Anakin Vs Asajj (Clone Wars) - Dioramas

With the release of the Asajj Ventress Vs Anakin Skywalker Diorama, Sideshow Collectibles tried to kill two birds with one stone. Obviously a big fan of Tartakovsky’s take on the Clone Wars, they’ve have paid tribute to his work through awesome 12” figures like Asajj Ventress (Dark Side Disciple) and General Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Master) and now they have brought his series into a new format, the polystone diorama, but with a twist. Immediately reminiscent of the battle between Anakin Skywalker and Asajj Ventress on Yavin IV, the diorama replicates the familiar “staircase” that Anakin battled Asajj up in the conclusion of Volume 1 (of Tartakovsky’s series). But the twist is that both Anakin Skywalker and Asajj Ventress are both realistic versions of their characters in Filoni’s The Clone Wars television series. So it’s interesting that this polystone diorama is actual a “realistic version of an animated series version of an animated series”. How is that for meta-analysis? Technically this diorama should be sourced to the Expanded Universe (as it didn’t happen) but we will file it under an artistic, but realistic approach to the two different animated series.

The best thing about this diorama is the staircase. We’re half inclined to used it as a display for our Hasbro Star Wars figures! It’s intricately sculpted and well-designed and it has been painted even better. Anakin Skywlaker and Asajj Ventress are two separate pieces that attach to the staircase belt via plugs. And then the lightsaber blades are also separate attachments that need to be placed on the hilts. It’s for sure a well-engineered piece. Asajj and Anakin appear to make eye contact when it’s all put together and the figures look great fighting against each other. Since they are realistic versions of their The Clone Wars characters, there is a lot more to appreciate here than say if they were molded in the animated look. For example, Anakin Skywalker looks just like the 12” General Anakin Skywalker (Jedi Knight) figure Sideshow Collectibles made in 2010. But due to the smaller scale, not all of his features have been captured as well as we had hoped so we aren’t completely satisfied with the portrait. However, the other parts of him are remarkably done including his cybernetic arm holding the lightsaber. We are thoroughly impressed with it.

If you’re an exclusive collector of Sideshow Collectibles products, you’ll be happy to know that Asajj Ventress comes with and alternate portrait. And to be honest, if Sideshow Collectibles wanted to ensure complete sell through of the regular version, they should have made the exclusive portrait the standard portrait because it is significantly better. While we’re not totally thrilled with her very red and open mouth (she looks like some sort of vampire who just ate), there is a cool expression they captured in her eyes which makes her look more threatening and intimidating. Overall, this polystone diorama is very well done. We are slightly bothered by how light the staircase weighs (it seems like Sideshow Collectibles really skimps sometimes on how much polystone they use in their pieces anymore), it just looks so visually stunning it is honestly hard to complain about it. This was a clever concept and it may not be for every collector, but we think it turned out pretty well. The point of dioramas is to take in the scene at once. We mentioned that we weren’t entirely happy with the likenesses on the portraits. But honestly it doesn’t matter. The interaction of the characters and the action in the scene is what’s important. You’ll need to note things like this to realize what a great piece this is.