Snake Eyes v1 (Ninja Commando)

It's tough enough to get creative with a character that you can provide over forty versions of that character without getting redundant. Now take that character and keep in mind that his defining characteristic is that he's all black. Exactly how many of these can you make before it gets dull? Well, unfortunately, the Rise of COBRA line's first foray into a Snake Eyes figure does fall pretty squarely in the "dull" camp.

Granted, Hasbro doesn't have a whole lot to work with here. We only have the original 1982 designers to thank for this when they ran out of budget for paint applications and decided to just release a commando all in black to save some money. Now, we have to deal with twenty-seven years worth of different variations of black Snake Eyes.

But really, that's only part of the problems with this figure...

By and large I think people have been happy with the way Snake Eyes has looked in the film, but unfortunately, that hasn't translated real well to plastic. The skin tight uniform top makes him look really scrawny and gangly, and because of the all black coloring, the figure itself is somewhat boring. The head sculpt might have been interesting if not for those sculpted lips, which end up just looking somewhat silly.

There are some interesting parts of the figure like his sculpted bandolier, belt and miniature holster. His semi-transparent visor is also interesting, as well, but ultimately they end up being somewhat cool side notes on an other wise uninspiring figure, especially for a character that's supposed to be the focal point of the film. Of course, on the back of this bandolier, Hasbro attempted to sculpt some sort of sheath for his sword (or that's what it looks like, anyway), but it's so rubbery that it doesn't even work.

One positive thing about this figure is his articulation...the fact that he is so scrawny is a knock in the looks department, but he's got great joints and range of motion, and would actually make a pretty good "blank" figure for customs...that's an angle to think about, anyway.

From an accessory perspective, the Joe commando comes with pretty much the typical stuff. He's got his trademark sword with a pretty unique hilt that appears prominently in the film, yet is still just a sword. The uzi is fairly unremarkable. He's got a new backpack, which is kind of cool for the fact that it's got some slits in it that hold his sword against his back.

Of course, he's also got his trusty 5-inch spring-loaded megacannon, but this one actually serves a neat purpose. After firing the grapple missile, Snake Eyes can use the zipline to go from one spot to another. A pretty neat feature.

Snake Eyes is the epitome of cool, but unfortunately this figure fails to capture most of the spirit of the Joe ninja commando. He's too scrawny, the sculpted mouth looks silly, and just doesn't have much in the way of redeeming qualities. If Hasbro could beef up his sculpt a little bit and make him larger, I think it would work better, but as is, there's nothing to write home about here.

Buy this figure at Big Bad Toy Store!

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