COMMANDER CODY Battle of Utapau Commanders
The Saga Collection Battle Packs Unleashed
Item No.: Asst. 85768 No. 85882
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: 3 more figures: Obi-Wan Kenobi, General Grievous, Bodyguard
Action Feature: Push button for jaw biting attack
Retail: $9.99
Availability: December 2005
Appearances: Revenge of The Sith

Bio: Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi has fought tirelessly for months during the Outer Rim Sieges. Now his struggle to restore peace and justice to the galaxy leads him to the sinkhole planet of Utapau, where he is to destroy the dreaded droid army commander, General Grievous. Accompanied by the elite Clone Commander Cody and his fearless battalion of clone troopers, Obi-Wan hunts down Grievous, but must first fight through his powerful horde of IG-100 series bodyguards. Obi-Wan is triumphant and defeats Grievous, although he senses the real battle has just begun. When the secret Order Sixty-Six is issued by the Emperor, Commander Cody and the clone troopers turn on Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan barely escapes by falling into a sinkhole and emerges to discover that a Sith Lord has mercilessly ordered the execution of the Jedi High Council. (Taken from the set's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' computer monitor.

Commentary: As Hasbro's first Commander Cody figure you might assume it might not be their best-- and you'd be right. The orange is a little muted, the helmet sculpt seems off-model, and the pose is weird. Sure, he's got a gun and what seems to be the communicator on which he is ordered to execute Order 66, but the detail at this size is a little lacking and aside from sitting down the figure and admiring it, there's not much else it can do. Well, that's a half-truth-- Commander Cody is articulated at the neck, shoulders, and waist, plus he has a display base molded to his foot to guarantee he stays standing. If you're a fan who truly looks to build large small-scale dioramas, this is a great figure to have. He doesn't take up a lot of room and with his non-removable accessories, your only concern is to make sure someone doesn't crush it or the dog doesn't eat off his head. It's a solid figure and feels like it could handle some rough play or transportation, but like anything it could snap if you're not careful. The plastic isn't nearly as rubbery as that used in the full-size Cody (perhaps that just seems that way due to its size), so it's a sturdy little figure. If you want figures to display on your computer monitors at home and/or work, these are some of the best possible figures you could ever hope to get.

Collector's Notes: As part of the first wave of the "Unleashed Battle Packs," it's thought that the line was more than a little inspired by Play Along Toys' "Armies of Middle Earth" toy line from Lord of the Rings as all the figures are basically designed for the sole purpose of diorama making. The set sold fairly well as the line goes, and according to Hasbro this assortment seems to be doing well enough in the format of 4-packs. The larger sets with playset pieces and the big "gift sets" did not do quite as well. The line as a whole is a neat concept but it's also competing against several other Hasbro-made scales of toys, and this one seems to have some of the worst level of detail. In a micro-scale figure of 1-inch or less, this would be acceptable. At this size, some of the figures just come off as weak. Later figures in this line turned out much better, but considering how great sculpting tended to be as of 2006, there's really no excuse for a middle-of-the-road figure to be produced of such a popular character.

Day 615: January 11, 2008