REVIEW: GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Snake Eyes (Ninja Commando)

Snake Eyes Ninja Commando | Produced by Hasbro | Released July 2009

Snake Eyes is a Ninja Master and military commando and trains the GI Joe team in hand-to-hand combat. He received Martial Arts training in the Arashikage Clan and is the enemy of Cobra Ninja Storm Shadow. Silent and mysterious, this skilled Ninja wears a visor that conceals his face.

Packaging Shots

Snake Eyes Ninja Commando (Rise of Cobra)

As with many of the early Rise of Cobra figures, Hasbro began with quite ''vanilla'' versions of the characters. As such, this is the ''default'' Snake Eyes figure (rather than being, say the Desert Assault or Super Laser-Powered Mega-Ninja or whatever other variants are planned for later.)

The sculpt is pretty simplistic. I have to admit that whilst it's pretty accurate to the movie version of the character, I'm not a fan of the design. I dislike the Batman-style rubber abs and I much prefer the fatigues/sweater style of the Pursuit of Cobra versions of the character. It's worth noting that - a few minor tweaks aside - this is the same figure that is bundled with the Rip Attack Jet Storm Cycle. As such, it also includes the harness/holster piece.

The head sculpt is particularly good here and so - because it's based upon the movie Snake Eyes - looks bloody awful. I've no idea why the movie costume designers thought including a contoured face mask would be a good move, because it wasn't. The visor on this figure can also be raised to reveal the upper part of Snake Eyes' face, too. I don't like it one bit and am pleased to see Hasbro quickly dropped this head sculpt. I may have to replace it with one of the spare heads I have from another release.

Articulation is pretty good. The figure's lack of major bulk allows him to be posed quite well and the joints have a good level of mobility. The neck joint, however, only rotates and doesn't include any form of tilt movement.

There's very little in they way of paint, with the Arashikage symbol on his right bicep and silver detail on his wrists being the only colouring. It's cleanly applied though and is effective enough.

Extras

Snake Eyes comes with a Katana, an Uzi-style SMG, a backpack and a grappling hook launcher with zip-line.

I think this is one of the coolest oversized weapons I've seen in the Rise of Cobra line, as it's actually a lot of fun and works well.

Snake Eyes' Katana fits into the hook on his back (when his pack isn't present) and the SMG fits into the pack, although the butt does stick-out, limiting the way the backpack can be attached to his back port. However, with a bit of jiggling it all fits together.

Snake Eyes also comes with his own stand.

Final Thoughts

For the ''default'' version of the figure, this isn't actually as bad as I expected it to be. The sculpt isn't bad (although I really dislike the chest and head detail) and the accessories are just enough to give you some posing options without having him lug around too much gear (or leave it lying around.) The zip-line/grappling hook launcher is especially cool and I can imagine kids having a lot of fun with that.

At the end of the day though, this is yet another Snake Eyes, dressed in black and armed with a Katana. There are better versions out there, but then again there are also much worse ones. Don't expect too much and you'll probably be happy with him.

Scores

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

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