2025 SWTVC March Madness

[McMetal]

Congratulations to Mara Jade!! 

[Jeff]

17. Mara Jade vs. 8. Echo
4. Luthen Rael vs. 5. Baze Malbus
2. Wrecker vs. 7. Asajj Ventress
3. Crosshair vs. vs. 6. Tech

I guess Mara winning tells me a lot about the audience voting in this poll...  and same with Echo beating out an OT cantina alien.


Here's my final four...
Echo
Luthen
Wrecker
Tech

Have to vote for the guys who have never had a figure (Echo, Luthen, Wrecker) over those with a figure (Mara, Baze, Asajj).  5POA Baze sucks but at least he has a figure.

[Dave]

Have to vote for the guys who have never had a figure (Echo, Luthen, Wrecker) over those with a figure (Mara, Baze, Asajj).  5POA Baze sucks but at least he has a figure.

That is exactly my thinking and how I voted.  I'll pass on redoing an "imperfect" figure to get something totally new.

[Rob]

That's my general approach too but I wouldn't mind a really nicely done Two Tubes... I voted for:

THE WEST
THE STRANGER  VS  MARA JADE
ARLEIL SCHOUS  VS  ECHO (The Bad Batch)
LUTHEN RAEL  VS  SAW GERRERA
PONG KRELL VS  BAZE MALBUS

THE EAST
WRECKER  VS  TWO TUBES
AGENT KALLUS  VS  ASAJJ VENTRESS
CROSSHAIR  VS  ENDOR REBEL COMMANDO
PADME AMIDALA (Geonosis)  VS  TECH

[Jedi Idej]

I went with all never-before-made, also, with the exception of Baze. As much as I want Krell, Rogue One is a kick-ass movie (to me), Baze is a kick-ass character (to me), and I feel it's time to finally give him the TVC treatment. (Bhodi next!)

[Nicklab]

Here's my voting for the Elite Eight

ECHO VS  MARA JADE
LUTHEN RAEL  VS  BAZE MALBUS
WRECKER  VS  ASAJJ VENTRESS
CROSSHAIR  VS  TECH

Somehow, I got tricked into voting for characters from The Bad Batch!!!  And I'm hoping for a final of LUTHEN RAEL VS  ASAJJ VENTRESS.  With that matchup I would consider it a win either way.

[Nicklab]

Voting results from the Elite Eight!


Echo (The Bad Batch) - 795
Mara Jade - 865


Luthen Rael - 778
Baze Malbus - 882


Wrecker - 774
Asajj Ventress - 886


Crosshair - 858
Tech - 802


So here's the Final Four:

Mara Jade  VS Baze Malbus
Asajj Ventress VS  Crosshair


Miraculously I still have 2 characters from my Top 25 still in the mix - Baze Malbus & Asajj Ventress.

[Dave]

Can someone more up on this explain the desire for another Asajj Ventress?  If I'm counting right we've already got five different versions of her.

I'm clearly out of synch with what people are looking for these days

[P-Siddy]

Can someone more up on this explain the desire for another Asajj Ventress?  If I'm counting right we've already got five different versions of her.

I'm clearly out of synch with what people are looking for these days

I think part of it is some people want existing (or retooled) figures on TVC cardbacks... *shrug*

[Nicklab]

Seeing how I'm pushing for Ventress to win?  Here's some of my reasoning:

WHAT HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN RELEASED:
-Clone Wars (2002)
-Tartakovsky animated style (2003)
-ROTS Battle Pack (2005)
-The Clone Wars animated style (2008)
-The Legacy Collection Comic 2-Pack (2008)


It's pretty eye-opening to me that the most recent 3.75" version of Ventress is 17 years old.  Especially in light of how her character was developed over the course of The Clone Wars series which debuted in 2008.  Only one of the figures actually has articulated knees, and that's the 2008 Clone Wars animated version - not the one from the 2008 Legacy Collection comic pack.  The Black Series version is really good, but that's a 6" figure.  That could be a good template for a TVC version of Ventress.  But the basic features of things like softgoods, an excellent likeness, and reasonable levels of articulation like knees and ankles don't seem like extravagant asks.  I'm not one that has gotten over the top discussing rocker ankles or the new hip joint design.  If that had been offered as a 3.75" TBS figure?  I wouldn't make the argument for a new Ventress, because I recognize how much "Because Vintage Cardback" is not a good enough reason.  But reasonable, modern figure design standards?  I think that's worth arguing for.

There's also the matter of what has been released from the same entertainment.  The Clone Wars is actually one of the best represented entertainment sources in TVC.  It only seems natural that some of the villains would get a similar degree of attention from Hasbro.

[Jeff]

I guess out of those 4, I'm pulling for Baze.  Crosshair is already on Jayson's TVC rumor list; Asajj was in the Final 4 (2024) and the Final 2 (2023) in years past so she's got to be on Hasbro's radar; and I'm fine with my custom Mara (the 2013 release with a Marvel Black Widow head swap).

[Rob]

Yeah I guess I'd vote Baze out of that group too.

That said, it's a final four that does very little for me.

[Dave]

Yeah I guess I'd vote Baze out of that group too.

That said, it's a final four that does very little for me.

Ditto.  I think I've aged out of the masses that vote for these things.

[Rob]

Yeah but also looking at the results from the last round, the vote tallies were pretty close.  Less than 100 separating each winner from each loser with vote totals over 1600.  So I don’t think we’re THAT out of touch.

[Nicklab]

Mara Jade VS Asajj Ventress for the finals?  It's easy for me to pick this - Asajj Ventress.

Here character turned from that of a henchman (henchwoman?) for Dooku in the Tartakovsky Clone Wars into something far better developed in the 2008 Clone Wars series and beyond.  She was the one executing the plans in the movie that launched The Clone Wars in 2008.  She was a device for showing the treachery of the Sith when Sidious and Dooku tried to dispose of her.  Then she was the device for introducing the Night Sisters of Dathomir into TCW, and that in turn brought to light the notion of disparate factions of Force users who tapped into the Force in different ways from the Jedi and the Sith.  And then the long arc of Ventress finding her way after her exile by Dooku led to some interesting storytelling, including her working her way into the final season of The Bad Batch.