, wrist pivot
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double jointed knees, ankle rocker
These updated shoulder joints opens up her arm articulation even further than it was with no obstructions from any armour or robes. I did hope the arms, with the new butterfly joints, could be folded across her chest - a pose Ahsoka adopts quite often, but sadly the single joint elbows still don't offer the range needed and a bicep swivel would probably also be required.
The head does suffer from a little bit of movement restriction due to the sculpt of the head tails but not much, with the head tails soft enough to move with the neck joint as the head is turned and/or tilted.
As mentioned earlier, the "longer leg issue" from Rebels Ahsoka seems to have been fixed and I found Ahsoka pretty easy to stand and pose - even with the heels of her boots. She can get into a number of poses - including being able to kneel in meditation, to a walking pose or fighting stances. Stick her onto a foot peg stand and there are even more options thanks to her slim frame with striking or running poses easily achievable without any risk of overbalancing.
4.0
As a store exclusive wave, the Clone Wars Season 7 figures were predominantly repaints and tweaks and so the Ahsoka we get is potentially much more than it could have been had they chosen to simply repaint the existing figure. Season 7 Ahsoka is 50% new with only the legs and lower arms carried forward. Sadly these then are the parts that are not screen accurate, and for such an important character I would have liked to have seen these re-done also - even if that meant her dropping into the main line as a brand new figure and the Season 7 line had been filled up with another Clone repaint or similar.
With no real world version of Ahsoka (yet) to compare against, the figure does an OK job of converting the Season 7 look but still looks a bit too animated in the facial apps. The box art does a better job of translating the look, but that artwork does look older than Ahsoka is during the events of Season 7. And it is these events I would have also liked to have seen referenced on the box bio - not a repeat from Rebels Ahsoka, which itself was very drab and generic.
On the positive side, the paint and decor is applied well across most of the figure - head tails being a little bit rough - and the articulation is top notch particularly with Hasbro having taken the opportunity of the new torso to add in butterfly shoulders. The new sabers too are a great addition and the new blades feel more robust than some of the others we;ve had recently - although they do look a bit bulky when posed with Ahsoka.
If you are a fan of the Clone Wars and particularly the Season 7 storyline then this is an Ahsoka figure certainly worth buying. I suspect we will see a lot more Ahsoka in the coming weeks and months and this figure itself will give options for some of her other Clone Wars looks.
I score the Clone Wars Season 7 Ahsoka Tano a total of 3.5
About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
action figures, reviews, review, articulation, star wars, black series, galaxy collection, hasbro. clone wars, season 7, ahsoka tano