Asajj Ventress (Sith Apprentice) - CW - Basic (’03 #47)

Begun the Clone Wars has!" – Jedi Master Yoda
On the remote planet of Geonosis, the growing conflict between the Republic and its foes explodes into all-out war. The Republic's Jedi Knights lead a massive Clone Army into battle on hundreds of planets. The Separatists, led by the powerful Dark Lords of the Sith, fight back with their own formidable droid armies. As this terrible conflict rips across the galaxy, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi are swept into the turmoil of war and the rising shadow of the dark side.

A ruthless and cunning military mastermind of the Confederacy, Asajj Ventress is instrumental in fighting the Jedi during the Clone Wars. Count Dooku discovered the mysterious Asajj Ventress on a war-torn planet shortly after the Battle of Geonosis. Though she had never trained as a Jedi, Ventress demonstrates a corrupt mastery of the Force. Under the tutelage of Count Dooku, she has embraced the dark side, using her twin curved lightsabers to cut down all those who would oppose her. Often accompanied by the bounty hunter Durge, Ventress is more than a match for the Republic's greatest Jedi.

After Attack Of The Clones ran its course in theaters, a brand new multimedia event simply called Clone Wars came into fruition that began telling the events that transpired in between Episode II and Episode III. It was truly a multimedia event like no other because it introduced a plethora of new characters as well as new looks and roles of previously established characters. And for the first time really we got to see the interactions of the Jedi generals and clones in a more intimate and personal level. The all-new characters however immediately gripped fans and it seemed as if those who immediately fell for the Clone Wars property and the new characters were zealously engaged. One such character that had collectors falling forward for her was Asajj Ventress (Sith Apprentice). A bald chick with a bad attitude, Asajj Ventress immediately became highly sought after in the basic action figure line. And there was good reason for that because Hasbro did a fantastic job with the action figure interpretation of her. Just like many of the Star Wars “Saga” figures, excellent sculpting took precedence over super-articulation. Likewise, Asajj Ventress succeeds because of an incredible sculpt and not because of how mobile she is as far as articulation is concerned.

You have to hand it to Hasbro when they develop an all-new action figure from the ground up and complete it in every way possible to ensure they’ve created the best action figure possible. While we would have loved to see more articulation added to Asajj Ventress (Sith Apprentice), the eight points she does come with are actually enough from a certain point of view. Most notable are the exquisite sculpted details Hasbro etched into the plastic. The properly scaled female body type is accented with stunning detail in the cape and clothing. Look at her costume carefully. The folds in the plastic-sculpted cape show her in action without looking too flyaway and the lines, ridges and textures worked into her body and extremities couldn’t have been executed with better precision. The cape is removable and when you take it off you’ll see just how much extra work Hasbro put into the sculpt to make this a stunning action figure. They sculpted in holsters for her lightsaber hilts and they stay in place very well and look incredible when stowed in them. Her portrait may well be the best part of the figure. A ball-socket joint is the type of articulation it has been given and it can be positioned in an infinite amount of ways which is something collectors love having.

The lightsaber blades obviously are removable from the hilts (since you can store them in the sculpted “holsters”, but the hilts can be joined together (just like Darth Maul’s) into one double-bladed lightsaber that looks phenomenal when fully wielded by her. So with “not-so-great” articulation, but a tremendous sculpt, that should be enough for you to make a decision on this action figure, right? Wrong! We must drag out why this action figure is also amazing thanks to its paint job. Seriously, Asajj Ventress (Sith Apprentice) has an incredible paint job. You need to look carefully at the various shadowing and shading added to her portrait and it will impress you. And let’s not forgo talking about the awesome triangular tattoos on her head and face. She is pale, but there are layers of paint added to give her a truly realistic texture to her skin. Her outfit is also brilliantly decorated with a ton of earth tones helping to accent her gothic-like dreary attire. She needs a little bit of help, but Asajj Ventress (Sith Apprentice) can stand unassisted. And even though her articulation is limited, you can attain some cool action poses that show her is some cool dueling moments. The Clone Wars line is bound to suck new collectors into the hobby. Asajj Ventress (Sith Apprentice) is a perfect example of why this will be the case.