Commander Cody - Premium Format Figures

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.

Commander Cody was part of an advanced training program of clone commanders led by the ARC trooper identified as Alpha. Unlike standard Kaminoan educational protocols, this training regimen did not de-emphasize individuality and outside-the-manual thinking. Cody's tour of duty included campaigns on Rendili, Koorivar, Cato Neimoidia, Maramere and Boz Pity. He led the 212th Attack Battalion and was comfortable both leading large units and commanding small attack teams. Often, Cody would employ a rocket pack, leading his elite units through individual aerial maneuvers.

It’s a little bit hard to process that Commander Cody wasn’t Sideshow Collectibles first choice for a clone in the Premium Format Figures line. In fact, he wasn’t even their second choice. To most everyone’s surprise, Commander Cody was the third clone, and the second based on one of the Star Wars Prequel trilogy films, to be produced for the Premium Format Figures line, a high-end collectibles line that creeps up in price every year to the point of soon becoming unaffordable to those who have collected the line since the beginning. First the Clone Trooper (Episode II) Premium Format Figure was released first (and Sideshow Exclusive figures were treated to a phase II helmet) and second was Captain Rex (based on his appearance in The Clone Wars film). Both were great but collectors wanted to start seeing more of the clone commanders from Revenge Of The Sith. Sideshow Collectibles listened and now comes one of the most popular clone commanders in the entire Star Wars universe: Commander Cody. It’s a nice collectible, but you may be wanting more from it. Sideshow Exclusive collectors are once again treated to an interchangeable portrait. The treat here is that they’ve included Commander Cody’s phase I helmet portrait which to date is exclusive to The Clone Wars film and television series. It’s wonderful to have both versions. And since this is a realistic interpretation of Commander Cody, this is another cherished collectors for fans of The Clone Wars who want to see more and more collectibles based in realistic style.

To be honest, the Commander Cody Premium Format Figure didn’t grab us like so many other figures in this line. We were extremely excited for it and we think it summarily meets expectations, but perhaps a little more wit could have been worked into this piece to make it more collector friendly. We don’t mean to be overly critical, but it seems that Sideshow Collectibles got a little bit lazy here. Let’s face it. The most memorable appearance of Commander Cody is when he is being instructed to commence with Order 66. In his hand was a lighted hologram of Darth Sidious. We wish Sideshow Collectibles would have decided to go with a more static pose of this clone commander and have an interchangeable hand holding a light-up hologram as the exclusive... or just an extra add on here. Even the addition of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber hilt placed somewhere on the base in the rocky Utapau terrain would have been sublime. But instead we get a Premium Format Figure that mirrors what we see in reference books like Commander Cody running with his DC-15 blaster rifle in hand like in the Visual Dictionary for example. Again, that’s just our opinion. But as avid collectors of this line we expect Sideshow Collectibles to think outside of the box for these extremely expensive collectibles. This Commander Cody release feels more like “Here is your Commander Cody PF statue. Happy now?” (That is an exaggerated antic, so don’t take it too seriously, but hopefully you catch our drift.)

The Clone Wars portrait is nice, but it shouldn’t have been the Sideshow Exclusive piece here. Again, this is just our opinion and you may feel completely differently about this. Despite our mild disappointment in this figure, we do admit that we like it. The polystone is heavy and high quality. It has also been sculpted beautifully. And the mixed media is wonderful. (Commander Cody is wearing a real body glove in the parts that are visible through the armor. We love these extra touches.) The paint operations are equally beautiful, although, we’re a little perplexed by some of the shades used. For example, the middle section of the armor that has always appeared gray in Hasbro’s action figures of this character is now a shade of pink on the Premium Format Figure. It’s indeed a little bizarre, but as strange as it seems it appears to fit as much as it does to confuse. Yeah, it doesn’t make much sense to us either. Despite this, we’re certain you’ll be impressed with how well this figure has been decorated. We’d like to point out one more tiny detail that bothers us. His left shoulder antenna on our sample was bent. It seems it was made from too flimsy a material, but we want to know why they didn’t make this a removable accessory where it could have been stored flatly somewhere else within the box. (It seems like it got beat up through the shipment processes.) Anyhow, Commander Cody is still a wonderful piece. We just expect more from Sideshow Collectibles at this point. This one just feels like more of the same.