Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Sideshow Commander Cody REVIEW III "Execute Order 66"

Palpatine to numerous clone commanders: "The time has come. Execute Order 66."

Order 66 was one of a series of contingency orders that the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic were trained to prepare for during their growth. The order branded the Jedi as traitors of the Republic and called for their immediate execution without question. Its issuing by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine marked the formal beginning of the Great Jedi Purge, starting the rise of the Galactic Empire, and it was chief among the atrocities that led to the Galactic Civil War.


Clone Commander Cody was ultimately subservient to the orders of the Republic, and when Order 66 was enacted -- branding Kenobi an enemy of the state -- Cody willingly carried out the command to open fire on his former friend.



This is Sideshow Collectibles 1:6 scale Commander Cody 12-inch figure with Phase II helmet (see earlier post) and the Switch-out hand with Order 66 Hologram. What a great figure this is turning out to be :) one or two reviews aren't enough to cover the coolness that is this figure.


In 19 BBY (which occurred in "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"), Order 66 was issued by Darth Sidious toward the end of the Clone Wars. The official reason given for its execution was the onset of an attempted Jedi coup against the Republic; in reality, it was the culmination of a chain of events orchestrated by Palpatine himself over a period of decades, all designed to end the Jedi Order and to bring about the domination of the Sith.


Star Wars creator George Lucas envisioned that the Star Wars universe would have a "lived-in" look to it and so, all the Clone troopers (including Commanders) wore outfits and armor that had the worn look to them, with dirt (weathering), scratches and paint peeled off rather than the ultra clean, ultra white armor they were first seen wearing in "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones".


The basic clone trooper armor design became composed of twenty form-fitting plates of lightweight plastoid-alloy composite, sealed to a black bodysuit and weighed just under forty kilograms. The 1/6 scale black bodysuit produced and released by Sideshow Collectibles isn't in one single all black tone as we see in the films but has strips and are in two shades.


Phase II clone trooper armor was an improved version of the Phase I clone trooper armor. It incorporated all of its predecessor's systems in addition to polarized lenses, padding, sensors, and stronger, lighter armor plates. The Phase II helmets had upgraded breath filter and communicator.


The new armor incorporated a more advanced air filtration and oxygen supply system, polarized lenses, and an annunciator to make speech more comprehensible. In addition, the boots were magnetized and incorporated a grav-field alternator to ensure stability. Another useful feature was that the armor and the bodysuit could be pressurized, allowing the clones to fight longer in a vacuum environment than its predecessor (though recovery was still needed for longer missions).


Although command units originally had stripes of different colors, depending on their rank (yellow meaning commander, red meaning captain, blue meaning lieutenant, and green meaning sergeant), as the Clone Wars progressed, the colorized markings began to identify the troopers with specific units.


Some troopers customized their armor to show their individuality with items such as visors, rangefinders, pauldrons, kamas, enhanced communications gear, and jetpacks. A light source can also be attached to the helmets to illuminate dark areas. Some troopers even painted unique designs on their armor and helmets according to personal tastes.


Close-up view of the Sideshow Collectibles Order 66 Hologram on the special switch-out hand / palm with HoloProjector


Almost all of the Jedi were killed by Order 66, and most of the survivors were killed in the Great Jedi Purge that followed. The Jedi Order survived through acts of Jedi, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda teaching Luke Skywalker the ways of the Force.

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