Commander Bly - TCW [R] - Basic (CW39)

Commander Bly leads the 327th Star Corps of clone troopers assigned to Jedi General Aayla Secura during the Clone Wars. He comes perilously close to finding out the devastating effect of a new Separatist weapon that threatens a peaceful Lurmen village.

Commander Bly, CC-5052, was a clone marshal commander who served both the Galactic Republic and Galactic Empire. Bred on Kamino, he was trained by Alpha-17. Bly served alongside Aayla Secura during the Clone Wars and as fate would have it, ended up killing her in the dreadful enacting of Order 66 at the climax of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. This is the second all-new sculpt of Commander Bly (but the first animated interpretation). Collectors have been given great clone commanders by Hasbro over the years and nearly all have been made. But there is something that catches our eye when it comes to Commander Bly. The original 2005 ROTS Commander Bly (III 57) figure was ultimately released multiple times and with each release Hasbro utilized a unique paint application. But obviously this is only the second time where the sculpt has changed. Since Commander Bly is based on his appearance in The Clone Wars television show, he is based on the look of the phase I clone trooper armor. Interestingly, Bly looks very much like his phase II appearance. Where so many clone trooper commanders' armor varies from phase I to phase II, Bly seems to be one of the exceptions to this. Take 2009's TCW Commander Gree (CW09) for instance. Gree looks a lot more like Commander Bly in his phase I armor instead of himself as he appeared in Episode III. This is not true for Bly - in fact, you will have to look for the differences. We actually love it that he looks so similar to how we remember him because Star Wars fans love familiarity. You will hear us say this over and over again in this column. As a result, Bly will be a popular action figure in The Clone Wars line and we believe this will be due to the fact that he has a striking resemblance to his appearance in Episode III (besides the blatantly obvious cool action figure he is).

Commander Bly is well done from head to toe and while he is essentially a compilation of parts from already released clone trooper action figures don't expect too much new ground to be broken here as far as sculpting is concerned. But be prepared to be wowed by the execution of the paint applications instead. (And Bly is a relatively clean figure but there is a reason why we love him.) Perhaps the biggest thing to get excited about Commander Bly is the color yellow used for his armor. Almost "mustard" in shade, it perfectly captures the look of what was seen in the television series. We believe it is the closest and most accurate shade Hasbro has chosen for Bly and we really wish the same color was used for the realistic version. Commander Bly is super-articulated. This is almost a standard with figures in The Clone Wars line (not that there's anything wrong with that) and all the points move well thanks to expert design on Hasbro's part. His kama has been cast in a very pliable and soft plastic (very similar to a thick vinyl) which bends when his legs are moved. This is a very nice touch. If it didn't have this flexibility, then hip joints and knee joints would be rendered useless. Bly also comes with an extra bonus: ball-jointed wrists. This is a wonderful enhancement, especially with army builder because it makes posing guns in their hands that much easier. Commander Bly is painted beautifully. We are so impressed with the attention to details and the crisp and clean lines of one shade of paint to the next. For example, there is an outline of the mustard yellow that goes along the edge of Bly's dark tan kama. It is evenly applied and balanced throughout the entire perimeter of the kama and looks simply stunning. It is little details like this that make one action figure stand out from the next. And Commander Bly completely stands out.

Bly also has a very unique portrait. Although he may look like he has a crew cut, we tend to believe he has some coarse hair growth. And the action figure confirms this. His head has a very unique texture that we have not seen on a clone trooper yet. You can actually feel the bumpy texture when touched. Commander Bly also has two geometric shaped cheek tattoos that are colored in the same yellow as his armor. This was a bit of an unexpected detail as we don't recall seeing it in the television series (but the TV show is sensory overload - things will indeed be missed). A removable helmet fits perfectly over his head and it doesn't look too big for his body. Hasbro has certainly come quite a long way to engineer parts so that they interact better than ever with each other. Just like his Episode III appearance, Bly has macrobinoculars that lift up and down over his visor. And whether it was intended this way or not, they were designed the same way as the realistic figure. So there is some kindred spirit between the two figures. Commander Bly and Aayla Secura (CW40) are the standout figures from this wave of The Clone Wars figures. But they are also perhaps two of the biggest knockouts in the whole line based on the TV show. We love them because they favor their realistic counterparts so closely in style and they are memorable in their roles in the show as well. Commander Bly will definitely be a hot seller so we suggest making an effort to get him into your collections. He is worthy of your dollars and this is certainly one figure you should vote for by spending those dollars. This shows just what Hasbro is able to do with the popular animated clone commanders.