Star Wars Retro Collection - AHSOKA TANO!

Star Wars Retro Collection: The Mandalorian - Ahsoka Tano - Hasbro 2022

I was reading recently about how when Ahsoka Tano was first introduced, she was met with a lot of fan hostility. I never watched the animated Clone Wars series (or movie), but this is where Ahsoka Tano was introduced as a 14-year-old Padawan under the tutelage of a 19-year-old Anakin Skywalker. Without reading any more details, I can imagine the writers falling prey to same tropes of teenage character stereotypes. I bet she was surly, cool, obnoxious, witty, and scrappy - yet promising. And I'll bet she came off as annoying. That's all just my hunch based on decades of seeing teenage elements inserted into a serious genre. But thankfully the fanbase came around and the character matured. Because the character we see today is pretty awesome. Rosario Dawson's portrayal in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett was masterful. And the fact that her solo show, Ahsoka, is premiering in August 2023 is no surprise at all - and I can't wait! Let's check out the Retro Collection Ahsoka Tano below!

The Mandalorian - AHSOKA TANO!

Star Wars: The Black Series 6" - Ahsoka Tano (The Mandalorian) - Hasbro 2022

I love how popular Ahsoka Tano has become. She was introduced in 2008's Star Wars: The Clone Wars CGI animated film, and was a major character in the following animated series as well as 2014 follow-up series Star Wars: Rebels. I admit I've never watched any of the modern animated Star Wars installments, but I would see this character in the toy aisles all the time and her design intrigued me. She was the only character in the preschool Galactic Heroes lines (which I was obsessed with) to get multiple figures (aside from Leia and Amidala). And I even got a PEZ dispenser of her. But I still didn't know anything about her character until she stepped out of the fog in that amazing 2020 episode of The Mandalorian. Almost immediately there was buzz about an Ahsoka solo series for 2023. And then we were treated to an unexpected appearance in The Book of Boba Fett earlier this year. I'm impressed by what I've seen so far and am excited to see more of character when the show debuts next year.

Marvel Legends - CLAIRE TEMPLE!

Marvel Legends - Luke Cage & Claire Temple (Netflix) 2-Pack - Hasbro 2019

The 1970s were a fascinating time for Marvel Comics. Among many other evolutions, there was a surge of female characters in their own titles. At the end of the decade we got all the gender-swapped heroines like She-Hulk, Spider-Woman, and Ms. Marvel. But in the early 70s, the characters were a lot more original: Shanna the She-Devil, The Cat, and Night Nurse were pioneering efforts to bring a female audience to superhero comics. Shanna and the Cat were pretty straight-forward comic formulas, but Night Nurse was unique. While there wasn't a specific character with that name in the beginning, the story focused on three roommates who worked as night-shift nurses in a busy NYC hospital (and ended up patching up more super-heroes than civilians). This peripheral look into the hero world was genius and seems to have inspired future characters like Jessica Jones and Cameron Chase. Rosario Dawson plays Claire Temple, a modern interpretation of Night Nurse appearing in all the Marvel Netflix shows.