SDCC Exclusive Transformers & G.I. Joe Snake Eyes

I've made no secret of the fact that I pretty much love the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Wave 1 Snake Eyes. No, it's not movie accurate, and no, it doesn't really have any ties to any other vintage era versions, but I think that's why I love it so much. You see, there was a time when Hasbro wasn't so worried about making new figures that looked a lot like old figures...there was a time when they actually designed exciting new stuff. That was cool.

While many fans cast aside the first wave of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, I appreciated it for what it was...a chance for Hasbro designers to think outside the box, at least a little bit, and not be committed to vintage aesthetic or to a specific movie design, and I think some of the figures really excelled that way. Both Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes were spectacular updates to those characters that maintained their old school spirit, but when in really cool new directions.

Hasbro took that Wave 1 Snake Eyes with the webgear from the 3 Pack and added some new paint applications, mostly in the form of camouflage combat pants and a nicely applied Autobot logo on his right shoulder. The figure itself doesn't offer a whole lot of new and exciting elements, being just a straight repaint of that Wave 1 figure with the same traditional weapons and everything.

I've heard some fan complaints about getting saddled with another Snake Eyes in this set, and I can understand that to a degree...though I also think that if Hasbro is trying to tie this into a continuous G.I. Joe universe, and there is only a single G.I. Joe operative to assist the Autobots, it probably makes sense that Snake Eyes is that operative. Hasbro has stuck with pretty mainstream characters throughout these SDCC offerings already, with Cobra Commander, Destro, and the Cobra B.A.T., so it makes sense to extend that to the G.I. Joe side as well. All that being said, I would have been much happier if Hasbro could have used a different or better character here, or at least changed it up a little bit more than simply applying camouflage pants. This is a $100 exclusive set, I believe the offerings within should be more than retail quality in their injinuity and execution.

ACCESSORIES

As mentioned, Snake Eyes comes with pretty traditional weapons in the form of webgear, a sword, and his silenced Uzi, so not much more to talk about there.

I like this figure...I actually like it a lot. But I like it within the context of a retail release and not so much under the umbrella of a special once-a-year ComicCon exclusive.

If this version of Snake Eyes had appeared at retail, I would have really enjoyed it, and to a degree, I do enjoy it here, but I expect a bit more from these SDCC exclusives and he doesn't meet that challenge.

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