Review: Star Wars Black Series Revenge of the Sith 20th Anniversary release of Clone Commander Cody
- Mephitsu
- Apr 2
- 6 min read
“Come on, when have I ever let you down”
Clone Commander Cody was first released in the Star Wars Black Series way back in 2015, one of the very early ranking Clone Characters and the first in the Phase II armour after a slew of Phase I Clone Armor releases of various ranks. Cody would become one of the very early ‘sought after’ figures in the series until an Archive re-release in 2021. Roll forward to 2025, and to mark the 20th Anniversary of Revenge of the Sith, Commander Cody is back - not only in special Anniversary packaging but also utilising the newer Clone Trooper body.
The Revenge of the Sith anniversary packaging pays homage directly to the original 2005 figures in the 3.75 series. This is a shaped blister card design with the blister dolded and glued onto the cardback itself. The backing card is the iconic image of Vader’s helmet overlooking the lava flow of Mustafar, with the battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan reflected in the dome of the helmet. The movie logo itself is visible on the inserted front panel within the lower front part of the blister. The character name sits to the side of this, as does a cut-out image of Commander Cody that protrudes upwards within the blister itself. There is no place on the front of the packaging for either the Black Series logo, or the Revenge of the Sith Anniversary logo - items that had featured on previous anniversary cardback releases. The back of the card is more or less the same again as the 2005 version, with the text updated to mark the 20th Anniversary celebration and the image updated to that of the Black Series figure.
The packaging cannot be opened without some level of damage to the blister or the card, so these Anniversary Sets are not something that can be resealed in the future.
Cody is replicated as we see him towards the end of Revenge of the Sith, on Utapau, and at the point he receives Order 66 direct from Palpatine. This is all done on the newer Clone Trooper body, which features split component parts between the armour and the black ridged undersuit, creating a cleaner edge to each armoured panel and also expanding articulation as we will see later. Over the white of Cody’s armour we have the markings of the 212th Battalion in a deeper orange tone that is applied to recreate the hand-painted aspect of the Clone armour with uneven and rough edging and applied battle worn scratches. Cody also features a Commander insignia to the left of his chest plate with blue and orange rank indicators.
Cody’s armour is a variation of the usual Clone Trooper configuration with a different left shoulder Pauldron that features an extended white, soft plastic aerial. The amrour is finished off with a combat belt featuring multiple pouches - some in grey, some painted orange, and a couple in a silver finish. Cody is also sporting a variant backpack with an inverted tear drop design and a central panel in grey and silver. This is not removable.
The helmet follows suit with the armour, cast in white and with orange markings around the visor in particular. Two grey stripes are added across the dome with the usual eye lenses painted gloss black and grey and silver around the mouth piece. At either side of the helmet, Cody has further aerials in a softer plastic gun metal finish.
vs original 2015 release (right)
Compared to the original release, both figures carry the same detail of armour configuration and markings but the newer figure is slightly smaller and looks and feel more squat and compact. It loses the longer neck and extended waist the older Clone figures carried. That does mean the older body will still be preferable to some collectors from an aesthetics point of view.
For the first time, Cody’s helmet is removable, revealing the standard sculpted Clone head beneath. This is the same Temura Morrison likeness used on many of the unmasked Clones in recent years like Commander Appo and onward. Facial printing enhances the likeness over the base skin tone, but not perhaps to the extent we see on other more recent photo print figures, with Cody still looking and feeling a bit flat and soft in the details. There has also been no attempt to include Cody’s scar as seen in the briefing scene when the 212th arrive on Utapau. The helmet fit over the unmasked head is good and secure, with a risk of paint rub over time. There is a small part of Cody’s chin visible beneath the helmet mouthpiece from certain angles but this is minimal and can be managed through repositioning of the head and neck joint.
The original Cody figure and its Archive re-pack always featured both of the main Clone Army weapons. This ROTS release has lost the larger DC-15A Blaster Rifle and only includes the smaller DC-15s blaster. This in itself is OK, as Cody is only seen using the smaller rifle during the events of ROTS. This blaster is cast in black and fits into either hand, with both left and right hands coming with an extended trigger finger.
The new accessory provides the ability to display Cody in the iconic Order 66 scene from Revenge of the Sith. It is a cast 22mm high holographic figure of the cloaked Palpatine in a translucent blue plastic. The hologram sits on the circular emitter and the idea is for this to sit in Cody’s hands. With both hands essentially built for handling the blasters, this is not a direct fit, but there is sufficient grip in the folded four fingers to have the hologram emitter in place - albeit with Cody’s trigger finger sticking out.
Commander Cody sports 21 points of pinless articulation, with an array of posing options open to collectors outside of that Order 66 position. Cody can kneel, or sit if you provide a seated option, as well as being able to raise his arms and weapon up to his eye line for precision shooting positions with those larger pauldrons hinged onto the torso to move up with the arms. All of Cody’s joints are tight and secure and he stands securely once positioned.
The Revenge of the Sith anniversary releases of Clone Commander Cody provides collectors with a significant upgrade to the existing figure with enhanced visuals and articulation through the newer body and articulation. The unmasked helmet and unmasked head is a nice touch and reflective of the briefing scenes on Utapau, but the execution of Cody as an individual is lazy with the usual flat-painted Clone application seen on regular troopers and no attempt to replicate his scar. Accessories are fine, and while we have lost a blaster compared to the earlier releases, the addition of the Palpatine 'Order 66' hologram is a more than adequate trade-off and gives us an iconic piece of Star Wars history we can now display within our collections.
Packaged collectors and those focused on anniversary packaging will also be pleased with the design of the new packaging and once Cody is joined by the other releases, it will be an impressive display with particular meaning tothose who grew up with the prequel figures and have now migrated to the larger Black Series in the same way the Original Trilogy Anniversary carded figures evoked memories for those of us who were kids in the 70s and 80s.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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