Snake Eyes (Desert Battle)

It never fails...no matter which assortment we see these days, it's nearly a guarantee that Snake Eyes is part of it, for better or worse. I remember when the Pursuit of Cobra was first revealed last last year at JoeCon that I judged the lines greatness on the fact that even the Arctic Assault Snake Eyes looked like a cool figure. And to a degree, he did. But time has not really been kind to Snake Eyes, and much of the luster has worn off at this point. It certainly didn't help that the final figure has less paint ops than the original prototype, and that now this thickly garbed ninja is suddenly a Desert specialist instead of an arctic specialist. Yeah, not sure I get that. Of course, the desert gets cold at night, and sure, Snake Eyes operates mainly at night, so that can kind of explain it away, but still, overall the figure does not really strike me as a desert themed figure.

The base figure is a lot of the Paris Pursuit figure we got from the Rise of Cobra, using the same shirt and pants, but with some additional kneepads and different, even baggier arms. Unfortunately the kneepads don't seem to work all that well, and the figure's knee joints are a bit clunky and non-functional.

The figure's head sculpt certainly looks similar to the Rise of Cobra version, though I cannot be sure of that. The one nice difference, though, is if you pull the visor up a bit, you can actually see painted flesh tone the face underneath. A really great design choice, though it would have been even cooler if you saw some of the facial scarring the Joe ninja is so well known for.

So, really, from a pure figure standpoint, besides the nice facial paint applications, there isn't a whole lot here we haven't seen before. Several of the more interesting paint choices have been dropped for the final release, so he's just your basic black Snake Eyes.

Like most of the Pursuit of Cobra figures, the joy is in the accessories, and while they certainly add some nice elements to this figure, they don't necessarily make him a "must buy" like some of this Wave 1 cohorts. While I'm someone who enjoys intricate details in accessories and in the figures themselves, there is a time when things go a little far. The detailing in Snake Eyes' jacket is...well... kinda insane. There are all sorts of weird blocks and armor plates that don't make a whole lot of sense, and while I think I know what they were going for (a reactive armor jacket, in a way) it doesn't really work for me. Add that to the fact that this is supposed to be a desert figure, yet is wearing a thick winter coat, and I'm really on the fence about how this figure looks.

As for weapons, Snake Eyes comes with some nice armament, though for anyone who has the unreleased Jungle Assault Storm Shadow, there isn't much new to see here from a gun perspective. That's not to say the guns aren't cool, I actually really like them all. The assault rifle is a great one, even though we got it with Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes originally. His twin Mac-10 submachine guns are fantastic as well, and the sword, while it's more "been there done that" is neat as well.

I will say that I do like his harness...at first glance it might look like the same one that came with Sgt. Airborne, but it's totally different and adds a neat design element to what could be a fairly plane looking figure.

But obviously the focus of his accessory complement is Timber, who makes his debut in the Pursuit of Cobra line. He looks decent, with a nice sculpt, and an angry look. "Battle Action" isn't something I care about a whole lot, so the fact that Timber lifts his head when you press down his tail doesn't woo me one way or the other. I've never been huge on the whole "pets" concept, and while Timber at least has a place in the Joe mythos, beyond Junkyard and Order (who actually make sense) I don't see a big need.

All told, this is a strange combination of parts and pieces, and the sum certainly isn't greater than the whole of it's strange parts. Nothing really flows, nothing feels like it goes together, and as a desert figure, this is just a strange selection. Unfortunately I don't see much to recommend here, and especially as yet another Snake Eyes figure, I have to relegate this one to the bottom of the list for Wave 1. Nothing to see here, move along.

Pre-Order this figure NOW at BigBadToyStore.com!

GRADE: