Tag Archives: Snake Eyes

#3328: Snake Eyes

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

SNAKE EYES

G.I. JOE: ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

When Super 7 first launched their Ultimates branding, they used it to continue Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics line, revisiting some of the core characters, but with more extras, at a slightly higher price point.  When Mattel decided to bring Masters back in-house, Super 7 decided to keep the brand going, and has been filling in with other ’80s and ’90s properties.  Up til now, perhaps one of the bigger omissions from that era has been G.I. Joe, which Hasbro has classically kept rather under wraps.  Super 7 first picked up the license for a run of ReAction figures, and now they’re adding a line of Ultimates to that as well.  It’s taken a little while for them to get out, but the first wave is finally hitting, with the second and third slated for a close follow-up.  I’m kicking things off with a look at the Joe who’s certainly the most numerous of the franchise’s leads, and who is just always the best way to kick off a new line, really, Snake Eyes!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Snake Eyes is part of the launch wave for Super 7’s G.I. Joe: Ultimates line, alongside Duke, Cobra Commander, and the B.A.T.  It’s a pretty heavy-hitter laden wave, and Snake Eyes is perhaps the heaviest hitter of the bunch.  The whole line is specifically animation based, drawing from Sunbow’s animation models for the show.  Snake Eyes notably had two models on the show, following his two main toy looks during the era.  This figure goes with his V1-inspired commando look, which was used during the first two miniseries for the show.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  Articulation can be a tricky spot for Super 7, and I’ll admit I was a little concerned here.  The elbows and knees are still a little bit restricted, but they’re certainly serviceable.  On top of that, the movement on his neck and waist in particular is really impressive, and adds a lot of personality to his posing.  Snake Eyes’ sculpt is an all-new one, and, for the first time, it’s a truly animation-based Snake Eyes.  Others have at best homaged with paint, but not fully committed at a sculpt level.  It’s quite a clean look, and it matches up with the animation design really nicely.  I especially like how the mask has translated; other figures go a lot heavier on the detailing, but the simpler approach feels truer to his V1 figure.  The cartoon’s colors for Snake Eyes were one of the most distinctive parts of his look.  Interestingly, where most animation models of the era stripped down the colors for simplicity, that wasn’t the case for Snake Eyes.  His V1 figure was designed as a cost-saver for the first year, and thusly he was all black plastic with no painted details.  However, black is trick to work with in animation, so he got switched to a navy blue.  He also got some funky purple accenting, and he looses the gloves, so as to make all of his movements more visible.  The figure does a great job replicating it, and the paint application is all pretty cleanly handled.  Snake Eyes gets a decent stock of accessories.  He, of course, lacks any of his ninja stuff, since he was still just a commando at this point.  However, he does get his pet wolf Timber, who’s his own fully articulated figure.  Timber’s movement is a bit more restricted, but he’s still a lot of fun, and it’s great that he’s included at all.  Snake Eyes is also packed with four sets of hands (in fists, trigger finger, tight grip, and loose grip), a rifle, a pistol, a jetpack, and the canister from the Weather Dominator, which is perfect for pairing with Timber.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m a fan of the whole G.I. Joe franchise, in all of its aspects.  Hokey as it may be, I really do love the Sunbow cartoon, especially the first two miniseries.  Due to his lack of a speaking role, Snake Eyes was largely a minor player in the cartoon, but “Revenge of Cobra” gives him a decent little focus, which has always been one of my favorite bits.  I was quite excited when this line was announced, and this figure in particular was the one I was most looking forward to getting.  I was hoping to like him, to be sure, but exactly how much, I didn’t know.  This guy honestly blew away my expectations.  He’s just so much fun, and a really good start to the line.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’d like to see a video of this guy in action, I actually helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  And, as always, if you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3094: Snake Eyes with Ninja Armor

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

SNAKE EYES with NINJA ARMOR

G.I. JOE: SIGMA 6 (HASBRO)

“Snake Eyes uses customized weapons to give him a powerful advantage over Cobra ninjas.  Whether riding his Ninja Hovercycle or battling enemies in hand-to-hand combat, Snake Eyes defeats his opponents with agility and the element of surprise.  During a mission to recover technological data stolen by Cobra, Snake Eyes had to get in and out within 90 seconds then escape from Storm Shadow and his team of ninjas.  He and StormShadow battled each other at high speed on their cycles.  Just when his enemies thought they had him, Snake Eyes suddenly deployed air-brake wings hidden in his backpack, leaped from his bike and knocked them all from their cycles with his tri-blade sword.  He was back on his bike and gone before they knew what hit them.”

I’ve touched only very briefly on Sigma 6, the early ’00s incarnation of the G.I. Joe franchise, here on the site.  And you know what?  That’s just not right.  Because Sigma 6 is pretty awesome.  And more people should appreciate it.  At its outset, Sigma 6 took more of a focus on a core cast of characters, though that expanded a fair bit as the line progressed.  I’ve focused a lot on the expanded roster, but not yet any time with that core team.  So, hey, let’s look at a Snake Eyes.  That’s always pretty fun.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Snake Eyes with Ninja Armor was released as part of the first Commando wave of the 2006 Sigma 6 line-up.  In an assortment that saw figure debuts for both Cobra Commander and Long Range, Snake Eyes was the one variant.  He was technically Snake Eyes’ second variant for the line, following up on the weird two-pack re-deco.  This one was actually different, what with the Ninja Armor and all.  The figure stands 8 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  In terms of structure, this figure’s core figure is the same as the prior Commando release Snake Eyes.  The base Snake Eyes sculpt was definitely one of the most stylized of the original figures for the line, being quite spindly and lanky.  His masked head actually has eye holes, giving us a rare glimpse at a portion of his face.  It’s a really cool touch, and I really dig the little bit of scarring visible under the eyes.  Snake Eyes has the standard Sigma 6 suit under everything, much like the rest of the team, which gives the sculpt an opportunity to showcase a larger variety of detailing, including the little flip-up console on the arm, which remains one of my favorite features on these guys.  To fully ninja armor up this guy, he gets a removable visor, chest armor, shoulder pads, and shin guards, as well as the standard dog tag.  The visor is a much more armored piece, fully wrapping around the head, and also further down the sides of the face.  It’s more patterned after his V2 visor than the standard version had been, which I really quite like.  It really pushes that classic Snake Eyes vibe.  The body armor is decidedly not as Snake Eyes-y, but its a cool armor design in its own right, fitting well with the look of the visor.  It’s got a bit of a knight’s armor look about it, which definitely fits well with that V2 style visor.  The shin guards both have fold-out blades, because what is Snake Eyes without some extra blades?  Snake Eyes’ color scheme is generally pretty similar to the standard Snake Eyes fare, being black and grey.  He does get some extra details in bright green, which is certainly a lot of fun.  Snake Eyes is armed with a silenced assault rifle, a sword with three blades (which can fold in and out), a sort of a spear thing in two parts, a wing pack, and a cool case to carry everything in.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve touched on before, Sigma 6 figures weren’t the easiest things to track down back when they were new.  I wanted *a* Snake Eyes at the time, with this one being the front runner on the list.  I never saw him, so I never got one, but he’s remained at the back of my mind since.  We actually managed to get a pretty cool Sigma 6 collection in at All Time, and this guy was included in it, complete even, so at last I have him.  I’m honestly pretty psyched about it.  He’s just so much fun, much like the rest of the line, and I’m all about it.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3009: Snake Eyes & Timber

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

SNAKE EYES & TIMBER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

I haven’t actually gotten to talk about G.I. Joe, specifically it’s most recent re-launch, Classified Series, since all the way back in October, which on one hand doesn’t seem that long ago, but also really does.  It’s not really like I’m missing much that’s worth reviewing, of course; there hasn’t really been much new.  When last discussing things, I brought up the line’s Original 13, the debut line-up for the Real American Hero incarnation of the franchise.  While some of them remained more or less confined to those early years, a few of them took off.  Most notable was the first year’s resident cost-saver, Snake Eyes, who would become the franchise’s most distinctive character.  Today, we turn our sights his earliest incarnation, or at least a re-imagining of it, alongside his trusty sidekick, Timber!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Snake Eyes and Timber are a deluxe-sized release, thus far unseen in the main retail line, for Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: Classified Series, where they are item 30, placing them right after Breaker and the RAM Cycle in the numbering sequence.  Though pairing off Snake Eyes with Timber is nothing new for the brand, it’s not usually this version of Snake Eyes that gets paired with Timber, since Timber was first included with Version 2.  However, with the initial Snake Eyes being V2-inspired already, it made sense not to double back on variants.

SNAKE EYES

We’ve had no shortage of Snake Eyes variants in this line up to this point, with this in particular being the fourth version.  There have been two versions based on V2, and one based on the film, but this one goes back to the original commando-based V1 design.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Snake Eyes is built on a mix of parts, largely stemming from the Beach Head-version of the Duke mold.  It’s a good starting point for an update on Snake’s classic turtle-necked design, and just a good starting point in general, as it remains one of my favorite figures in the line.  He borrows the holster from the first Snake Eyes, in a nice bit of cross-use, and then gets a new head and shins, along with new overlay pieces for his webgear and the sheath for his knife.  As stated above, the aim of this sculpt is to capture the V1 design, or at least to offer something of an update to it.  It does a good job of that, and in fact stays a lot closer than the more sci-fi-inspired figures from the rest of the line.  It’s a fitting choice, since this is supposed to be an earlier in his career Snake Eyes, presumably from before the Joes get quite as tech savvy.  I particularly like the new head, especially how you can see the separate parts of the assembly.  The webgear likewise has a lot of depth of detail to it.  In general, it captures all of the broad strokes of the original figure, but at a larger scale and with more going on.  Still, it’s not over designed, or anything like that; it’s the right level of detailing.  Snake Eye’s paint work is much simplified compared to the prior figures.  This is on purpose, no doubt to call back to the V1 figure’s complete lack of paint.  This one is a little more detailed than that one, but does have a slight variance to the exact finish of the blacks, just to give him a little bit of variety.  He also gets one small bit of white detailing on his grenade, which is a nice touch.  Snake Eyes is packed with his classic Uzi, as well as an ump45 with, to quote Tim, “a whacked out front end,” an assault rifle that appears to be a combination of a number of things with a lot of customizations, a Beretta m93r (with removable silencer, just like the first release),  and a large knife.  The rifles are fun, since they both feature removable magazines, which I always enjoy.  Snake Eyes includes no sword, of course, as is proper for a true commando Snake Eyes.

TIMBER

First included with the V2 Snake Eyes back in ’85, Timber had appeared in other media prior, notably in the cartoon as the wolf that guides an irradiated Snake Eyes back to safety in the second mini-series.  Over the years, he’s been featured in the main line a good number of times, but it’s rare that he’s ever anything more than an unarticulated accessory.  For his debut in Classified, Hasbro’s given him the proper figure treatment.  He’s about 3 inches tall and 5 1/2 inches long, and he has 29 points of articulation.  While his articulation doesn’t have as full a range as I might like, there’s still quite a bit of range to it, and he can get into a decent selection of poses.  The sculpt does quite a nice job of capturing a rather basic wolf look, with an impressive level of detail work.  He includes two different heads, one calm, and the other snarling, again adding to the display options for the figure.  The paint work on Timber is generally pretty solid.  There’s a pretty nice two-toned thing going on with the fur, which has a rather subtle change-over.  I also really like the gold irises on the eyes, as well as the slight shading to the scars on the face.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I generally do angle towards the V2-style for my default Snake Eyes, I’ll admit I have quite a soft-spot for the commando look for the character, especially as sort of a “starter” look for the character.  I was hoping we’d see at least some sort of a nod to it in the modern line, but wasn’t expecting a full-on update.  I’m very happy with how this one turned out.  He’s just a very nice figure.  Timber’s also kind of an essential piece, and I’m happy to see Hasbro give him the proper deluxe style treatment here.  In general, this is really one of the coolest sets to come out of Classified, and I look forward to seeing what else Hasbro might do with this price-point.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with these figures to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2870: Snake Eyes – Origins

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

SNAKE EYES — ORIGINS

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Originally slated for a 2020 release, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe origins finally hit theaters on July 23rd of this year.  There have been three live action G.I. Joe movies, and the prior two aren’t exactly known for the high praise that follows them (though I do genuinely like Rise of Cobra, and feel that it gets a lot of undeserved hate), so the bar for this one was set pretty low.  Going into it, my only hope was that it wouldn’t be the worst live action G.I. Joe movie.  That’s a reasonable expectation, right?  Well, as it turns out, no, that wasn’t, because Snake Eyes is undoubtedly the worst of the three, and it’s not even that close, if I’m honest.  I can’t say it’s the worst movie-going experience I’ve had, but that’s only because I saw the last Hellboy in the theater, and Snake Eyes was, at least, not quite as bad as that.  But it’s still not great, my guys.  I do have a short list of things that I actually liked about the movie, however, and one of those things was the final Snake Eyes design.  It’s really cool.  Strong design.  Would have been great to see it actually, you know, get used at all, but, well, we didn’t.  Got some toys of it, though.  That’s better than nothing, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Snake Eyes if figure 16 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line-up.  Since the movie was slated for a release last year, Hasbro had presumably already gotten at least some of the work involved with them done, so they’re numbering is quite early in the count, thus explaining the gap that occurred last year in the line-up.  Snake Eyes is the first of the movie figures numerically, and is one of the three figures shipping in the first of the two movie assortments.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation. His articulation scheme is pretty much the same as the standard Classified Snake Eyes, just without the swivels on the shins (which isn’t really that much of a loss anyway.  Getting him posed wasn’t quite as easy on this figure, as the joints were a little tighter and restricted at first, but generally it works out pretty well.  Snake Eyes has a totally unique sculpt, based upon the design that he wears for 15 seconds at the end of the movie.  Sure, it’s not in the movie for long, but it does at least look like something Snake Eyes would wear.  While I still think I prefer the standard Classified figure’s take on a modern Snake Eyes, this design isn’t a bad one, and the sculpt does a good job of translating it into figure form.  There are a variety of differing textures, which to keep him rather visually interesting.  His paint work is predominantly black, as you would expect, but as with the prior figure, there are differing finishes to the various parts of the outfit, again to keep things more interesting.  He’s also got a few spots of red detailing, including the Arashikage symbol on his arm.  Snake Eyes is packed with an alternate unmasked head, a sword and sheath, and two knives.  An unmasked head on a Snake Eyes is real weird, but it’s to be expected, and it does at least have a passable likeness to Henry Golding, and it’s something different for the character.  The sword and sheath are nice enough pieces that match well with what we see on the screen.  The knives are decent, though I dislike the fact that there’s no storage option for them.  It’s also weird to get a Snake Eyes with no guns, especially when he has molded trigger fingers and everything.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I snagged Snake Eyes and the rest of the first set in the lead up to the movie’s release.  I liked the look of them well enough, and I was really hoping the movie might not be terrible.  I then saw the movie for my birthday, and it was, in fact, terrible, which was a bit of a letdown.  But I already had the figures, so I figured I might as well review them.  This figure’s not a bad Snake Eyes toy, especially removed from the film that spawned it.  Given that the first one is still a little hard to come by, this is a decent back-up.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2485: Snake Eyes

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

SNAKE EYES

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

For my second day looking into Hasbro’s relauched G.I. Joe, I’m already retreading.  I know, that’s crazy.  Here me out, though: it’s Snake Eyes.  Having one Snake Eyes is like having one potato chip: I just prefer not to have any at all because potato chips are weird and so are the people that like them.  No, wait, that’s not right.  I mean, the potato chip thing is right.  You potato chip people made your bed, now lie in it, and all of its inevitable potato chip crumbs.  But the Snake Eyes thing is definitely not right, because I will buy just about any Snake Eyes figure you put in front of me.  So, here’s this Snake Eyes.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Snake Eyes is figure 02 in G.I. Joe: Classified Series, and is notable for being the one figure in the first assortment to be double-packed.  That’s a smart move, because people sure do love Snake Eyes.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Do you remember my review of the deluxe Snake Eyes?  Do you recall how much I loved that figure’s sculpt?  Good, because this guy has the exact same sculpt.  I’m not surprised, because it’s not like Hasbro was quiet about Snake Eyes also being in the main line, and it would be silly to only use such a great sculpt for a one-off exclusive.  What sets this guy apart is the color scheme.  The deluxe release went for a palette that was overall more complex and varied than we tend to see on Snake Eyes, with lots of browns, greys, and silvers.  I remarked in my review of that figure that Hasbro could have just left a lot more of the figure straight black.  Well, turns out they had that in mind, because this release strips things down a fair bit more, to mostly just black this time around.  Lest anyone think they just cheaped out, there’s still plenty of variation in the finish of the various black sections.  Personally, I enjoyed the slightly updated design colors from the prior release, but the all black does really feel more like Snake Eyes to me, so I like having both options available.  The other slight change-up for this guy is the accessory selection.  Obviously, he doesn’t get the whole rack of weapons of the deluxe, and he also drops the extra set of hands.  In addition, the Uzi and Beretta have been dropped in favor of more sci-fi-esque weaponry, more in line with the how the rest of the line is armed.  They’re both pretty nifty designs in their own right, and I’m sure a slightly easier sale to retailers in this day and age.  He does keep the backpack, silencer, and knife, although there seems to have been a slight mold error with the knife and its corresponding sheath this time, as it doesn’t want to go all the way in.  I may need to see about modding that, because it’s a little bit annoying.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was absolutely thrilled with the exclusive Snake Eyes, and honestly didn’t know what to expect of the standard retail release.  I honestly wasn’t even sure he’d be any different, at least as a core figure.  The paint change-up was not expected, but I really do enjoy it, and I’m just as happy with this guy as I was the initial release.  It will be hard to decide which one will be my main one for display.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2387: G.I. Joe Resolute Joes Box Set

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

DUKE, SNAKE EYES, SCARLET, FLINT, SGT. STALKER, ROADBLOCK, & BEACHHEAD

G.I. JOE: 25TH ANNIVERSARY (HASBRO)

“The world is threatened once again by Cobra–and only G.I. Joe can stop them!  The team races across the globe and into space to combat an evil plot by Cobra Commander to control the world.  Cobra even brings the battle right to the team’s doorstep, but the men and women of the G.I. Joe team remain strong, courageous…and resolute!”

Okay, so remember waaaaaaaaaay back nearer the beginning of the site, when I reviewed the massive seven-figure Resolute Cobra boxed set?  Well, unsurprisingly, there was a Joe component as well.  It’s been six years, but let’s cap things off, shall we?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This seven-figure set was one of two (the other being the Cobra set) online-exclusives released in the summer of 2010 as a quick way of rounding out and finishing up the Resolute subline of figures that was supposed to run through the 25th Anniversary line at retail.  When it became clear that 25th would not be returning to retail following Rise of Cobra’s tie-in line, Hasbro shunted the molds it already had ready to go, plus a few quickly thrown-together figures into this 14 figure drop.

DUKE

“A leader is always in the position of making the tough calls and hard decisions.  Duke, as the head of the G.I. Joe team, understands the burden of leadership all too well.  When it’s the duty of the team to respond to a threat against the world, Duke must be the one to make sure that the priorities are clear: the mission comes fist and everything else comes a distant second.  He demands a lot from his team, but doesn’t ask anything of them that he isn’t willing to give himself.  His hard-won experience and unflinching determination have earned him the respect and loyalty of his team.”

Duke was pretty fortunate when it came to the Resolute stuff.  While the others were making their debut here, this particular Duke marked his third time up to bat for this collection, hence the more environment-specific outfit this one is sporting.  He’s based on his look from towards the end of the mini-series, when he and Scarlet make a run on an arctic Cobra base.  Given how it figures into the climax, it’s honestly a pretty solid choice for a figure.  The figure stands a little over 4 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation.  He’s mostly compiled from the parts of other figures, with his torso and waist coming from the 25th line’s cold-weather Snake Eyes, the upper arms coming from the second Resolute Duke, and the lower arms and legs coming from the first Resolute Duke.  It makes for an okay approximation of his gear from the show, though it’s hardly as spot-on as some of the designs.  The figure’s head was all-new to him, and marked an improvement over the standard Resolute Duke head we’d gotten previously.  This one was far more on-model for the show, and just generally looks nicer than the previous.  The paintwork on this guy is actually pretty great.  They’ve included all of the important details, and done what they can to use the paint to make the sculpt look a bit more on-model.  They’ve also kept important details like painting the gun in his thigh holster a different color than the holster, which I assure you, is something that will come up again in this review.  Duke included the same rifle as the standard Resolute Duke, plus a pistol, a knife, and a display stand with his name on it.

SNAKE EYES

“Snake Eyes is a dedicated member of the G.I. Joe team, but he is forced to put a personal issue first when his archenemy Storm Shadow raises their rivalry to a deadly new level. The G.I. Joe commando confronts the Cobra ninja in a duel that originated many years ago, when they were friends in a ninja school that taught the Seven Steps to the Sun, a lethal martial arts sequence. Snake Eyes has never revealed how many of these steps he learned…and the answer to this question will determine who lives and who dies in this final duel.”

Snake Eyes had *technically* had a Resolute-based figure before, thanks to his planned 25th figure getting shunted into the Rise of Cobra line under the name “City Strike Snake Eyes,” but that release made a few changes to the color scheme, in order to bring him more in line with the other movie stuff.  It was also really hard to find, so a second version here made a lot of sense.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation.  His whole sculpt is shared with the previously mentioned City Strike Snake Eyes, and is a pretty good recreation of Snake Eyes’ design from the show, albeit through the slightly more realistic 25th style lens.  It’s a pretty sleek looking design, and one of the few times we’ve seen a modern redesign that calls back on his V1 figure, rather than keeping the V2’s distinctive visor.  While I’m a V2 man myself, I can really appreciate what’s going on here.  Snake Eyes’ paintwork is a solid match for how he looks in the show, which is to say mostly grey.  The one thing they changed up is the visor, which instead of being a light grey like it is in the animation, is a bright green, calling back to how he looks when he does his glide into is duel with Storm Shadow.  Snake Eyes is the best accessorized of the figures here, with his sword and sheath, a back pack, the same rifle as Duke but in all black, his glide-pack, and a display stand with his name on it.

SCARLETT

“A brilliant mind, outstanding martial arts skills, and lethal accuracy with her trademark crossbow – that’s Scarlett. The G.I. Joe team’s counter-intelligence expert has the cerebral savvy to get inside the mind of her enemies and design a plot that’ll outsmart them at their own game. She also has the combat skills to take on a squad of Cobra troopers and be the sole person left standing when the fighting’s over. She can make a HALO dive into hostile territory in the dead of night, then enter a heavily guarded Cobra missile silo and take it over as one-half of a two-person unit, and not even break a sweat. That’s skill. That’s training. That’s Scarlett.”

Had the Rise of Cobra line gone just a little bit longer, Scarlett would have joined Snake Eyes under the City Strike banner, with another re-purposed Resolute mold in new colors.  It was probably for the best that she waited for this set, though, since, while the grey and black deco of City Strike worked okay for Snake Eyes, it was really off for Scarlett.  She finally got her release here, and, well, uhh, let’s just dive right in, shall we?  The figure stands 4 inches tall and she has the same 22 points of articulation as everyone else.  I like to give credit where credit is due, so I’m going to discuss the body first.  Scarlett’s Resolute redesign was one of my favorites from the show, as I think it’s just a really solid boiling down of the basics of her original design, all in a more modern setting.  The sculpt on the body does a fantastic job of taking all of the elements present on the animation model, and then adding a whole new selection of little details to make the uniform feel like a real thing.  It’s also not super small, which was my main issue with the standard 25th Scarlett.  So, why focus on the body first?  Because I wanted to be able to talk about it positively before getting into undoubtedly the worst piece in this whole set: Scarlet’s head.  Oh boy, it’s not pretty.  Baroness from the Cobra set also had some issues, but they pale in comparison to this piece.  I’m not sure exactly what happened here, but there’s a rumor that some sizing was off in both of the molds for the female figures (since they had more complicated two-piece heads), which lead to the whole thing being just…kinda unsightly.  It’s definitely not right for the design.  Fortunately, there are other options for Scarlett heads that are easy enough to swap out; I myself went with the 25th comic pack version, as it was rather cheap.  Scarlett’s paintwork is generally pretty good.  She gets down the slightly washed out palette of the series, and everything’s pretty clean.  The head has more issues here, with the eyebrow placement looking like it’s rather off.  But, I ditched it anyway, so no problems.  Scarlett was packed with her usual crossbow, plus a sniper rifle, a pistol (the same one included with Duke), and a stand.

FLINT

“Flint is a classical scholar and graduate of the Airborne School, Ranger School, Special Forces School and Flight Warrant Officers School.  He brings a broad intellectual background as well as finely honed technical skills and tactical knowledge to the G.I. Joe team.  A thorough and meticulous planner, he has led many dangerous and complex missions in the field and overseen them from the team’s base.  His arrogance may be irritating at times, but it comes from firsthand experience, rock-solid skills and extensive knowledge.  As the team disperses around the globe and into space to stop Cobra, Flint advises them all from the team’s base.”

Flint takes on a fairly prominent, if slightly lighter on the action, role in Resolute, and is definitely a well-utilized character.  If I recall correctly, there were more Cobra figures than Joes planned when everything was moved to the boxed sets, and Flint was one of the couple of figures put together to fill out the set.  I might be wrong on that, though.  The figure stands 4 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation.  The figure is largely built from repurposed parts, with the arms and legs coming from Duke, and the torso and waist coming from one of the RoC Hawk figures.  He does get a new head, webgear, and gauntlet, which all make for a pretty convincing transition into Flint’s design from the show.  The only real inaccuracy is that he’s got two knee pads instead of one, but I’m willing to give them a pass on that one.  The new pieces are really strong, and follow in Scarlett’s footsteps of taking the core elements from the cartoon and then adding lots of smaller detail work around them.  Flint’s paintwork is largely pretty good, but has one glaring issue.  Remember what I mentioned about the gun in the holster on Duke?  Well it doesn’t get painted here, and it looks pretty goofy.  Beyond that, though it’s a solid paint job.  Flint is packed with his usual shotgun, as well as a pistol and a display stand.

SGT. STALKER

“The survival instincts of Sgt. Stalker were honed at an early age on the mean streets of his hometown.  The lessons he learned may have been tough, but they made him a fierce warrior.  It doesn’t matter if he’s facing two or twenty Cobra troopers; he’ll make every one of them wish they’d never gotten out of bed that morning.  Ranger trained and Airborne-qualified, Sgt. Stalker uses his skills, training and instincts to adapt his actions to the changing situation.  He heads to the jungle with Roadblock and Beachhead to rescue hostages held by Destro and Baroness, and teaches that arrogant duo not to underestimate the G.I. Joe team ever again.”

Stalker was another piece of the “fill in the set” puzzle, clearly being chosen because he could easily be built without investing in a ton of new pieces.  Stalker himself has a relatively minor role, with Roadblock getting most of the focus in their section.  The figure stands 4 inches tall and he had 22 points of articulation.  Stalker is again pretty big on the re-use.  He takes the Duke legs, and throws the Snake Eyes torso and arms in with it.  It’s not the oddest choice, since Stalker and Snake Eyes have more than once shared parts.  He gets a new head and webgear, and a collar piece he shares with Beachhead.  The end result is an okay recreation of his on-screen design, though I’m not sure it works quite as well as Flint.  The sweater collar on the skintight shirt looks weird, he’s missing the pockets on his shoulders.  He’s also got gloves, which he didn’t in the show.  At the very least, the new head (which I looked at when it was re-used on the 30th figure) is a pretty good piece.  It’s certainly a unique look for the character.  Stalker’s paint is alright, but suffers from the same lack of paint on the gun that Flint did.  They also painted his skin tone too far down his neck on the back, meaning it runs past the separate collar piece.  Since it’s on his back and obscured by two add-ons, it’s easy enough not to focus on, but it does look kinda goofy.  Stalker includes Duke’s rifle in green and silver, a pistol, a knife, and a display stand.

ROADBLOCK

“He’s a gourmet cook who can wield his hand-ground, carbon-steel cook’s knife and his M2 .50 caliber ‘Ma Deuce’ Browning heavy machine gun with equal skill. He wanted to be a chef and attend the Escoffier School in France, when a recruiter signed him up with the promise that the army would train him to be a cook. He later joined the G.I. Joe team, where, on any given day, he can whip up haute cuisine for the team – and mince anything in his path with a barrage of gunfire. Cobra gives him plenty of opportunity to perfect his skill with the Browning, as the evil organization spreads its vile presence from the snowy north to the town of Springfield.”

Roadblock takes us back into the territory of pre-existing figures that Hasbro just wanted to get out.  Like Snake Eyes, his mold found its way into the RoC line, first as a Night Adder, and then as Roadblock in a Walmart-exclusive battle pack.  However, the Night Adder was obviously a different character, and the Walmart Roadblock was painted rather differently, and even ditched the vest overlay from this guy for a different one.  At just shy of 4 1/2 inches tall, Roadblock is by far the tallest figure in this set (and one of the tallest in the line, truth be told), and he’s got the same 22 points of articulation everyone else does.  Roadblock’s design in the show was not only a solid update of his V1 figure, it also managed to work in some of the V2 design as well, for something that is just so unquestionably Roadblock in nature.  For the purposes of these figures, all of the show designs were made a bit more real world, and Roadblock is perhaps the most adjusted, since his animation design had some pretty darn cartoony proportions.  This figure instead goes for something more in line with the classic Roadblock in build and facial stylings, but gives him a proper take on the fancy new animated outfit.  The vest piece on this guy is by far the coolest bit, because the level of detailing included there is quite frankly amazing.  Roadblock’s paintwork is pretty great, taking his classic colorscheme, fitting it into the established Resolute palette and really just running with it.  It makes him the most colorful figure in the set, which is a definite point in his favor.  Roadblock included his usual heavy machine gun, a belt of ammo to feed it, a pickaxe, a missile, a pistol, and a display stand.

BEACHHEAD

“Beachhead has one goal: to do his best. That’s what infuses everything he says and does. He focuses on the task he’s been given and ignores anything that doesn’t help him complete it. When things go bad, he channels his anger and frustration into fuel to help him go further and fight harder. He pushes himself to exceed his personal best and be an example to others, such as running ten miles every morning in blizzards, heat waves and anything in between. Along with Sgt. Stalker and Roadblock, he deploys to the jungle to rescue hostages held by Destro and Baroness.”

Beachhead rounds out the set as another “constructed to round out the set” figure.  Who…you know…rounds out the set.  Like Stalker, he’s a character that’s present in the show, but not overly prominent.  I don’t actually believe he even has any dialogue.  All that said, he’s got one of the more memorable classic Joe design, so it makes a lot of sense to include him.  The figure stands 4 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation.  Beachhead is mostly built from the same bank of parts as Flint, with Duke’s arms and legs, and Hawk’s torso and waist.  It’s a decent enough formula for both designs, so more power to them.  He gets a new head and webgear, as well as using the collar piece shared with Stalker.  The new parts are definitely solid, and this head is honestly my favorite Beachhead sculpt to date.  Given that it showed up on every Beachhead figure that followed, I’d say Hasbro agreed. The vest is a nice piece, with the only downside being how freaking hard it is to get his knife sheath back in place once you remove it…which is why mine doesn’t have his in any of the photos.  The collar piece definitely works better here than it did on Stalker, leading me to believe it was designed for Beachhead and then also used for Stalker.  It all adds up to a figure that doesn’t really feel like he’s at least 75% the same as another figure in the set, despite the fact that he totally is.  Beachhead’s paintwork is all pretty decent, apart from that annoying gun/holster issue that I mentioned on both Flint and Stalker.  It wouldn’t annoy me quite so much if they hadn’t properly painted it on only one figure in the set, honestly.  Beachhead included the same rifle as Stalker, as well as a knife, pistol, and display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in my review of the Cobra set, it was these Resolute packs that really got me into the 25th line.  Well, that, and the fact that I got them while recovering from getting my wisdom teeth out, while watching my DVDs of the Sunbow cartoon, which led to me tracking down a whole bunch of the other figures from the line.  I was expecting to enjoy the Cobra set more of the two of them, but the Joe set ended up being my favorite by a fair bit.  I think Beachhead might be my personal favorite of them, because he’s just the best Beachhead figure, but every figure in the set’s pretty darn good.  My only major complaint is the Scarlett head, and I’ve had that swapped out for 10 years now, so it feels minor these days.

#2372: Snake Eyes

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

SNAKE EYES

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

In 2016, after an attempt to revitalize the line with a 50th Anniversary celebration after numerous re-brandings of the core line, the G.I. Joe brand was retired from retail, with its only continuation being in the form of a handful of Collector’s Club exclusives and a one SDCC exclusive from Hasbro that wasn’t even specifically Joe-centered.  In 2018 there were exactly two Collector’s Club-exclusive, and the rest was silence.  With over a year of no new Joe at all, the fanbase kind of folded in on itself, with most of the focus shifting to the old vintage line, because they were desperate to have *something* to buy.  After that year-plus of silence (to the point of even leaving G.I. Joe off of a brand poster that included freaking *Visionaries* of all things), Hasbro went into 2020 with a plan to revitalize Joe again.  The Snake Eyes movie is supposed to be hitting theaters this year, the mobile game was officially launched in January, and Hasbro’s bringing G.I. Joe back to retail in the form of a new 6-inch scale line, much in the style of their Legends, Black Series, and Lightning Collection lines.  So far, we’ve seen most of the first series (which is tentatively hitting in June, but who knows at this point?), and the line has officially been kicked off with a deluxe version of everyone’s favorite ninja-commando-mute, Snake Eyes!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Snake Eyes is figure 00 in the newly launched G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  He was offered exclusively though Hasbro Pulse, and, as the “00” denotes, he’s meant as a preview for the line proper.  The rumor mill is speculating that the core figure of this release will be going to regular retail with the rest of the line, making all of the deluxe-ness the real exclusive part of this one.  Speaking of the deluxe-ness of this release, before I dive into reviewing the actual toy proper, I would like to mention the packaging of this release.  Though I’m not usually all that interested in what my figures get to me in, this release deserves a special mention, because Hasbro’s really gone the extra mile here, with a heavy cardboard construction, and an almost faux-leather exterior.  The intricate design on the front and back of the box is really impressively applied, and said design is also included as a pretty cool print when you open the box.  Inside the box, there’s a foam tray with spots for the core boxed Snake Eyes (in a variation of what will be the line’s standard packaging) and all of the exclusive extras.  It’s one hell of a presentation, and shows that Hasbro’s really invested in the significance of this release.  Alright, we’ve discussed the beauty that is the box, now we tear it open and look at the guy inside.  Snake Eyes stands just shy of 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Hasbro’s gotten pretty impressive with their articulation on their 6-inch-scale lines as of late, but Snake Eyes takes that to the next level, adding things like butterfly shoulders, a ball-jointed waist, and drop-hips to the equation.  He also fuses the Black Series double-ball-jointed neck design with the Legends hinge joint, which gives the best of both worlds in terms of range.  He’s a very, very posable figure is what I’m getting at here.  However, it’s worth noting that the figure’s sculpt really doesn’t suffer to grant him this posability.  Said sculpt is clearly patterned after Snake’s v2 figure, which is generally considered his most distinctive look, and a good starting point for any new version of the character.  He’s not a straight adaptation of that design, though, as Hasbro is clearly building a new aesthetic for the Joes for this new line.  The broad strokes are all the same.  He’s got the knight-style visor, the bandolier with grenades, and all the pouches and straps are in more or less the same spot.  However, when you take a closer look at the smaller details, that’s where the changes come in.  They’ve followed a bit in the footsteps of the movies, giving him a more armored appearance, at least on the head and torso.  Within that set-up, he gets some extra webgear on his shoulders, which is really the only part of this design I’m a little iffy on.  Honestly, I don’t hate it, but I think it stands out a little too much from what’s around it.  I think the fact that I can hone in on one specific thing like that and say it’s slightly off speaks to the sleekness of the rest of the sculpt, though.  I really do appreciate how well they homaged the v2 release with this sculpt.  In terms of the paint, Snake Eyes goes a fair bit more involved than the usual figure of him.  He still keeps things predominantly very dark, but it’s not quite as much straight black.  There’s a lot of variance to the browns, and there’s also some nice change-ups in the finish on the black sections as well, making the different sections look like different materials.  It’s really nicely handled, especially given how easily they could have just left things all-black.  In terms of accessories, there are really two groups with this figure.  Firstly, there’s what is actually included in his smaller box with him.  He gets a sword (which according to Tim is more of a messer than a katanna, and I’m inclined to believe him there), an Uzi, a Beretta m93r with a removable silencer, a knife, a backpack, a sheath for the sword (which can plug either straight into his back or onto the pack), and two extra hands, one holding throwing stars, the other flat.  The Uzi, sword, and backpack do a great job of replicating the v2 figure’s accessories, and the Beretta, knife, and extra hands just accent things further.  Outside of his own packaging, Snake Eyes also gets a whole Dojo wall full of weapons.  The wall itself is a nice piece in its own right, and its got spots for the 2 sai, 2 axes, 2 kama, spear, long sword, and katana included alongside it in the box.  Snake Eyes can use these extra weapons if you like, or they make for a pretty killer display behind him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got a slight heads up that a 6-inch Joe line was coming, so I was pretty eagerly awaiting its arrival.  Once this guy was shown off, I knew I needed one.  Max was kind enough to let me use his Pulse account so that we could both order one, meaning I got in on the ground floor with this guy.  And then I got him literally the day everything started shutting down around here, so I’ve gotten a lot of time to mess with him.  I love this figure.  I love this figure so much.  This is pretty much everything I wanted out of this line, and I’m really excited for the rest of the line to hit so that this guy can have some companions.  Until then, he’ll just have to face off against my Fortnite Havoc figure that’s totally not just a 6-inch Firefly.

#2204: Snake Eyes

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

SNAKE EYES

G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO (HASBRO)

“SNAKE EYES honed his combat skills as a Long Range Recon Patrol trooper in Southeast Asia and perfected his mystical martial arts techniques with the same Ninja clan that produced STORM SHADOW. Although he is as equally adept with submachine guns as he is with swords, Snake Eyes is most dangerous and unpredictable when he’s armed and cornered. When HAWK went to Snake Eyes’ cabin to recruit him for duty with G.I. Joe, the silent Ninja was out hunting rabbits – bare handed!”

After around 1988, there’s something of a downward shift for G.I. Joe.  They really hit their groove in ’85, but the movie really through them for a loop.  Despite gimmicks and really far out concepts largely being the thing that people deride the movie and its associated characters for, Hasbro would nevertheless double down on such concepts as they embarked into the ’90s.  Interspersed with the likes of Super Sonic Fighters and Eco Warriors, they did manage to have some slightly less gimmicky Joes, I suppose, including a rather surprising go at returning Snake Eyes back to his pre-ninja roots, going back to his original backstory as a commando, albeit one in bright 90s-esque neon colors.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Snake Eyes was released in the main 1991 assortment of G.I. Joe, as the fourth version of the character to grace the line.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation.  By the ’90s, the sculpts were definitely changing again, morphing into a style that would more closely match the rest of the stuff that would come out of the decade.  Snake Eyes showcases a lot of these changes, being way more bulked up and exaggerated in his proportions than the character’s prior incarnations.  Poor Snake looks like he barely fits into his gear this time around.  Maybe it’s time to put down the weights?  Or lay off the steroids?  Something.  Well, it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.  Snake Eyes sculpted design is perhaps not the most radical departure from prior designs, although the artful nature of prior looks is largely lost, with everything adding up to a design that doesn’t quite have that same cool factor as prior versions.  All of the elements to make a Snake Eyes are certainly there, but they come together like some sort of off-brand product.  The goggles in particular just seem…goofy and unimposing.  More like safety goggles than anything combat ready.  The artwork for the figure honestly doesn’t make them look that bad; there was something lost in translation.  Of course, the biggest thing against this figure’s probably the paint, where he departs the most from every other version of Snake Eyes.  Previous Snake Eyes figures all were very heavy on black, and very light on pretty much anything else.  This figure’s still got some black, but it’s interspersed with a lot of light blue, grey, and even some red.  While he’s hardly the most garish figure his year produced, by Snake Eyes standards, he was pretty obnoxious.  Also, inexplicably in Cobra colors, for whatever reason.  More than anything about the sculpt, these colors are the thing that remove this figure the most from being Snake Eyes.  Repaints of this figure in more Snake Eyes-esque colors aren’t perfect, but do at least make him more recognizable.  My guess would be that the sculpter and the person who chose the colors were not one and the same on this figure.  Snake Eyes was packed with two swords, a submachine gun, a backpack with a built-in missile launcher, and a display stand.  With the exception of the pack and stand, the accessories are all a vibrant red, again removing the usual Snake Eyes brand a bit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When the very large Joe collection that came into All Time over the summer came in, this figure’s file card was in the mix, but he was nowhere to be seen.  Unlike Falcon, he did not miraculously appear out of one of the vehicles, however.  Instead, he miraculously appeared out of a small bag brought into the store by the person who sold us the rest of the collection, who had apparently found Snake Eyes and another figure while cleaning.  As an unabashed Snake Eyes fan, I have this weird desire to own all of his vintage figures, no matter how goofy, lame, or off-brand they may be.  This guy’s not great, but I honestly love him anyway.

As noted above, Snake Eyes came from All Time Toys, who got in a rather sizable vintage Joe collection, the remnants of which can be checked out the Joe section of their eBay page here.  If you’re looking for other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2024: Snake Eyes & Scarlett

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

SNAKE EYES & SCARLETT

G.I. JOE: NINJA FORCE (HASBRO)

For its first three decades, G.I. Joe was in a rather frequent state of change, attempting to keep itself matched with the times.  Since hitting a smash success with the A Real American Hero incarnation in the ’80s, there’s been a bit of difficulty updating, since a lasting fanbase has prevented them from completely revamping things the way they may once have done.  In the early ’90s, they made a bid at a more informal re-vamp, by breaking out some of ARAH‘s established characters into smaller sub-series, each following a popular theme of the time.  Mainstays Snake Eyes and Scarlett found themselves at the hoist into the “Ninja Force” brand, a decidedly foreign tone for a line that had “American” in its title.  Given the line’s hiatus just a year after this re-branding took center stage, it was perhaps a little too foreign for the established fanbase.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Snake Eyes and Scarlett were both released in 1993, during Ninja Force‘s second year running.  The comics by this point had interwoven both Snake Eyes and Scarlett with Cobra Ninja Storm Shadow, whose move over to the Joe side had led to him being Ninja Force‘s central character during its debut year, and these two coming along to join him seemed like a rather sensible move, at least from a marketing perspective.

SNAKE EYES

“SNAKE-EYES excelled in Long Range Recon Patrols and high-risk covert missions in Southeast Asia. His success was based on his ability to use everything from trees to fog when making himself virtually “invisible,” even to skilled Cobra Ninjas. He perfected his mystical martial arts techniques with the same ninja clan that trained STORM SHADOW. Snake-Eyes was living a self-disciplined, tranquil life in the High Sierras when HAWK recruited him for the G.I. Joe team. Since then, he has proven himself an invaluable asset to the Ninja Force and one of the fiercest fighting menaces against all Cobra legions.” 

This Snake Eyes marked his fifth time gracing the small-scale line, which made him the most prevalent character in the line (though Duke would catch him by virtue of getting two figures released that same year).  Snake not joining the Ninja Force until its second year may seem a little odd at first glance, but it’s likely that his very recently released V4 figure from ’91 prevented his presence for the sub-brands ’92 launch.  Up to this point, Hasbro hadn’t really done the same character two years running (apart from Cobra Commander, who was granted a new figure every year from ’91-’94), so I guess they wanted to let the Commando Snake do his thing a little longer.  Snake Eyes stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation.  Snake Eyes’ articulation was a marked change from where the line had been for it’s prior nine years, by virtue of the addition of an action feature.  Squeeze the legs and his arms swing up and down for his “Basami Slice”.  Said feature limits the hip movement to more simple swivels and removes the waist.  Removing movement for a figure that’s part of the “Ninja Force” does seem like an odd choice, but it was the direction things were going at the time, so you can’t really fault Hasbro from leaning into that curve.  This figure’s design took the opposite position to the V4 release, which had almost completely abandoned Snake Eyes’ ninja side, and in contrast plays up the ninja side about as much as is possible.  In fact, you’d be forgiven for not realizing this was Snake Eyes at all at first glance.  He’s got actual, visible eyes, for Pete’s sake!  Where’s the signature eyewear?  Morphed into some sort of full faceplate thing, I guess.  He’s also bulked up substantially from his prior figures, because that’s what the ’90s does to you.  It’s actually not a bad sculpt all around, with solid detail work, showing a definite progression from earlier in the line.  Snake Eyes’ paintwork is actually pretty involved for an Snake Eyes figure.  He’s got TWO colors!  That’s crazy!  Snake Eyes was packed with an impressive selection of accessories.  He included three different swords of varying sizes and styles, plus a small knife, nunchucks, a pair of claws, and a display stand.  Mine is missing the knife and claws, but with that many accessories to start with, he doesn’t feel like he’s missing too much.

SCARLETT

“SCARLETT began her training in the martial arts at age nine and was awarded a black belt at age 15. She was not only physically ahead of her time, but mentally as well. She graduated summa cum laude from two Ivy League universities and went on to excel in training courses at all four branches of the armed forces. Cobra often mistakes her for just a pretty face rather than a member of G.I. Joe’s elite Ninja Force, which makes her perfect for undercover missions. She is great friend to each of the Joes, especially SNAKE-EYES, and a deadly enemy to Cobra.”

Despite being in the line’s first year and being a prominent fixture in both the comics and the cartoon, this was only Scarlett’s second figure, a full decade after the original figure.  She wasn’t previously as linked to the whole ninja-thing as Snake Eyes, but the two have been linked since very early on, so her place here as a companion to Snake Eyes was reasonable.  The figure is just under 3 3/4 inches tall and she has 13 points of articulation.  Like Snake Eyes, she has an action feature that limits the hips and waist.  Her action feature, the “Kato Kick” works a little differently than Snake Eyes, since it’s a kick, and there’s a sort of looser way of activating it.  If Snake Eyes’ design was a departure from his usual design, Scarlett’s is even more so. There’s really nothing left of her original look, apart from her red hair, I guess.  The rest of her look leans really heavily on the ninja thing, enough that this same sculpt was easily re-purposed into Chun-Li the same year.  Scarlett’s headsculpt was actually a notable improvement over the less attractive original Scarlett head, better matching her depictions in other media.  She makes use of soft-goods for both her pony tail and sash.  They sort of lend themselves to being all sorts of curled up and messy, but they were a decent enough idea.  Her paintwork is nice enough.  She’s very green, which was an interesting contrast with the red hair.  Not the most attractive color scheme, but not terrible when compared to some of the other figures from the same period of the line.  Scarlett includes the same accessories as Snake Eyes, but molded in yellow instead of blue.  My Scarlett’s missing even more of the extras, but again, with this many, it isn’t quite as much of a loss.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I first started getting into G.I. Joe, I was always rather perplexed by this subset of the line.  To my younger self, they seemed kind of pointless and goofy, but I’ve kind of gained a new appreciation for them.  I’ve always been a big fan of Snake Eyes and Scarlett, so when this pair showed up in a big ’90s Joe lot at All Time Toys, I fished the two of them out. Are they hokey?  Yes.  Are they the best versions of the characters?  No.  Are they a lot of fun?  Absolutely.

As I noted, I got this pair from All Time Toys, who have been getting a rather steady stream of G.I. Joe collections as of late.  So, if you’re looking for old Joes or if you’re looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#1842: Snake Eyes

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

SNAKE EYES

G.I. JOE: 25TH ANNIVERSARY

“SNAKE EYES is proficient in 12 different unarmed fighting systems (Karate, Kung-Fu, Jujitsu) and is highly skilled in the use of edged weapons. Has received extensive training in mountaineering, underwater demolitions, jungle, desert and arctic survival, and some form of holistic medicine. Qualified Expert: All NATO and Warsaw Pact small arms.”

In 2007, Hasbro was in something of a dry patch.  Marvel Legends was all but dead, the Star Wars franchise was slowly dragging along waiting for Disney to buy it, and their in-house G.I. Joe’s re-branding as “Sigma 6” didn’t pan out quite as they’d hoped.  But, with the looming quarter-century anniversary of G.I. Joe’s A Real American Hero incarnation, they were hoping to at least have a modest, 25 figure celebration.  Little did they know that they’d inadvertently revive the brand for another five years of resounding success.  Yes, the 25th Anniversary line was the breath of fresh air that G.I. Joe needed.  Ironic, given that the whole purpose of the line was fixating on the past, but it showed Hasbro that you didn’t need to totally ditch the past to inject some modern ingenuity into the line.  Today, I’m looking at one of that line’s many, many variants of Joe heavy-hitter, Snake Eyes!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Snake Eyes was part of 2009’s 10-figure “Hall of Heroes” sub-set of the G.I. Joe: 25th Anniversary line.  He was figure 10 of 10, bookending the assortment, which featured another Snake Eyes as figure 1 of 10.  Even in the limited engagement sub-line, there were still two different Snake Eyes variants!  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, he’s the same figure as the initial boxed-set 25th Snake Eyes, based on Snake’s original 1982 appearance.  After years of him being a pretty straight ninja, it walked him back to being a commando, who I guess would make more sense on a military task force.  That figure’s sculpt was very good, with tons of great little details littered all throughout.  The mask has tiny little vents at the front, his goggles are now clearly a separate piece, and you can even make out the stitching on his cowl.  His proportions are far more true to life than either the vintage or ‘00s lines, and the use of rubber overlay pieces for his web gear mean his gear has a much higher level of detailing, and he can even properly stow some of his weapons, something of a rarity in prior offerings.  The original Snake Eyes figure was actually part of the assortment as a cost-saving measure; a figure that required no paint applications.  This figure operates as a send-up to that, being predominately molded in straight black plastic.  He’s not completely without paint, though, as that would look rather cheap on a modern figure.  He’s got the slightest bit of accenting on his buckles, and the rim of his goggles.  It’s very subtle, enough that you might miss it, allowing him to maintain the same look as his original figure, while still maintaining that ever so slight extra detailing.  Snake Eyes is packed with a knife, handgun, uzi, and satchel, as well as a display stand with the G.I. Joe logo and his name printed on the front.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Remember a few weeks ago when I was talking about All Time getting in a large collection of vintage Joes?  Well, this past week they followed it up with a collection of 25th Anniversary Joes.  As a huge shock to everyone, I’m sure, I didn’t come home with a huge stack of Vipers this time.  Nope, just this guy, who was one of a handful of Snake Eyes variants sitting at the bottom of the box.  He’s a very nice figure, just like all of the Snake Eyeses built on this body.  Hasbro really was at the top of their game here, and it resulted in great figures, even when they just were minor re-paints like this guy.

This guy was loaned to me for review by All Time Toys.  Like I mentioned above, they just got in a collection of these, which they’ve got available on their eBay Store.  So, if you want Snake Eyes or some of his other compatriots, check them out there.  Of course, I make no promises about this particular Snake Eyes, because he may or may not be staying in my collection.  And, if you’re more in the market for something new, also check out their website.