Thursday, October 22, 2026

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,391: Clone Commander Cody (Utapau, The Vintage Collection)

CLONE COMMANDER CODY
(Utapau)

The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Walmart Exclusive 2-Pack
Item No.:
No. G3192
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #413
Includes: Blaster rifles, removable jet pack
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $39.99
Availability: August 2026
Appearances: Revenge of the Sith

Bio: On Clone Commander Cody's orders, the 212th battalion's specially trained clone paratroopers searched - to no avail - for their missing former commander, Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Taken from the cardback.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Walmart now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary:
Pairing Anakin Skywalker with Obi-Wan Kenobi makes no sense to me, but some Walmarts are still stocked with unsold 501st Legion Clones from last year so I guess "why not?" It's the 20th anniversary of Hasbro's first take on this Revenge of the Sith figure, so I guess this is as good of a time as any to pretend that this was likely intentional. We got that first one in The Saga Collection, and then in 2010 we got another movie Cody in The Vintage Collection that was pretty spectacular for ten dollars. He had a little holographic Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan's lightsaber, and a removable helmet with a Clone head underneath - and a lot more sculpted (and painted) battle damage. But this new one has better proportions, and better articulation. Who can say which one is better?

Me, I can.

Because this one is fresh, this particular shade of orange is a bit more consistent - and looks more faded - so it matches recent releases. The plastic is new, so the armor is white - and that's good. It also has more fine line deco, with more subtle battle damage (that isn't necessarily evocative of the battle-wear on Utapau) as well as finer white pin striping on the helmet and shoulders. Colors are pretty good, and odds are this character's orange battalion marks should be a little more subtle than the previous saturated orange figures. I'd argue 2026 Cody is too pale, but that is left to people who are better with this sort of thing. For some reason Hasbro made the antenna in a bone color rather than silver - I don't care for that - and painted the backs of the hands too thinly. When dealing with a light color - like orange - on top of black plastic, you have to do an extra couple of layers or it looks sort of cheap. This is something you saw a lot in 1980s toys, but less in recent years. Hasbro also kept 2026 Cody rather clean. The legs and arms don't really h ave the sculpted dents of previous editions, nor does the figure have the multitudes of slashes, scrapes, dents, and muddy bits that we saw in the movie. The copper band on the arm seems a little pale, but the visor on the helmet looks great and is a separately molded part. That costs you more. The belt pouches have a bit more zing, with some silver ones. It's interesting to see that Hasbro added some detail, while leaving some off. In this era, at $20 (or $40) a whack, my hope is that every new remake would be unquestionably better... and this one is different.

I miss the loss of Obi-Wan's lightsaber - a great play/display feature - and Cody's actual head. Maybe Hasbro has a plan for version 2.0 with more wear, the head, and a removable helmet to go with the lightsaber. All you get here are two blasters, which is a real step back from the storytelling that Hasbro gave us with the previous release. An "Execute Order 66" hologram was worth the price of admission, and the extra stuff was icing on the cake. You didn't feel that you got shorted. This time I feel they left some stuff out, since we're seeing things like Embo with a hat and alternate hands or some really wild deco on the Remnant Troopers. Cody is fine. Cody does not impress with sculpt or deco.

Cody does impress with engineering, as his hips move nicely and it's easy to pose him to stand or sit in a ship. Usually there may be some fidgeting, but here he just works. It was easy to get his hands on his blasters, and the bend-and-swivel wrists make it easy to aim too. Hasbro did an excellent job ensuring he can hold the gear they gave him. The jet pack sits nicely on the back and is decorated fairly well. It's clean, and it matches the figure.

Hasbro did spend a lot of money on the helmet, which is probably why there's no human head. The visor is a separate piece, but so are the greeblies on the sides. There are tiny, fine details around the mouth that are incredibly well done. Also, they left the nub above his visor unpainted again. I'm not fond of "deluxe" pricing, but sometimes you see a figure and you just say "well, maybe we should have seen what another five bucks could have gotten us." Posing this figure is a dream, and he looks really good, but he falls short of the considerable ambition you can read into the final product.

This is one where I'd say it's worth getting if you need a Cody and never got one. If you're happy with your old one, this may not be an improvement. If I were working at Hasbro I'd want to try again... the light, subtle battle damage doesn't work well on a small figure and I would've opted for "clean" or "dirty," in-between doesn't work for me. I assume we got what we got due to costing issues, but I'd rather they save a few more pennies and just give us a clean Cody instead. Still, recommended because it's the first new movie Cody in 13 years.

If this seems harsh, there's a reason. As we march away from "toy" and into "collectible," I don't really see much reason to be happy with an upgrade that isn't an upgrade. If this were a kid's figure for $10-$13, I'd say "this is incredibly good for the asking price" because of course you had to trim paint or accessories to meet the budget. This 2026 Cody had a ton of work put into him, and is better than the "clean" 5-jointed 2013 Saga Legends Cody [FOTD #2,069]. Now that we're at $20 I want the best-looking figure with the best gear ever... and this isn't that. It shows a lot of tooling was used, and tons of fine detailing, and advances in manufacturing techniques. And that's good! But it's not more fun, and you'll probably want to keep the 2010 model around if you're doing dioramas because of his gear and special belt with a lightsaber holster. If you want a quasi "Expanded Universe" Cody for your off-camera dio stories or whatever, Hasbro's figure is the best possible option. I just couldn't recommend you not hang on to your old one, at least for his gear.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Walmart. It can still be easily found here.

--Adam Pawlus



Day 3,391: October 22, 2026

No comments: