G.I. Joe vs. Cobra - Snow Serpent

Cobra's infamous snow trooper gets a big update, and he couldn't look better!

Snow Serpent has been a staple of the Cobra forces since 1985, undergoing many changes since then, but for the most part as always been a very cool figure. This most recent release harkens back to the classic days, basing the figure design very much on the original version, only increasing the detail in all the right places and lending their more stylized design in a very good way!

The mold, as I said, is a great tribute to the original 1985 Snow Serpent. He's got an awesome streamlined helmet over a gray ski-mask, with a very cool mouthguard and green goggles perched nicely above the eyes. The touches of fur are placed similarly compared to the '85 Snow Serpent, but the detailing on the new version makes it all the more realistic. The brown colored fur with white highlights does absolute wonders for the fur detail and makes the figure really stand out. Combine that detailing with the poncho draped over his shoulders and this figure looks absolutely great. This mold is loaded with stuff as well...a pistol on the chest holster, molded pouch on the waist and yet another pistol on the left thigh. Pouches and pads adorn almost every other inch of the mold and the package altogether just really shines.

His colors are obviously an homage to the original as well...the dull gray and blue straps really make this figure look like his older counterpart and the colors match this mold perfectly as well. His body construction is really toned down as well, and Hasbro has done a great job streamlining the mold down to a reasonable level. He fits right in with older Joes and newer Joes alike.

But he does suffer from a minor problem...his accessories. He does come with some fantastic snow shoes which fit on his feet great and don't fall off. But that's pretty much where the cool accessories end. The '87 Cobra Commander pistol is relatively neat, but besides that, he has the overly large Spearhead machine gun made even larger by the obnoxious sound tab coming off of the top of it. Besides that, he comes with a wolf (???) and that's pretty much it. No cool machine gun, no other packs or cool accessories...granted, you can supply your own, but with the cool new accessories Hasbro has been producing, a neat cloth wrapped machine gun could have looked very cool with this guy.

Still, the figure itself is fantastic! But as I've always said, I don't have a lot of use for specialty troops, so I won't end up with too many of these. Perhaps 3...maybe 5 at the very most, but definitely no more than that. This figure will inspire me to do some snow-related dioramas this winter, but as an overall Cobra Trooper, he may not see much use. If they could only make a Crimson Guard or Viper in the new style like this guy, then I'd be in heaven!