WWE Ultimate Edition Cody Rhodes review – WrestleMania 39
Cody Rhodes made a massive return to the WWE at WrestleMania 38 facing off against Seth Rollins. A year later he was in the main event challenging Roman Reigns looking to finish his story.
I was beyond irritated when The Bloodline once again helped Roman extend his staggeringly long title reign. Funny what a difference a year makes.
The Mania 39 match ended up being the opening act of the home stretch of Reigns’ title run with the sight of a dejected Cody Rhodes in the ring laid the groundwork for the “We Want Cody” movement that not even The Rock could stop.
Given that context, Cody’s Mania 39 gear is immensely important to the history of the WWE making for a great candidate for an Ultimate Edition figure.
Mattel has released an onslaught of Cody figures since his return, but this one was essential for my collection. Let’s see if this is the start of a major run of UE Cody Rhodes figures in my collection.
Packaging: The UE packaging stayed color consistent through the first few years of the line’s inception with white with red accents.
As usual the back is the highlight of the Ultimate Edition packaging with a dramatic shot of the figure and a reference photo of the figure. Cody’s bio does an excellent job of setting the story.
Likeness: Cody Rhodes was a figure Mattel absolutely had to get right.
His likeness isn’t as hard to nail down as some other characters so both the neutral and yelling head sculpt are clearly The American Nightmare.
The mold choice for his body is the most sensible and best matches up with his physique.
Scale: Cody Rhodes is 6’2 putting him an inch taller than his frenemy Seth Rollins and an inch shorter than Roman Reigns. He should be looking eye to eye with Bloodline usurper Solo Sikoa.
The UE figure matches up pretty well to Cody’s actual height.
Paint: Cody’s costumes are fairly intricate along the top and sides.
The paint is mostly good considering the complexity of Cody’s outfit. There are some issues specifically with the tights with the belt design not connecting up properly. And some really nasty looking smears. This is the kind of paint issue that’s impossible to see on the pegs.
Other details like his neck tattoo and boot logo are very nicely done. I don’t know how Mattel could apply Cody’s neck tattoo better thanks to its actual position on his neck with how a figure head is positioned. This allows for the tattoo to avoid getting broken up during posing.
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Articulation: Cody Rhodes has a diverse enough move set that he benefits greatly from the Ultimate Edition articulation scheme. That’s true of most characters besides the larger, less athletic big men.
You can now have Cody easily hit all of his big moves from The Pedigree, Figure Four leg locks, the disaster kick and The Cody Cutter. And the butterfly shoulder joints help Cody pull off a more convincing Cross Rhodes.
As always, the torso joint would benefit from better back and forth/side to side range to pull off moves even better.
Ultimate Edition Cody Rhodes has:
- neck
- bicep
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbows (double-jointed)
- wrists
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist
- hips
- thighs
- knees (double-jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: Mattel previously made a UE figure based off of Cody’s WWE return match at WrestleMania 38.
They tried a hybrid approach with his entrance robe by giving it plastic shoulder pauldrons paired with a vinyl material for the rest. The results weren’t as good as Jazware’s Supreme Collection figure (check it out at my affiliate Amazon).
This time Mattel went the UE Bret Hart and Shinsuke Nakamura route and made the ring coat entirely plastic with swappable molded jacket arms. This works much better as it provides the needed depth for the numerous jacket details.
The jacket looks amazing with feathered shoulder pauldrons, ornate clasps on the front, chains and really intricate lining. And the paint job is impressively sharp throughout. This is a high end ring jacket done right in the UE format.
Cody Rhodes also gets a weight belt with ‘Cody’ emblazoned in gold on it.
Next he’s got a set of swappable hands with outstretched fingers.
Finally he’s got a yelling portrait that works for Cody getting hyped mid-match or singing along with this theme song. “Whoaaoooooo.” This is a terrific alternate head sculpt as it conveys intensity for mid-match moments that help sell the drama of the match.
Worth it? Being the top guy in the WWE has several perks including having the most desired UE figure around. While most UE figures tend to stay at the $32.09 price point, the Cody Rhodes UE is around $50. Find him for regular retail? Don’t debate and just grab him on sight.
The intricate ring gear certainly makes a case for the UE price point so the figure feels like a solid value — for retail price.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Shawn has been a tough one for Mattel to perfect his likeness, but at least the secondary sculpt has a great likeness. Getting the full Survivor Series outfit with the superior articulation makes this an easy recommendation.
Where to get it? Cody is available for Amazon. The only catch is he’s only available from resellers.
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