Clone Commander Cody/Clone Trooper Echo - TCW [R] - Two-Packs (Under The Helmet)

There’s absolutely no denying that the Rookies episode was one of the most entertaining of all in The Clone Wars season 1. We got a good look at the personalities of Clone Commander Cody and Captain Rex and then we had the pleasure of getting to know their respective squadrons. A clone is a clone is a clone most people say, but Filoni’s The Clone Wars has proven that they are actually quite individualistic and have their own thoughts and feelings on things and not just some robotic human who follow orders blindly. This revised take on the clone sort of contradicts their behavior in Episode III, but it makes for wonderful storytelling in a television show. Because the Rookiees episode centers on the training of the clones, Hasbro knew they could make exclusive “gold” by developing a couple of concepts based on the episode. The final results are good, but perhaps Hasbro could have done more to make them truly “golden”.

Whereas the Captain Rex/Clone Trooper Fives set contains an exclusive figure, the Clone Commander Cody/Clone Trooper Echo set does not. However, collectors and kids are treated to exclusive repaints to these figures, although if you want our honest opinion, the paint jobs are not vastly different from their basic figure counterparts and you may just want to skip this set altogether. Clone Commander Cody is a repaint of 2008’s TCW [B] Clone Commander Cody (No. 10) figure and Clone Trooper Echo is a repaint of 2009’s TCW [R] Clone Trooper Echo (CW17) figure. Clone Commander Cody now has white battle-damage scrapes on his armor and the orange paint used to decorate his armor is lighter and brighter. The scare on his face is clearly pronounced and you can see the inclusion of some red detail (along with the black line) to make it pop out a little bit more. In our book, this is enough to consider this a new take on Clone Commander Cody. In fact, it may be the best version of Clone Commander Cody in the line. The paint job is superior here.

Clone Trooper Echo also has some differences from his basic figure counterpart. The handprint made in Rishi eel blood is now solid (as if more of the blood made the print “bleed” together – there are no areas of white intermixed with the blood). And we have also noticed that Clone Trooper Echo’s eyebrows have become alarmingly thicker for this release. In fact, this new paint application almost makes him look like a completely different clone trooper. And that’s pretty much it when it comes to itemizing the differences of these two figures. Both come fairly outfitted with various weapons and Clone Trooper Echo comes with an “exclusive” silver DC-15 blaster, something we see next to never in The Clone Wars line. This set nicely complements the Captain Rex/Clone Trooper Fives two-pack. And we feel it’s a shame that the Under The Helmet concept didn’t proceed beyond these two sets. Imagine how far Hasbro could have gone with this. Clone Commanders and an all-new clone trooper from his battlaion to accompany him seems like a no-brainer to us. Oh well. But what do we know?