G.I. Joe: 25th Anniversary Snow Job

Back in the day, while the Snow Job figure didn't thrill me a whole lot, I absolutely loved his backstory. The Con Man aspect of the character and the fact that he was born in a state close to me all made the character all the more "real" to me and made him a character that stood out in my mind. His arctic gear kind of shoehorned him into a very specific purpose, so that reduced his functionality to me, even as a kid, but I was still a fan of the character. Well, now, even though he is in arctic gear, the figure is simply cool enough to overshadow that fact, and I finally have a version of G.I. Joe's first arctic trooper that lives up to the great character I've had in my mind.

Wow, wow, WOW. This is Snow Job as he should be done. I look all over this figure, just trying to find the slightest fault, but I'm having a hard time with it. His skullcap head sculpt is truly inspired and looks terrific. He's got a ton of character and a great look. It ends up looking a lot like the card art, which is a very nice touch and makes for a great looking figure.

As a fairly generic arctic trooper, Snow Job doesn't need a whole lot of detail, but he's got it anyway. Two chest pouches with nicely sculpted straps, a nicely lined arm sleeve, and the forearm pouches that became well known with the vintage figure. But the beauty of the details are in Snow Job's legs.

On his right thigh is a terrifically sculpted holster with an actual rubber flap that closes and the Adventure Team logo on the holster! It's tiny, but it's definitely there, and is also a nice homage to the Arctic Team logo that Whiteout and Big Ben sported back in 2001 as well when they showed up in the Real American Hero Collection. Then on his left thigh is the Rapid Deployment Force carrying case! These kinds of little details are some things that really make these figures great. It's obvious that there are some true Real American Hero fans working behind the scenes on this line, you can really tell, and I for one am thrilled to see that.

Even beyond those two little touches, the sculpting on the parka and the pants themselves over the boots, it all looks great.

What's also incredible about this figure are the paint applications. The original Snow Job was pretty much straight white (at least originally...most of them these days are a bit more yellow... ;) ) but this version of Snow Job adds some nice different shades of white, cream, and an almost brushed yellow. It adds awesome texture to the pouches on the chest, some great detail to the forearms, and adds a nice bit of depth to his boots as well. Couple that with the added brown and black from the holsters, carrying case, straps, and pouches, and Snow Job just jumps off the "page". He is really, really great.

For the most part, Snow Job is pretty much spot on with his articulation, but he does have some limitations. The upper body is great with a nice, almost seamless mid-torso joint, ball-joint shoulders and the wrist joints that work well. Unfortunately, though, his legs do suffer a little bit from the aesthetics of the parka that is sculpted down over the hips. The parka is a separate piece, but is glued tightly to his waist, and the somewhat stiff rubber provides some restrictions to the way the hips can move. It's malleable enough that you can kind of force the legs into an upright position (and the hips can move thanks to improved hip sockets) but the parka does limit some things. I've gotta admit, though, that jacket being sculpted down above the hips makes a world of difference aesthetically, but it's a minor bothersome point, to me. Nothing to really write home about, though. While he can't move as well, he looks terrific. It would have been nice if he could pose better on his ski's, though.

Snow Job is absolutely loaded with gear, as it should be. His skis and backpack are very reminiscent of the vintage versions, but retooled so they mesh with the current pegholes on the Anniversary figures. The pegs are smaller and set forward on the skis so they match up with the holes on the boots, and the backpack is retooled similarly.

The skipoles look pretty close to the vintage versions as well, but I think the handles have been enlarged a bit to fit the larger hands. He, of course, comes with the classic cartoon-era firearm, which is awesome to see!

The shining point of his accessory compliment, though, has to do with the removable hood and goggles. I am amazed that they were able to integrate those into separate pieces and have them look as seamless as they do. The great thing is that you can swap out heads, and give them hoods and goggles as well, to give you a full-fledged Joe arctic team. Such an awesome touch to an already very cool figure.

Snow Job is a great, great figure that updates what I always thought was a sub-par figure that got a lot of mysterious love back in the day. Now, though, he absolutely rocks, and I can't find much to complain about other than those limitations in the leg movement. Loved the character, never loved his figure...now I can love both! Terrific sculpting, awesome accessory compliment...aside from some minor articulation issues, this is a version of Snow Job I can respect. Great figure!

Snow Job doesn't fit seamlessly in the Polar Battle Bear, unfortunately...while his feet actually can sort of squeeze into the dashboard cavity, and his legs don't seem all too long, his parka gets in the way. If someone was enterprising enough to remove that parka "skirt" I think he would fit in there a lot better.

Like the Battle Bear, there is a small cavity under the dashboard that the figure's legs can slide into. The parka once again hinders hip articulation a little bit, but you can still sort of wedge him in there and he looks all right.