As much as we all complain about it now, in the late 80s and early 90s, ninjas were freaking awesome. I still remember going to my local video store and renting Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and countless other ninja films all interspersed with the Hand in Daredevil, the Foot in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and of course Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Back then ninjas were pretty awesome.

It was for that reason that the Night Vulture held an immediate appeal. Many folks seem to think this figure is based off Snake Eyes with the skintight mask, commando goggles, quilted vest and martial arts weapons scattered throughout. I think that’s certainly possible, but all I knew as a younger collector was that in spite of his resemblance to Snake Eyes, Night Vulture was a completely new entity and he was pretty damn great.

Yes, the figure was sprinkled with healthy amounts of purple and orange, and as such would never be able to sneak around steathily at night as a ninja should, but with the nunchuks on his legs and the all around excellent figure design, I could get past that. As one might expect, based on what we got with the Air Devil, this update is executed to near perfection as well.

The base figure here is the 25th Anniversary ’89 Snake Eyes update which is probably one of my favorite 25th Anniversary figures, which is why I don’t mind that the somewhat dated parts are being used here. The head sculpt, I believe, is from the Steel Brigade Delta figure, which looks sort of like a Snake Eyes update, but not exactly, which makes it the perfect use here, as we get a head that looks reminiscent of the goggled commando, but not like any actual Snake Eyes release we’ve seen to date. It’s a very nice update to the Night Vulture original.

Over the purple base body we have an orange version of the MARS Trooper vest, which honestly I’m not a huge fan of. This vest is thinner and less detailed than many more modern vests, but considering the skin tight nature of the vintage version, it’s a look that works. Not only that, but with it being so thin, the double trench knives fit nicely over it. The purple color is dark and muted and meshes nicely with the black, and even where
the orange sparks things up a bit, I don’t mind.

As a whole, the Night Vulture is a quality update to the vintage version. There are some differences, of course, but those differences work.

Accessories

As I mentioned, Night Vulture comes with a removable vest and the twin trench knives, which is a great touch. Like the Air Devil, he has the Resolute wingsuit, and he also comes with a crossbow. I do kind of wish he came with some kind of firearm, but I know the classic version only came with a crossbow, so I understand why they did it that way. The accessories are all well chosen and make sense.

Night Vulture was a favorite of mine back in the 90s, and this update does nearly everything right. Even using the 25th Anniversary parts gives us a figure with decent range of motion, a really nice paint deco and just the right amount of new flair. I’m not sure I like this guy quite as much as the Air Devil, but he’s a quality addition to any JoeCon collection, and I’m ecstatic to get him in modern style.

To check out a video review of the COBRA ADDERS half of the Convention set, watch below!