Commander Cody - Mini Busts

Clone Commander Cody, also known as unit 2224, was a loyal clone trooper serving the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. Cody was often under the command of General Obi-Wan Kenobi, and served with him and Anakin Skywalker during a nearly disastrous campaign on Cato Neimoidia. Cody was ultimately subservient to the orders of the Republic, and when Order 66 was enacted – branding Kenobi an enemy of the state – Cody willingly carried out the command to open fire on his former friend.

2007 ended up being a banner year for Gentle Giant Ltd. and their popular Mini Busts line. They beat out a heavy quantity of different Mini Busts, but the quality of them was noting we had seen in the line to date. Arguably, the biggest sensation of their 2007 offerings were the clone commanders that became the proud headliners of their 2007 World Tour promotion. From May through September of 2007, Gentle Giant Ltd. reserved a specific clone commander for a convention event that they personally attended. Commander Cody was the lucky candidate for San Diego Comic Con and Gentle Giant wisely reserved the largest edition size for this particular event. With a solid 3500 pieces made, Commander Cody quickly became one of the most popular Mini Busts in 2007, as well as the entire line. To top it off, Gentle Giant Ltd. added a very special light-up feature so that collectors could recreate the Order 66 execution that changed the pace of the Star Wars saga forever. Commander Cody is a tremendously wonderful Mini Bust. With a brilliant likeness and screen specific accuracy, there’s not much to complain about when a licensee is this faithful to a film.

As previously mentioned, Commander Cody has been sculpted based on a scene ripped right out of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. You honestly couldn’t ask for a more exact representation of the character. Commander Cody is looking slightly downward with his hand outstretched holding the reduced scale holographic image of Darth Sidious. If you look carefully at the hologram, you’ll be truly impressed with how much detail Gentle Giant bothered adding to this extra detail. The base of the Mini Bust has a battery compartment and with the push of one small button, the hologram lights up beautifully to give it the effect that was seen in the film. It’s very impressive. Commander Cody’s head is removable, but it’s been placed on a square peg, so it doesn’t rotate around. This makes sense as the only natural way that his head should be positioned is slightly downward looking at the hologram. Either lit up or unlit, Commander Cody looks gorgeous. We prefer if Mini Busts come without electronics, but we have to concede that Gentle Giant ltd. made the right decision here by including this special feature. It brings so much t this collectible piece.

But more impressive than the light-up feature is the paint job the artists gave Commander Cody. It’s almost too much to take in at once. Gentle Giant Ltd. obviously spared no expense to bring a paint scheme that couldn’t be more exact to the character we see in Episode III. The hand painted details are unprecedented in the Mini Bust line and now Gentle Giant Ltd. has to hold themselves to a much higher level of quality going forward There is certainly nothing wrong with that. Overall, Commander Cody may just be one of the most exciting Mini Busts in a long time. We waited a very long time to get the fan favorite clone commanders and now they’ve been released. The best part about this is that there is nothing to be disappointed about because they have been done so incredibly well. Gentle Giant Ltd. also did something very special for collectors. They reserved the first 500 pieces and put together 500 individual sets of all five clone commanders where all five shared the same edition number. They were then packaged in a deluxe box set and sold through a raffle for Premier Guild Members. It’s a very highly sought-after set. Consider yourself fortunate if you own it.