This figure says something about the collector community and marketplace, but I have no idea what that is.  This figure was first released in Vintage Collection as VC102 Ahsoka Tano right before the line went on hiatus.  That wave was only sold online as a shared e-tailer exclusive.  While most outlets sold the wave only as a case, Amazon sold the figures individually.  While the Emperor’s Royal Guard and the Old Republic Trooper would sell out in a few hours, Ahsoka and the other figures were easily available on Amazon while the case was shipping.  Fast forward about a year.  The Vintage Collection has been replaced by The Black Series as the collector line, and that Ahsoka figure becomes the first Vintage Collection general release figure to hit the $100 mark on the secondary market. 

Season 3 Ahsoka Tano

Today, the VC102 figure easily sells in the $150 to $200 range.  It was the ideal figure to be re-released in the Walmart exclusive Black Series 3.75” line where it has been largely ignored.  At least in my area that is, but other anecdotal evidence seems to support this.  I could currently build a raft to Fiji* with the Black Series Ahsoka Tano figures sitting on clearance for $4 at my local Walmart.  This feels anomalous.  The Black Series re-release appears to have had little impact of the secondary market value of that Vintage Collection figure (despite having chilled other Vintage Collection re-releases), and the loose figure has only tepid demand.  It’s fascinating, and I don’t have a ready answer.  It’s not the “magic” of the Vintage Collection since that has done nothing to increase the demand for the VC71 Mawhonic figure which was released in the exact same case.  Again, fascinating.  Professors will someday teach classes about this phenomenon.

Okay, we don’t typically do market analysis as part of our figure reviews.  We usually review the figures.  Crazy, right?  So it’s high time we started doing that.  If you read that brief review for the Vintage Collection figure, those same criticisms stand today, and even more so.  The figures qualifies as super articulated due to the 14 areas of articulation, but the hips are swivel hips.  There are many character types that can pass with swivel hips, but Jedi figures demand them.  Don’t get me wrong.  There are decent poses you can achieve with the figure as is, but ball jointed hips would benefit the figure greatly especially since the figure cannot achieve the predatory crouch Ahsoka would often engage prior to throwing down. 

The paint applications on the Black Series release are perfectly acceptable.  The silver accents on the belt of my sample slightly miss the mark in a few places.  It’s minor, and I don’t know if it’s specific to my sample or endemic of the production run.  The eyes are actually painted much better than my Vintage Collection sample.  If you look at the gallery for that figure you can see that the pupils give the impression of rolling back in the figure’s head.  Here the Ahsoka figure matches your gaze.  In 2012, I gave this figure an 8.  I was contemplating lowering the score to 7 since the lack of ball jointed hips is more noticeable in the current figure landscape, but I talked myself out of it due to the accessory count.  I will keep it at an 8 since you get two lit sabers and two saber hilts (that you will probably lose, idiot).  If you read the second paragraph, it should not surprise you that the figure is still available on Walmart’s website for half the original MSRP at the time of this review. An ad widget for the figure should appear below, unless it doesn’t.