Holographic Clone Commander Cody - TSC - Basic (SAGA 056)

It’s easy to get fed up with holographic action figures, isn’t it? You would think that our first clone trooper in this status would be exciting, but he actually lacks a lot more than expected. But ironically, this sculpt works better as a hologram than a realistic version of the character. The Saga Collection included some of the best action figures of all time, but Hasbro did milk the line a little bit when it came to holographic versions of popular Star Wars characters. After all, the line brought us no less than three of them. Holographic Clone Commander Cody should have been a holographic figure we did like, but to be honest, it’s just not that enthralling. Often times, holographic figures are very small or difficult to see in films, but Clone Commander Cody was one character where we could see the holographic image very clearly. He’s actually a great choice for a holographic action figure. And since Hasbro had already created a good version of Clone Commander Cody in wave 4 of The Saga Collection, they can make a great holographic version with probably more articulation than you would ever need.

Hasbro has essentially mastered the way in which to created holographic action figures. Right before the release of this figure, Hasbro was using translucent purple plastic. But since that time they have figured out a way to include a glittery substance to help pick up the light and give figures a glowing quality. The feature works and the change to sky blue has helped the overall aesthetics of holographic image action figures. We think that they'll get no better actually, but their current status is good enough for now. Interestingly, Clone Commander Cody comes with all the accessories his non-holographic version did. This means that you get the removable helmet, DC-15 blaster rifle and removable jetpack all in translucent blue. Quite frankly, it's odd to have a holographic image with removable accessories like this, but since the original figure was made this way, so will the holographic version. You also get the same articulation so you’ll likely see the various ball-joints through the clear blue plastic. This will obviously distract some collectors and proof that too much articulation isn't the most ideal for this style of figure.

One thing that is very hard to capture in holographic action figures is a clearly defined face. When you tilt and turn the portrait in the light, you’ll eventually be able to see all of the facial features, but overall, the face is very difficult to make out. And this is pretty much the same case (albeit slightly easier) when the helmet is put on his head. It’s always been fascinating to us that holographic “heads” have this phenomenon in our eyes. Despite the overall silhouette being recognizable, faces never seem to work the same way. Whether or not you feel this action figure has value will be up to you. It’s definitely boring and other than displaying it on a shelf somewhere, there is really no point to own this action figure. A nicely designed desk for Palpatine with a scaled down and non-articulated Clone Commander Cody would have worked much better. But accessories of that size just won't happen in this day and age. What's nice however is that Holographic Clone Commander Cody was also shown in full scale so a 3.75" action figure is accurate to what was seen in the film. But despite this, there may be a little bit more to consider here because the figure is almost its own misfit. For one-of-everything collectors, this figure is an obligatory purchase, but many other may be able to stay its purchase and find many other worthwhile figures instead. We say consider this one first.