Commander Cody is the 4th prequel clone figure that Hasbro has put out in the 6" Black Series range, but the first to utilise the Mk2 helmet as seen in Revenge of the Sith.
Cody arrives in the blue phase 2 packaging, and is badged as #14, coming as part of what we would class as wave 9, and interestingly was packed two per case alongside Boushh and IG-88 - the first time this had happened in the range to this point. Cody, like the other wave 9 figures, has no character biography or text on the rear of the box but does sport the usual grey lined artwork which is a really nice depiction of Cody.
I have reviewed 3 other clones prior to this review, so I am going to start by looking at the key differences with Cody over the 3 flavours of Mark 1 clone.
Starting at the feet - and there is no difference between the two clone types on the legs. On Cody you do get orange painted knee pads and this actually looks much nicer than the white clones as we all know the knee and elbow pads on the white clones look off white vs the rest of the armour. Cody also sports an orange flash across his left thigh.
The belt is the same sculpt on both, but Cody's is painted/molded in grey colouring. He then has three different coloured pouches on the belt and much more detail on the rear cylinder with 4 different paint applications vs the plain white on the Mk1.
The chest piece is the first significant molding change with a more angular cut out at the stomach area. To signify his rank, Cody also has an insignia molded into the left of the chest and this again has at least 3, maybe 4 paint colours applied. Cody's chest piece is also sculpted with battle damage and this works really well even if it isn't painted as weathered. The orange colouring continues on the chest and rather than painted flat and clean, it is actually rough and "scratched" to add to the worn feel.
Spin Cody round and the back is completely different with Cody sporting a back pack piece which looks to have slotted on to the usual rear panel of the Mk1 clone. Hands, lower arm and elbow pieces are identical to the Mk1 other than some additional paint apps on Cody. The right bicep piece on Cody then has a strap and apparatus. Both shoulders have slightly variant shoulder pieces vs the Mk1 with some relief imprinted designs. They also look to be molded from the orange colour and are quite a lot thinner. The left shoulder also has Cody's aerial piece molded in place.
The helmet is the obvious difference and is a really good job in both capturing the Mk2 style and then customising it with the Commander visor and the aerial pieces. The helmet is, like a lot of the other parts, painted really well in numerous colours with no bleed or mis-aligned decals?
Articulation is pretty much the same as the Mk1 with a bit of leg movement but a lot of it restricted by the leg armour. The arms can get into a two handed weapon pose, which is nice, but they can't get do a great deal more due to the shoulder pads. The head sits a bit higher on the neck piece than the Mk1 and that allows for a huge range of movement - unfortunately if you have Cody looking up or to the side it starts to look odd with his neck too extended.
Cody comes with the same weaponry as the Mk1 clones with a blaster and a larger rifle. I would, like most people, have preferred to have seen one weapon and instead had the Holo Palpatine to replicate the Revenge of the Sith scene.
Cody is a significant improvement on the Mk1 clone without doing much different. The paint apps make a big difference, particularly covering up those ugly mis-matched knee and elbow pads with a coloured paint. The paint is also really neatly done and considering the details like the chest rank insignia is not out of line at any point. Articulation on the clone's will always be restrictive, same as the Storm Trooper, but Cody does enough to hit a couple of decent poses.
All of the other clones to date have scored 2 out of 5, and Cody is definitely improved enough to score a 3. He misses out on a 4 really due to a lack of that Emperor Holo which feels like a big miss.
