The Clone Wars is getting a lot of focus in the Star Wars Galaxy Collection, and with the April 2021 release of Asajj Ventress, the Clone Wars is now second in volume in the new packaging with 8 figures in total, 2nd only to The Mandalorian which has 12. Asajj is part of Wave 4 and sits in a wave-dominated by Star Wars TV series characters including the live-action Bo Katan and three figures from The Bad Batch.
Ventress is number #7 in the Clone Wars collection, following on in the side artwork montage from the general release of Cad Bane. The gold-accented image of Ventress with lightsabers lit against a grey backdrop of circular buildings gives no clues as to who will go next in the sequence but it is likely to be the Wave 5 Aurra Sing who is a Clone Wars release as opposed to being part of The Phantom Menace series.
The back of the box has the usual short and succinct background text that confirms Ventresses; role as Count Dooku's apprentice but doesn't cover her species or any background of her other associations with the Night Sisters for example.
"An assassin trained in the ways of the dark side by Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress yearned to be considered a true Sith, but such status wasn't allowed under the Sith's Rule of Two."
Like all animated characters, Asajj has been converted to a real-world version by the Black Series team and while the head sculpt does not have an actor or real-life equivalent to base itself on, the look is very impressive considering how Asajj would likely look if she ever converted to a live-action show.
The head is painted with a very pale skin tone with applied face print to create the realism in the eyes, which are then ringed in black to give them a deep-set and menacing look. The lips are a deep red and the facial markings from the lips and then around the head are laid on in thin blue, with a lot of detail on the back of her head compared to the front.
The costume is based on the earlier seasons of The Clone Wars with a blue theme starting with the dark blue vest section. This then moves down to a lighter blue waist piece which is sculpted to look like wrapped material. The same type of wrappings are used on the lower arms, and here the blue is striped with a darker tone alternating against the light. There are reported variants of this colouring.
The skirt is a soft goods piece in a blue/purple velvet finish. It is held in place with a light pink-hued belt that then connects to the front sash. This sash is painted in purple with gold on the embossed design that runs the full length of the sash. Like a lot of soft goods at this scale, the skirt does hang a little straight, but is soft and pliable and is easy to pose with Asajj, In fact, the bigger issue to posing is the sash considering it runs the full length of the skirt.
Under the skirt are fully sculpted legs with the same wrapped material design. They are cast in blue plastic and not painted. While it would have been nice to have had the skirt removable for a different look to Asajj, I assume we will see this figure again as a variant without the skirt or with a varying colour scheme to perhaps the grey or even the red from the Tartakovsky series.
Asajj is armed with her twin lightsabers, as presented to her by Dooku. These are a curved hilt, cast in grey with black striped detail down the hilt. Each saber hilt has a plug halfway down the hilt which allows you to plug them into the holes at the top of the sash, holstering them as seen on the show. The only issue with this is that the plugs do interfere with the grip on the hands, and you need to orientate the hilts in the hands so the plug is placed outward through the gap in the fingers/thumb.
The two red translucent blades come in a thicker plastic than some of the other sabers in the Black Series which means they arrive straight and they also have a more robust plug that slots into the socket at the top of the saber hilt. The two hilts are also designed with a plug and socket to allow them to connect into a twin-bladed lightsaber like the one used by Darth Maul. This is not well executed considering the curve of the hilts makes it difficult to line up so the blades are horizontal, and even then the plugs don't hold too securely.
Asaaj is extremely well articulated with 19 points of articulation. She has the dual articulated neck which moves at both the base and where it meets the head. And she also has the butterfly shoulders which help with her saber-wielding poses alongside the single joint rotating elbows and wrist pivot.
The legs articulate fine under the skirt, and as mentioned above the bigger issue with standing Asajj in various stances is the harder plastic sash. Asajj stands perfectly well on her own, and adding a suitable footpeg stand opens her up to more poses such as a one-legged strike as seen in our images.
Asajj is a wonderful addition to the Black Series. She translates really well from the stylised animation of the Clone Wars to a realistic setting, even without an actor to base her head sculpt upon. The costume is done well, as is the skirt and sash - with the body open to future variations if that is something Hasbro wants to explore. Articulation is great, and the two sabers are very good apart from the way they are meant to connect for the dual saber option.
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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, hasbro, star wars, black series, galaxy collection, the clone wars, asajj ventress