Clone Commander Cody - TBS [P2] - Six Inch Figures (#14)

We’ll admit it. Clone Commander Cody in The Black Series [Phase II] lineup is a pleasant surprise. He isn’t exactly perfect, but we’ll concede however that Hasbro did an admirable effort on him for the 6” scaled line. If you think about it, Clone Commander Cody was a big leap ahead of all other clones produced to date. Most of his armor is unique. In fact, when Hasbro produced the 3.75” 2009 LC Clone Commander Cody (BD44) figure, they essentially needed to create an all-new sculpt because of all the unique components of his armor as well as the three-dimensional battle-damaged gashes in his plastoid armor. Hasbro saved some pennies this time around by completely reusing the legs of 2014’s TBS [P1] Clone Trooper (#14) figure. But the rest of Clone Commander Cody is all-new and we have to tell you that you’re going to be pleased with what Hasbro has accomplished with this figure. On top of tooling proportionate and screen accurate armor, Hasbro tried something new with this release. The case his shoulder armor and his visor in a totally different color than the rest of the white armor and glued it to the sculpt. Not only does this create clean lines and a strong transition of color, it gives the figure a new level of authenticity that we just haven’t really seen in this line so far. Added details like the bicep garters and the antenna coming out from Clone Commander Cody’s left shoulder armor have also been tooled with care. Nothing looks wonky or out of place and proportions to these tiny parts aren’t out of whack. The phase II helmet, although obscured by the visor, is also excellently sculpted and cleanly painted. It sits a little too high on the neck post, but you might be able to forgive this misstep as you get a fabulous range of motion with it (because of the error).

We really look forward to what other phase II clones (or commanders) Hasbro has planned for this scale. They seem to be right on the money here and it’s our hope that if they can up the ante on the paint operations that they will pretty much have a perfect design here going forward. That brings us to the paint operations. Clone Commander Cody does have a couple of varying colors of orange. This is obviously because there are molded orange plastic parts as well as painted white parts. It’s our guess that Hasbro intended for all of the orange parts to match, but sadly they don’t. The chest stripes and leg strip are darker whereas the molded orange plastic parts are very light. Honestly, it’s a minor setback because Clone Commander Cody really looks fantastic despite his coloring imperfections. All of the articulation is here that you have come to expect. Clone Commander Cody doesn’t disappoint in this light at all. He can be posed in a variety of way and has excellent balance for some of the more extreme action-packed positions clone lovers will undoubtedly want to try. We do have to draw your attention to the lack of accessories. Hasbro claims they want to give collectors something more substantial in this range. Collectors however will only be satiated if and only if Hasbro can finalize the 6” range with complete and beautiful paint operations AS WELL AS include a plethora of accessories with the figures. Adding a DC-15 blaster and DC-15 blaster rifle to Clone Commander Cody is NOT enough. Where is the holoprojector and Darth Sidious hologram? Where is Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber hilt? Where is the removable helmet and removable backpack? (Oh, you didn’t know? Yes, the backpack isn’t removable. It’s actually more of a blessing than a curse).

We have always strongly felt for years that clones who reveal their faces/heads in the films should receive a removable helmet. For instance, Commander Gree and Commander Bly should NOT come with removable helmets. Clone Commander Cody however SHOULD have come with a removable helmet. We also feel that Hasbro should have also retooled his left leg to add the deep scratches into the armor like the onscreen character had. And then the figure should have been beautifully finished off with some dirt to show the residue of the Utapau terrain. For $22.99 and higher, Hasbro has to give us a little more “stuff” for our money, especially for a line that they say they are dedicating to collectors. With all that being said, we still believe that Clone Commander Cody will be a hit, especially since there is a huge younger Star Wars audience who are in love with clones. There is enough quality here to not only engage the younger audience, but even adult collectors who aren’t against the Prequel Trilogy. It will be interesting to see where Hasbro takes the 6” line when it comes to the rest of the clone commanders. Hasbro should know by now that we see clones in the same way as we do bounty hunters. If you make one then you have to make them all. We think with just a few small exceptions that Hasbro is already on the right track. We really didn’t have high hopes for Clone Commander Cody, but we have been proven otherwise. We’re actually sort of impressed with him. We hope Hasbro continues this trend while only attempting to elevate to an even higher level. Clone Commander Cody is hopefully only the beginning of a string of high quality 6” clones. More accessories, more paint and high quality plastics is all we ask for in return of our $20+.