Commander Bly - Mini Busts

Clone commander 5052, also known as Bly, was the leader of the Star Corps of clone troopers assigned to Jedi General Aayla Secura. He served with her on the exotic world of Felucia when he received Order 66. The executive command, originating from the Supreme Chancellor on Coruscant, identified Secura as a traitorous enemy of the state. Demonstrating his unerring loyalty to the Republic, Bly and his troopers raised their rifles and opened fire on their commanding officer, coldly killing the unsuspecting Jedi.

It’s no secret that Gentle Giant Ltd. piqued collectors’ interest with the development of their beautifully sculpted clone commanders Mini Busts. Fans of the line waited two long years for Gentle Giant to develop these awesome looking characters from Revenge Of The Sith, almost following in similar footsteps to Hasbro. Lucasfilm Ltd. must have held back a big portion of the clone commander details to licensees so they had to play catch-up to get them into their respective properties. The really nice thing about Gentle Giant’s take on these characters however is that they released all five of these prominently featured clone commanders from Episode III in one fell swoop. And they did so in a very interactive manner under a cool advertising campaign. Each clone commander was a featured headlining act in Gentle Giant Ltd.’s Word Tour 2007 which not only arrived at major conventions in the USA, but also crossed continents into Jap and the UK. There was something for everyone with this promotion. Commander Bly was released as a Forbidden Planet exclusive in the UK. With only 2000 units made, it became a highly sought after Mini Bust.

Commander Bly is excellent. We don’t want to make you think otherwise. But it is our opinion that Gentle Giant may have missed the mark on the shades of yellow color used to decorate the Mini Bust. The colors aren’t exact matches and give the impression that Commander Bly looks a little too light and faded, especially when compared to the other clone commanders released in 2007. Again, Commander Bly is excellent and he looks fantastic in Mini Bust form, but for high end collectibles we want to see exactness and perfection and we don’t think we can claim that wholly here. Aside from an “articulated” and removable head sculpt, Commander Bly is one piece, something we personally prefer in the Mini Bust format. Sometimes modularity creates anxiety as arms and hands fly off without warning. But Commander Bly is for the most part one solid piece in a pose that really isn’t screen accurate, but interesting at worst. He is holding both DC-17 blaster pistols out from his sides in a borderline threatening manner and his stature is confident without showing complete intimidation.

Commander Bly is a clone commander that wears a pauldron. Admittedly, we find it to be one of the nicest details added to this Mini Bust. While other licensees seem to have missed the mark attempting to recreate its color, the Commander Bly Mini Bust has nailed it perfectly. And pretty much every other detail is right on par as well. The yellow color flashes are applied straightly and the details added to them to show scratching and damage have also been done with care. If we had to complain, we would have to make it clear that we wish the head sculpt had Commander Bly’s visor in the up position. You may be on the fence about this, but there is something cool about being able to see a clone commander’s visor while wearing the scanners up like a pair of sunglasses. Still, it’s neat that Gentle Giant Ltd. has thought about this slightly outside of the box and given collectors a version of him that may not be gut extinct. An interchangeable head sculpt would have been fantastic, but that might have put Commander Bly outside of the budget Gentle Giant Ltd. was trying to contain. Overall, we’re fond of Commander Bly. But he shines a hair less when compared to the other clone commanders.