G.I. Joe: Retaliation - Snake Eyes

It wasn't so long ago that the G.I. Joe Collectors Club seemed almost hamstrung by the tooling they had access to from Hasbro, and there were many concepts potentially left on the table because they couldn't always get access to the newest and greatest sets of tools.

What a difference a few years makes. We actually got to see the tooling for this figure during the Convention this year when it was used for the Convention Exclusive Frag-Viper. There were many complaints about how skinny the figure was, but I really dig the sleek and athletic look to this figure. The texture throughout the uniform adds a pretty neat look to the figure, making his suit look like more than just black spandex as it kind of looked back in 1985. With wrist bands and ankles that look more in line with the original than some previous releases we've seen, and with the added articulation in the wrists (and rocker ankles) this figure feels like a step up in many ways.

We have seen some controversy from this figure, however. Early images of this wave showed a very vintage themed Snake Eyes, including what appeared to be a newly tooled head. However the final release gives us the head from the Wave 2 "Ninja Duel" Snake Eyes, which is in line with the G.I. Joe: Retaliation film look and feel. I don't have a major issue with this (especially because we have a few other vintage era looking heads to choose from) but it would have been nice to throw a vintage head in here as well. I feel like it's not really my place to complain about that, though, considering just how many darn accessories they included throughout this wave as
it is.

Accessories

Speaking of accessories, Snake Eyes comes with a decent allotment of them. He's got his familiar sword and Uzi (with removable silencer) as well as a pistol and pair of knives. His bandolier is intact as well, pulled from previous releases, and looking very vintage pure. His newly sculpted bandolier is fantastic, with a very nice vintage feel, but incredible modernized detail.

Lastly, this Snake Eyes comes with his trusty Timber wolf, though he's in a bit brighter color than we've seen in the past, almost looking more white than gray. Still a very nicely tooled wolf (even though we've seen it before).

Yes, this figure is a nice one, and I think Hasbro did about as well as they could given the circumstances. They wanted to get a Snake Eyes in this assortment, and this version manages to throw collectors a few bones. That being said, I don't find anything especially new or exciting about this version of Snake Eyes, especially considering we've gotten something quite similar several times in the past few years. Yes this version is nice and brings some new things to the table, but not quite enough new things to warrant a whole new release, in my opinion. If there's a figure in this wave to avoid, this one is it.

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