Snake Eyes (Ninja Duel)
I have to say that it struck me as odd that even after the one-year delay for the movie premiere, the first wave of figures released by Hasbro for the G.I. Joe Retaliation movie line were not based on actual movie costumes. Some characters did benefit from this approach, of course, but some others were not as fortunate.
While the first wave Snake Eyes kind of fell somewhere in between, I found it to be a rather average effort. Thankfully, Hasbro had another version of the silent ninja in schedule.
Ninja Duel Snake Eyes is everything I expected from the start. First off, the costume is as movie accurate as Hasbro does these days, which means this snake Eyes uses entirely new pieces sculpted for this purpose.
The overall proportions do reflect the physique of performer Ray Park, and the uniform incorporates muscle shaped plates and tactical clothing in a really eye-pleasing fashion. Snake Eyes’ mask is inspired by the horizontal grille design, foregoing the sculpted-lips approach from the previous movie.
Being a character that really would benefit from an extensive articulation model, Hasbro saw fit to provide this version of Snake Eyes with:
• Ball jointed neck.
• Pegged hinge shoulders.
• Pegged hinge elbows.
• Pegged hinge wrists.
• Floating torso.
• Ball jointed hips (T-bar)
• Double hinged knees.
• Pegged hinge ankles.
• Rocker feet.
Although one of the best aspects of G.I. Joes is the ability to combine pieces from several different figures, I find that when all of the pieces in a figure are designed together from scratch the articulation tends to work better than when a figure is kit-bashed from different sources, and this Snake Eyes seems to confirm that notion. Limbs just seem to bend a little more and making the figure stand is a bit easier, even in dynamic poses.
Snake Eyes is made entirely from black plastics, but that doesn’t mean that there is no decoration on him. The uniform displays gloss black applications on the harder armor plates and matte charcoal gray for the fabric sections.
This time around, Snake Eyes wears the Arashikage Clan symbol painted in red over his right shoulder plate, and the brown coverings around his neck provide a slight touch of color to an otherwise monochrome character.
Since the whole Ninja Duel scene is what inspired the zipline accessories included in almost every figure in this line, Snake Eyes comes saddled with the exact same accessory we’ve already seen in the Red Ninjas and a few others, but we still get a handful of more useful accessories.
Snake Eyes comes with a couple of identical katana swords, a small pistol, a submachine gun, a small knife, a scabbard for one of the swords and a backpack that has an indentation to hold the aforementioned scabbard.
All of the accessories are made from black plastic and lack decoration, except for the swords, which have their handles painted in beige. Both the small pistol and one of the knives can be stored on his belt, which is not removable.
While my enthusiasm for the movie has cooled down quite a bit over time, this version of Snake Eyes reminds me that the really important aspect of the whole event is getting toys as cool as this one.
Errex Score: 99/100
Category: Featured, GI Joe, Toy Reviews
About the Author (Author Profile)
I've been collecting action figures since the original Kenner Star Wars days. Nowadays, I still collect pretty much anything that catches my eye.Subscribe
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I’m just not a fan of the visor Snake Eyes. Of course, the one I have has the visor, but that is beside the point 😀
I always liked better the version with the silver goggles and the silver blades crossed over his chest, but I think this is a good one, as far as movie figures go.;)