TV Discussion The Ahsoka Tano Mega Thread Power Hour

Love or hate the character (and yes I'll be the first to acknowledge there's still a little of both in this forum), you can't deny Ashley's devotion to her through her Her Universe fashion line.

Ashley Eckstein Coming to Walt Disney World & Disneyland Resort for Launch of New Ahsoka Fashion Collection



She's pictured with her husband (former MLB player) David, wearing a t-shirt with the Twilight of the Apprentice script from Rebels where Ahsoka tells Darth Vader, "I am no Jedi".

 

That's what makes her one of the greatest, most loveable Star Wars actors; the passion for her character!

 

It’s also a popular character that’ll help sell clothes. Yeah, passion. For sure. In spades. But also, you know, regular old capitalism.

 

That too.

 

But you can say that for any character. Darth Vader and Boba Fett sold themed SW clothing for decades before Ahsoka was even a household name.

Ashley has the passion for her character. That's the difference. She's creating and selling themed clothing featuring a character that she helped bring to life in the first place.

 

Of course she does. I mean, all great characters of Star Wars have had their passionate actors behind them - Luke, Leia, etc. Except for maybe Ford, but not caring is just his schtick.

She absolutely should be proud of Ahsoka. That makes sense. Just as it makes sense to marry that pride with the clear popularity of the character, which leads to money.

It’s not a critique! All power to her. Just don’t want to pretend it’s some form of heroism or something. Or even very unusual. It simply…makes perfect, practical sense for her to promote the popular character she played. Especially as she’s not gunning for a broader acting career. Which is refreshing and likable.

 

Well that's the whole thing about Ashley. If she was ever truly bitter about not having been asked to reprise the Ahsoka role in LA form, she never showed it. She's not among those that would wear their heart on their sleeve. She always has a bubbly attitude and it's conveyed into her business. She even wrote a book, It's Your Universe, to inspire young girls to think big and follow their dreams. I attended her book tour for that, and that's where she signed my Ahsoka novel (in my sig).

 

She really does go above and beyond to use this platform for good. She's not the only one who does that, but her efforts to amplify the voices of women in Star Wars and empower female fans are highly commendable. We need more people like her.

 

And tbh, while it may be just my opinion, I actually still believe that she has a passion for the franchise that goes beyond just promoting her merchandising. I know she shows up annually in panels for Celebration, for instance. I'd imagine you can talk to her about anything related to the franchise when it comes down to it.

 

Ashley is at NYCC through the weekend. I was there yesterday and was thinking of meeting her again and getting her autograph, but she was charging around $140 for standard autographs and more on Funko Pops. Just too pricey for me for an autograph.


Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

Could be worse. Isn’t Mark Hamill’s autograph anywhere from $400 to $700?

 

Yeah but Mark can at least be classified as an A-lister. I like Ashley a much as anyone can, but no one can argue that she's anywhere close to a household name. As I've posted in the Community forums, I got Hayley Atwell's autograph, along with a couple of actors from the Starship Troopers film. None of them charged over $90.

I think the most I paid for an autograph was for Christopher Lloyd's a few years ago; where he charged over $100. But that's Christopher Lloyd.

 

Is it a Star Wars thing in particular then? Just the potential for items to be resold pushing up the price.

 

I really don't know. What's really weird is that I got an update on my news feed from Ashley's Her Universe page that seemed to suggest that they're having a special for signing Diamond Ahsoka Funko Pops at their NYCC booth this weekend.

 

Jeez, does that come with a complimentary medical exam too?

I once got Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph for the price of the book he was promoting, same with Neil Gaiman. I've gotten pictures with several WWE wrestlers for around $20 during appearance tours. Of course all this was many, many years ago so and I understand they were promoting stuff but still... I guess things have changed but damn, some of those prices need to be capped.

I would think that autographs are like currency, the more of them in circulation, the less they're worth. I mean, if you have some unusual or rare piece of merchandise that's autographed then that's a different story, like if you got Harrison Ford to write "I shot first" on a Greedo action figure mint in the box then yeah you can probably cash in on that...but something like a plain autograph on a generic 8X10 picture? Not so much.

 

It's funny that you mentioned that, since I did get Ashley's autograph when I attended a book signing for her, "It's Your Universe" release. I got her to sign both that book, as well as the Ahsoka novel (picture in my signature in the APPLES link).

 

Oh that's awesome! I particularly like that she addressed it to your username. Neil Gaiman did a little doodle of rat along with his autograph on my copy of "Coraline." I'm guessing you just paid for the book and nothing additional for the signing? That was the case in my cited examples. I'm wondering now if those exorbitant autograph prices are just a "convention" thing and not personal greed on the actors part although I'm doubtful.

 

Yeah I asked her to personalize it with my JCF name; I also had other signings from Taylor Gray (Ezra) and Vanessa Marshall (Hera) that were personalized to the JCF name. You guessed correct about Ashley signing the book for free. I did pay for the others to sign. Several years later I actually got Anthony Daniels to sign his I AM C3PO book, but considering he had a massive crowd, he wouldn't personalize it.