Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Action Figure Review: Clone Commander Bly from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III by Hasbro


   I recently found Commander Bly who was the only figure from the most Black Series set I was looking for (I'm skipping the Sith Jet Trooper), so let's take a few minutes to review him. Clone Commander Bly, officially known as CC-0252, appears in a few Clone Wars episodes, some Legends comic books, and in the film Revenge of the Sith where he receives Order 66 on Felucia and assassinates Aayla Secura at the Emperor's command. The clones have been extremely popular among Star Wars collectors and Hasbro has done a pretty admirable job of mixing them into the Black Series. They haven't flooded the line with them but they do keep them coming at a steady pace to keep interest. Let's check out Clone Commander Bly after the break and see if he is another worthy addition to the ranks...



 The Facts:

Height: 6 inches tall

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, balljointed hips, a ball jointed abdomen, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, a hinged neck, and a ball jointed head.

Accessories: Visor, rifle, and 2 DC-17 blaster pistols


Non-Scalper Price: $20 dollars
 Comparison:

* The clones overall share a lot basic parts and Clone Commander Bly, on the left, is no different. On the right is Clone Commander Wolff, another recent Clone Commander with a mixture of new and used parts. For Bly, his new parts seem to be his helmet, pauldrons, bandolier, and his belt/ holsters.
 The Positives:



* Commander Bly is an awesome looking figure. Yeah, he's another clone decked out in white armor but he has so many personalized touches and a unique brown and yellow paint job to help differentiate him from his brothers. The paint work is excellent on this guy and his leathery looking pauldrons are fantastic. He also has a bandolier, too.

 * Commander Bly's helmet is awesome looking although it is the subject of a running change: The first release helmet (seen here) doesn't have the brown stripe running all the way down the helmet. Apparently a newer version has the brown stripe all the way down. Regardless, I think the helmet looks pretty good and the missing stripe doesn't bother me too much. I don't know that I'd re-buy this guy just for the corrected stripe, y'know?


* The hinged visor is excellent and really makes Bly a lot of fun to mess around with. It's quite cool how it simply swings down over the visor of his helmet to offer up more viewing options for him. It comes packed attached to the figure and there really isn't any need to remove it, though it comes off if you want to for any reason.



 * The back of the figure is nearly as detailed as the front. While there are fewer paint applications you can see the detail on the back of the helmet, the panel on the back armor, and the actual soft goods kama.


 * The brown painted stripes on Bly's armor just look really, really cool. I love how they actually look weathered and worn! This guy has some really nice paintwork.


 *  Commander Bly utilizes most of the body of a standard Clone Trooper figure, meaning he's durable and nicely articulated. His hips are restricted a bit by his holsters but it's not terribly limiting. He's a lot of fun to pose and display alongside the other clones we've received so far.


* Like nearly every clone released Commander Bly comes with a DC-15A blaster rifle. It's a great sculpt with a lot of detail but, sadly, it's missing the paint applications that so many of the blasters included with other clones have featured.


* Bly also includes his two DC-17 blaster pistols. They look great, feature crisp sculpting, and fit easily in the holsters on his belt.
 * Here's a shot of the new holsters and his belt. I believe this is a completely new piece and it looks great. The paint highlights really add a bit more to the belt while the holsters hold his pistols perfectly.










   Commander Bly is another Epic clone trooper. The clones have been consistently excellent in the Black Series and Bly goes above and beyond in taking the great base body and building on it. He's got new pauldrons, new holsters, three firearms, a new helmet with a working visor, and an excellent paint job. Clone Commander Bly seems like the most difficult figure to find in the most recent series and he might be the best of the series too (I really like Count Dook too, though). What do you think? Commander Bly, Count Dooku, Zorii Bliss, the Sith Jet Trooper, or the Knight of Ren? Who is your favorite from this series?

This is the first figure of Clone Commander Bly I've reviewed. For more figures from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III check out the following:
0-0-0 (Triple Zero)
442nd Siege Battalion Clone Trooper, 212th Attack Battalion Utapau Trooper, Coruscant Guard ---(Phase II), and 501st Legion Clone Trooper 4 pack
4-LOM
Admiral Ackbar and First Order Officer
Admiral Piett
Ahsoka Tano 
AT-AT Pilot 
Battle Droid
Baze Malbus
BT-1 (Beetee)
C-3PO
C-3PO & Babu Frik
C-3PO (Resistance Base) 
Cal Kestis
Captain Cassian Andor (Eadu) 
Captain Phasma
Captain Phasma (Quicksilver Baton)
Captain Poe Dameron
Cara Dune
Chewbacca (Target Exclusive)
Chewbacca (The Force Awakens)
Chewbacca & C-3PO
Chirrut Imwe 
Chopper (C1-10P)
Clone Captain Rex (HasCon Exclusive)
Clone Commander Gree
Clone Commander Fox
Clone Commander Obi-Wan Kenobi
Clone Commander Wolffe 
Constable Zuvio
Count Dooku
Darth Revan 
Darth Vader (Emperor's Wrath)
Death Star Trooper
Dengar
Dewback/ Sandtrooper
Director Krennic 
DJ (Canto Bight)
Doctor Aphra
Dryden Vos
Elite Praetorian Guard
Elite Praetorian Guard (with Heavy Blade)
Emperor Papatine and Throne
Enfys Nest's Swoop Bike/ Enfys Nest
Ezra Bridger
Finn (First Order Disguise)
Finn (FN-2187)
Finn (Jakku)
First Order Flametrooper
First Order General Hux
First Order Jet Trooper
First Order Snowtrooper
First Order Snowtrooper Officer
First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter
First Order Stormtrooper
First Order Stormtrooper Executioner 
First Order Stormtrooper (with Gear)
First Order TIE Fighter Pilot
Gamorrean Guard
General Grievous
General Leia Organa
General Veers
Grand Admiral Thrawn (SDCC Exclusive)
Grand Moff Tarkin 
Guardians of Evil 4-Pack
Guavian Enforcer
Han Solo (Exogorth Escape)
Han Solo (Mimban)
Han Solo (Solo)
Han Solo (The Force Awakens)
Heavy Battle Droid
Heavy Infantry Mandalorian
Hera Syndulla
IG-11
Imperial AT-ACT Driver
Imperial Death Trooper
Imperial Death Trooper, Captain Cassian Andor, and Sergeant Jyn Erso (Jedha) 3 pack
Imperial Hovertank Pilot 
Imperial Jumptrooper
Imperial Patrol Trooper
Imperial Probe Droid
Imperial Shock Trooper 
Imperial Royal Guard 
Inferno Squad Agent
Jaina Solo (Legends)
Jango Fett
Jannah
Jedi Knight Revan
K-2SO
Kanan Jarrus
Knight of Ren (Vicrul)
Kylo Ren 
Kylo Ren (SDCC 2016)
Kylo Ren (The Last Jedi) 
Kylo Ren (Starkiller Base)
Kylo Ren (Throne Room) 
L3-37
Lando Calrissian (Solo)
Lando Calrissian (The Empire Strikes Back)
Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard)
Luke Skywalker 
Luke Skywalker (Death Star Escape)
Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight)
Luke Skywalker (Jedi Master) 
Luke Skywalker (Jedi Master)- Ahch-To Island
Luke Skywalker (Skyalker Strikes)
Luke Skywalker (Yavin Ceremony)
Mace Windu
Maz Kanata 
Moloch
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Force Spirit)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Padawan) 
Obi-Wan Kenobi (SDCC 2016) 
Offworld Jawa
Padme Amidala
Phase 1 Clone Trooper Commander, Phase II Clone Trooper, Imperial Stormtrooper, and First Order ---Stormtrooper Officer four pack
Poe Dameron
Poe Dameron and First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper
Porgs 
Princess Leia (Bespin Escape)
Princess Leia Organa 
Princess Leia Organa (Hoth)
Purge Stormtrooper
Qi'ra (Corellia)
Qui-Gon Jinn
R2-A3, R5-K6, and R2-F2
Range Trooper
Rebel Trooper
Red Squadron (R2-D2, R5-D8, and R2-X2)
Resistance Tech Rose
Resistance Trooper
Rey & D-O
Rey (Island Journey)
Rey (Jakku) & BB-8 
Rey (Jedi Training)
Rey (Jedi Training)- Crait
Rey (Starkiller Base) 
Rey's Speeder (Jakku)
Rio Durant
Sabine Wren
Sandtrooper Sergeant, Crimson Stormtrooper, Lieutenant OXIXO, and R2-Q5
Scarif Stormtrooper
Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader 
Second Sister Inquisitor
Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu)
Sergeant Jyn Erso (Jedha)
Shadow Stormtrooper
Sith Trooper
Snowtrooper 
Stormtrooper (Mimban)
Stormtrooper (With Blast Accessories)
Supreme Leader Snoke (Throne Room)
Tobias Beckett
Tusken Raider 
Val (Vandor)
Vice Admiral Holdo
Wedge Antilles
X-34 Landspeeder & Luke Skywalker (SDCC Exclusive) 
X-Wing Pilot Asty 
Yoda (Force Spirit)
Zorii Bliss
Zuckuss

5 comments:

  1. Dooku takes the cake for me. Never has an action figure exuded so much class

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dooku is really, really nice. He's my favorite of the line. Bly has a bit more going on, for sure, but Dooku is a more important character and a very striking figure. Ranking this series I think I'd go Dooku, Bly, Zorii Bliss, Knight of Ren/ Vicrul, then the Sith Jet trooper, which I haven't even pciked up yet and may just skip.

      Delete
  2. Bly's definitely my favorite from this particular set. He actually has totally distinct tooling from Wolfe and most of the other clones; it was the same body used for Rex, and it's got a much better range of motion on the shoulders and elbows than the prior body.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wonder if there will be Black Series versions of Commander Doom, Delta Squad, and--although she isn't a clone trooper--Leia in her Boussh disguise?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leia as Boussh came out back in Phase 2: http://www.actionfigurebarbecue.com/2016/02/action-figure-review-princess-leia.html

      Delete

What'chu talkin' 'bout?