REVIEW: GI Joe: Pursuit of Cobra - Arctic Threat Snow Job

Arctic Threat Snow Job | Produced by Hasbro | Released July 2010

Snow Job is the GI Joe team's arctic survival specialist. He camped in the polar north for months to watch a Cobra base and gather information. His gear includes a MUSP Multi Use Survival Pack that he uses as a bedroll, tent and concealment for observing the enemy.

Packaging Shots

Arctic Threat Snow Job

I'm going to jump right in and say it now - I really, really dislike this figure. I'll cover it below in more depth but I'm afraid this isn't one of the better GI Joe figures.

The basic sculpt isn't bad. You can see he's clad in thermal clothing and so his limbs are thicker than they would be were he wearing regular fatigues. The clothing is pretty bland though and lacks any real details to keep the eye upon it.

His head sculpt is a little disappointing - I expected removable goggles at least, but it's cast as one solid piece. The hood effect around his neck is a nice touch, though. There's also a secondary layer upon his torso in the form of a vest-like piece that gives the impression of him wearing a parka jacket. Again, it looks fine but it's nothing too exciting.

Articulation-wise, the figure loses-out, badly. The parka tails block most leg movement and the neck piece makes his head virtually immobile. He reminds me of Randy from A Christmas Story. Not only does this mean he can't grip his sniper rifle with both hands but it also makes balancing him difficult, given how heavy his backpack is when it's fully-laden (more on that later.)

Paint is nicely applied to the uniform, with a nice camouflage effect being used well. Unfortunately his beard - which includes flecks of frost/ice - looks simply like it's been worn against something or used in some vigorous play-sessions. The rest of the head paint is a little thickly applied but it's not too bad.

Extras

Snow Job comes with a LOT of equipment.

Let's do a quick inventory:

2 x Skis

2 x Ski Poles

1 x Backpack

1 x Backpack Mounting Rack

1 x Ice Axe

1 x Radio Transmitter

1 x Radio 

1 x Gas Can

1 x Billy Can

1 x Fold-out Frying Pan

1 x Sniper Rifle (with fold-out bipod)

1 x Bed Sheet

1 x Figure Stand

It's a shame Hasbro's designers were so uneven with their approach to the gear, as there are some excellent ideas and some downright annoying ones in play here.

The skis, for example, fit perfectly to Snow Job's feet and include two ports to allow them to be stored on his back, which also pop perfectly onto his stand pegs. Excellent. But then the other pieces - such as the Billy Can - only fit into specific ports on his backpack and are marginally too small to remain in-place if you try to swap them with, say, the Radio. Similarly, the two c-grips on his Mounting Rack hold the Ski Poles perfectly but the Ice Axe and Sniper-Rifle are again just marginally too thin to remain in-place in the same connector. It's like everything on the figure is designed for one role only, when with the tiniest of modifications everything could have been used for more than one function.

Then there's his bedding roll. Unless you want to hang it from the elastic strap or place it somehow on his backpack, there's no way for him to carry it and - to be honest - it looks more like a yoga mat than any kind of survival item.

His backpack doesn't even fit properly.

Inhale... And Exhale...

Superman! Weeeeee!

Again, it's a case of Hasbro's designers overreaching themselves and not giving much thought to the actual practical application of the figure. As a result of this, getting all the gear to stay in-place is an exercise in utter frustration. Like Low Light, his connectors are simply too fragile and he has too much gear to display fully-dressed. It's such a shame, as with a bit of thought everything would have worked.

Final Thoughts

Poor articulation, a bland sculpt and badly thought-out Extras make Snow Job an incredibly disappointing figure. I was really looking forward to posing this figure (especially after watching this week's GI Joe: Renegades, in which Snow Job made an appearance) but it's simply not a very good toy. 

Again, it's a case of a good idea being executed poorly. With a few tweaks - a better parka, better fitting connectors, a more interesting head sculpt - this could have been very good. The skis look great when they're on his feet and he holds his ski-poles well. He looks great in that pose but the moment you start trying to equip him with anything beyond the most basic of his items, it becomes an annoyance.

Snow Job is just another figure you'll spend a frustrating hour dressing, will carefully place in your display case and never touch again. 

Scores

Sculpt	C
Paint	B-
Articulation	C
Production Quality	B
Final Score	C

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