Sideshow Collectibles is one of the oldest and most well-known names in the high-end collectibles arena, and Star Wars has always been a major weapon in their arsenal. With so many releases in so many different scales and formats, it’s no small matter to label the Ahsoka Tano Premium Format Figure as one of Sideshow’s best Star Wars products to date. But after seeing this impressive statue in person, we’re comfortable making the claim.
Sideshow was kind enough to send along a review sample of the Ahsoka Tano: Premium Format Figure for IGN to check out. Read on for our full impressions of the piece, along with some hands-on photos.
Ahsoka Tano: Premium Format Figure - The Details
This statue is actually the second Ahsoka Tano statue produced as part of the Premium Format Figure line. The first (which is also still available on Sideshow’s site) was inspired by Star Wars Rebels and features a more animation-inspired depiction of Ahsoka. This statue, by comparison, is firmly modeled after Rosario Dawson’s debut appearance as Ahsoka in The Mandalorian: Season 2. It’s part of a larger line of Mandalorian statues that also includes characters like Din Djarin and Grogu, Cara Dune and Boba Fett.
The creative team behind the Ahsoka Tano Premium Format Figure includes sculptor and designer Matt Black, designer Richard Luong, painter Chie Izuma and tailor Tim Hanson.
Like most pieces in the Premium Format line, Ahsoka is a polystone statue designed at 1:4 scale, meaning she’ll tower over the various Hasbro and even Hot Toys figures in your Star Wars collection. She measures just under 19 inches tall, including the display base. The sculpt features a fairly traditional museum-style pose, with Ahsoka perched with one leg up in the wilds of the planet Corvus.
Also like many Premium Format pieces, Ahsoka features mixed media elements. While some of her costume is sculpted, the pants and belt area are made of fabric materials. Fortunately, the mixed media approach works well in this case. The fabric elements don’t stand out from the sculpted portions, but rather serve to give the statue more depth and texture complexity than would have been possible with a fully sculpted statue.
The statue requires a small amount of assembly upon arrival, which essentially just involves keying the body into the base and attaching the head and hands. It’s a very simple process, with the only point of confusion involving a branch piece that attaches to the base. It’s not immediately obvious where that branch is meant to attach, so it may be a good idea to watch Sideshow’s unboxing video if you’re having trouble.
What Makes This Ahsoka Statue So Great?
It’s not exactly cheap at $635 plus shipping, but this statue is easily one of the best Ahsoka Tano collectibles on the market right now. It’s also among Sideshow’s best entries in the long-running Star Wars Premium Format Figure line. That said, it’s not the flashiest Star Wars collectible by any stretch, especially compared to the more stylized, dynamic statues in Sideshow’s Star Wars Mythos line. This Ahsoka statue thrives more in terms of the subtle details.
The sculpting is easily the standout here, particularly when it comes to the head sculpt. Sideshow doesn’t necessarily have the greatest track record when it comes to actor likenesses on Premium Format Figures. Armored and helmeted characters like Darth Vader and Boba Fett are one thing, but Star Wars icons like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia haven’t always fared so well. That’s usually an area where Sideshow is beat out by Hot Toys.
But in this case, the opposite is true. Hot Toys’ recent The Mandalorian-style Ahsoka figure has taken some flak for what many feel is a subpar head sculpt, one not up to the usual Hot Toys standard. This Premium Format Figure, on the other hand, is dead-on. Rosario Dawson’s likeness is immediately apparent. The head sculpt conveys her performance in The Mandalorian perfectly - stoic yet vaguely smug and amused. And definitely ready for battle.
That appeal carries over into the rest of the body sculpt. Again, the pose is nothing new for Sideshow. Characters standing with one leg perched, Captain Morgan-style, is sort of the company’s bread and butter. But it works well here, and there’s just enough of a sense of motion to the sculpt that Ahsoka looks graceful and primed for action rather than static. The placement of the lightsaber blades helps in that regard.
As good as the sculpt is, this is a statue that could easily be let down by the quality of the paint application. Ahsoka may not be much for color in her wardrobe, but her skin makes up for that with its complex arrangement of orange, white and blue tones. Fortunately, the paint is also executed to a high standard. The orange is vivid without bleeding into the other areas. The stripes on her lekku are handled well, with the blue subtly fading into the white as it does on Dawson’s costume. The earthy colors on the swamp base also help bring a little extra visual interest and contrast nicely with the dark blue of her uniform. Again, it’s the subtle details in both the scultping and the paint application that help bring this statue to life and elevate it above the usual Star Wars statue fare.
There are only a couple of minor complaints to level at the statue. It would have been nice to see Ahsoka’s grey cloak included as an optional extra. There is a precedent for including those sorts of fabric accessories with Premium Format Figures, even if only as part of a Sideshow-exclusive edition. A light-up function for the ligthsabers would also have been nice, especially considering the steep price tag. It’s hard to truly simulate the look of a lightsaber with nothing more than translucent plastic, and LED blades would really have taken this piece to the next level.
But those nitpicks aside, there’s a lot to like with the Ahsoka Tano Premium Format Figure. It’s costly, yes, but it truly is the most impressive collectible on the market that’s based on Dawson’s version of Ahsoka. It would make for a great centerpiece for any Ahsoka fan’s collection, assuming you have the space and the budget. If you want to order one for yourself, head to the link below:
You can also check out the IGN Store for more Ahsoka-themed collectibles. And be sure to read our thoughts on Hasbro's new Chatter Back Chopper animatronic figure.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
