The Good: Wonderful sculpted detail, Good accessories, Wonderful articulation
The Bad: Cloak is ungainly and looks ridiculous, Skin color is a few tones off.
The Basics: The Vintage Collection Aayla Secura figure is oddly encumbered by a cloak, but is otherwise pretty cool.
I am, as it turns out, a sucker for Star Wars toys when I am doing financially well-enough to justify spending money. Lately, I have been stopping at one of the least-trafficked big-box stores in my area and I keep discovering new-to-me Star Wars figures and it makes my life, as they say, a little less hell. The latest I have been pleased by finding is the Vintage Collection Aayla Secure figure!
For those unfamiliar with Aayla Secura, she was the bright blue Twi’lek Jedi seen in Revenge Of The Sith (reviewed here!). Shown on a beautiful (clearly CG) world, Aayla Secura is a Jedi Knight who is shot in the back when her clones turn on her, leaving her body beneath a number of massive plants.
The 4" Aayla Secura was completely recast from the Attack Of The Clones Aayla Secura figure for the 2011 Vintage Collection and it appears to be making a resurgence in stores now.
Basics
The Aayla Secura figure stands 3 7/8" tall to the top of her head. She is an alien, Twi’lek, who is wearing an atypical Jedi halter top and cloak, most of which is made out of plastic. The outermost robe, however, is a dark brown cloth robe which inhibits Aayla Secura's movement. Given that the cloak is easily removable and presents a more recognizable version of Aayla Secura, I tend to opt for that..
This toy is a pretty wonderful sculpt, with the character’s head tentacles descending appropriately from the back of her skull. Aayla Secura is molded wearing her distinctive two-piece outfit that only has a sleeve on the left arm! Aayla Secura's belt is fashioned with a soft plastic, which allows them to accurately replicate the belt’s hanging ties that do not inhibit the figure’s movement. To its credit, Hasbro did an excellent job of matching the plastic and cloth elements on the main figure.
Aayla Secura is colored with pretty amazing attention to detail, save her skin. Her costume is detailed more in the molded texture than in coloring. Aayla Secura is a bright blue Twi’lek and while Hasbro features spots on her head as a decent coloring detail, her blue skin is much darker than it appeared in either of the Star Wars films she was present in. The result is that Aayla Secura looks a bit off compared to how one might expect her to look.
Accessories
Aayla Secura is a Jedi Knight, so all she comes with as far as accessories is her lightsaber(s). This Twi’lek Jedi features a blue bladed lightsaber which is less bright than many others. Instead, the portion of the 2 7/8" blade that is blue is an icy blue plastic. Apparently realizing how breakable the removable lightsaber blades from the Attack Of The Clones line were, the Vintage Collection Aayla Secura has a lightsaber without a detachable blade and a separate lightsaber hilt. The lightsaber hilt is a simple, 3/4" silver-gray cylinder with appropriate contouring to be a believable lightsaber hilt. It has a tiny peg which attaches to an almost imperceptible hole in Secura's belt, allowing the backup lightsaber to dangle there!
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and Aayla Secura is generally good in that regard. First, the figure has decent balance. Flatfooted, Aayla Secura is pretty solid, and because of the lower half articulation of the figure, she has decent posing options, though many outside having her flatfooted result in her falling over. Still, the holes in the bottom of her feet allow her to stand tall on any number of playsets in outlandish poses or stand in an action pose ready to defend other Jedi on Geonosis . . . or die horribly on some CD planet!
Aayla Secura holds up exceptionally well in the articulation department, despite the cloak being problematic. She has hinged ball and socket joints at the ankles, knees, groin socket, elbows and shoulders, as well as a ball and socket joint which allows a great range of motion for the head. The wrists have simple swivel joints and the bustline is on a ball joint to give her additional flexibility.
Unfortunately, Aayla Secura is cursed with the cloak, which lowers the range of motion in the arms and is so gangly as to make the Jedi Knight look silly.
Collectibility
Aayla Secura is part of the Vintage Collection line that was released in 2011 and is making a slight resurgence at the moment in the primary marketplace. Aayla Secura is Vintage Collection figure VC58 and it easily replaces the Attack Of The Clones Aayla Secura, despite the lack of a base. Right now, this looks to be a strong investment figure, despite the doofy looking cloth robe.
Overview
With the hood on the cloak up, the gangly cloak on Aayla Secura makes the figure virtually immobile and obscures all of the great detailing Hasbro did. Even so, removing the cloak gives you a pretty awesome, articulated figure that is better than the original, despite the coloring.
For other Vintage Collection figures from Revenge Of The Sith, please check out my reviews of:
VC17 General Grievous
VC37 Super Battle Droid
VC41 Commander Gree
VC46 AT-RT Driver
7.5/10
For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!
© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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