Snow Job (Arctic Threat) - Pursuit of Cobra Pre-Production
A guest review by Mysterious Stranger

JoeCon 2009.  Hot of the heels of the movie opening the week before, I along with a few hundred other Joe fans descended upon Kansas City for our annual gathering.  Among the many things revealed that weekend was a display case full of upcoming figures that Hasbro was more than happy to show off.  We've seen some of them already, through various outlets and one that I'd like to talk to you about today is the Pursuit of Cobra Snow Job. I'm a big fan of arctic figures.  I have nearly a dozen different "snow Joes" in the 25th format (customs and the like) as well as about 30 or so of the various Cobra arctic troops.  Of all the environmentally specific subsets the arctic troops are my favorite.  Which is strange because I moved to Southern California to get away from snow.  But that's a tale for another time.  Needless to say when I saw that one of the four themes of the Pursuit of Cobra lines was going to be arctic, well I was quite excited. I have no real attachment to Snow Job, having never had any of his figures until the 25th Anniversary line.  That figure was near perfection in plastic and when I saw the PoC version I was a bit skeptical about how it would measure up.  On display at JoeCon he was overshadowed by Arctic Destro with his frosted mask and Arctic Duke with his kickin' snowboard so he really didn't generate much buzz.  Now that I have him in hand I can say that yes that initial lack of buzz is understandable but it doesn't mean he's a bad figure.  Quite the opposite in fact.  PoC Snow Job is an excellent update to the classic character.

We start with the figure itself.  Surprisingly he's a repaint from neck to toe, sharing his arms and legs with Rise of Cobra Arctic Snake-eyes and his torso with RoC Shipwreck.  The only new parts on the figure are the overcoat and the headsculpt.  But these two pieces are enough to make him stand out.  The headsculpt is a great update to the classic Snow Job look.  The red hair and beard are there, sticking out from under a stocking cap and his trademark black goggles.  He also is sporting some headset/earmuffs that look pretty cool too.  Unfortunately the goggles are not removable, at least from what I can tell.  They do appear to be a separate piece from the head but they are glued on nice and tight.  While the customizer in me is bummed by this, it doesn't detract from the look of the figure in the least.

The body, as I mentioned is a repaint of some previously used parts and there's really nothing exciting about them.  The arms and legs are nice and thick without being overly bulky like the RoC Ice Viper.  They retain a lot of articulation and I had no trouble getting him into some fun poses.  The use of the Reactive Armor torso is a great touch and seems to be a running theme in these new PoC figures.  I like it.

The paint scheme is simple - a light gray/white with green camo and accents.  Its applied well and looks good.  His head has a decent fleshtone and his hair is the right shade of orange with some white drybrushing in it to give him the frosted look.  Overall this is a good figure that updates Snow Job well.

But what really sells this is the accessories.  Now Hasbro could have gone the cheap route and just repacked the 25th Snow Jobs skis, poles and backpack, thrown in the obligatory RoC rifle and gun and been done with it.  And had this been a store exclusive that's probably what we would have gotten.  But no, they went above and beyond with a kit that is completely new.

Snow Job comes with new skis and poles, complete with the RoC eagle logo on them, a new Barret 50 caliber style sniper rifle with folding bipod, a walkie-talkie, ice hammer, camp stove, camp skillet w/ folding handle, gas can, cloth tarp, gear rack and a backpack.  That might not sound like an interesting mix but when you start to factor in the play features, well it gets pretty cool.  Let's break it down shall we?

First of all the skis and ski poles fit snug in his hands and feet and he wears them well.  Same with the ice hammer.  The camp stove has a peg on the top that fits into the bottom of the skillet making for a nice dio prop.  The gas can is an added bonus that just adds to the dioriffic nature of these accessories.

Wait a minute.  Didn't I mention a cloth tarp?  What's that all about?  Well I'll tell you.  Take the skis, peg them together in the middle.  Take the ski poles and peg them into the skis.  Take the tarp and stretch it across the frame you just made and BLAMO! instant lean-to shelter!  How's THAT for awesome!

And the best part of all of this?  It all, and I do mean all fits on the backpack.  There are several different peg holes on the pack and a removable rack that has a couple pegs and clips as well.  Everything from the gas can to the sniper rifle, that's right the rifle, can peg onto the pack for Snow Job to carry out into the frozen tundra.

There are a couple of cons to all of this though.  He can't hold his rifle well at all which is a disappointment.  Its a nice new sculpt and a shame that the arms aren't long enough or the stock of the rifle is too long to let him hold it in a decent shooting pose.  Also the folding handle on the skillet is just a simple plastic fold, no separate piece with a hinge.  I fear that too much folding and unfolding will cause it to snap off as things of that nature tend to do.  But these small complaints don't outweigh the awesomeness of the figure as a whole.

In closing I have to say that PoC Snow Job isn't a perfect figure.  He has a few minor things that I believe could have been done differently (removable goggles, the skillet handle) but overall he's a great figure.  I'll be snapping up quite a few of this figure to bolster my arctic forces when it hits shelves later this year and I'll happily pay full retail price too.  PoC Snow Job is a good repainted figure with a lot of new accessories to make him fun.  I give him four out of five ice cream sandwiches.

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