REVIEW: GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Snake Eyes (Arctic Assault)

Produced by Hasbro | Released July 2009

Ninja Commando Snake Eyes trains the GI Joe team in hand-to-hand combat. He's an expert at assault missions that take place in extreme conditions, so he is well prepared to help the team infiltrate the MARS Industries base in the remote arctic.

Packaging Shots

Snake Eyes (Arctic Assault)
It seems every other day we Review a Snake Eyes at That Figures. So why break with tradition?

Well, this figure's outfit is certainly a break. Unlike most versions where he's clad in dark, tight-fitting Commando/Ninja garb, here he's wearing white cold-protection gear. This Snake Eyes is a very different-looking figure and it's nice to see him breaking-out a few new colours!

The sculpt looks great. Like Snow Job and White Out, there's a sense of the figure wearing ''real'' clothing, rather than simply having ''painted-on'' clothes. The extra bulk of the cold-weather gear gives an extra weight to the figure's limbs and is very nicely sculpted, with plenty of folds and creases to further enhance the ''heavy clothing'' look.

The core sculpt is augmented with a (removable) parka body piece and hood. It's cast from rubbery plastic and so doesn't inhibit leg movement too much. Head movement is another matter, but we'll come to that later. Speaking of the head, this figure uses the movie-style mask, so is cast with the impression of a mouth. I dislike this look and prefer the blank mask style of face. It's nicely sculpted though.

Articulation is fairly good, but as you'd imagine, the bulky outfit does get in the way a little. As mentioned, the hood limits head movement severely and it's a case of pushing Snake Eyes' face around within the hood to get him to look where you want him to. My Snake Eyes' knee and hip joints seem very loose, too. His backpack (see below) is quite heavy and he's unable to support his weight in many poses, thanks to the combination of the backpack and loose joints. The parka vest also limits articulation a little.

Paint is very well used. The arctic camouflage pattern is excellent and paint is cleanly applied to his white visor (I like how he colour-coordinated there), with the black/white horizontal bars being superbly done . Beyond the camo effect though, there's no other paintwork to speak of. Not that that's a bad thing, as the camouflage is excellent and works well.

Extras

The Arctic Assault Snake Eyes is one of the few Rise of Cobra figures not to include an oversized weapon. Instead, he includes a twin grappling hook/backpack combo. A short cord - which is attached at either end to a hook -  runs through the pack to allow you to abseil Snake Eyes into various threatening situations.  

There's nowhere to store the cord/grapples when not in use, but you can - with a bit of patience and adjustment - wind them around the pack and have them hang loose when you're displaying him. Unfortunately this tends to throw-off the figure's balance and he's prone to falling backward unless you lean him forward at the waist. Just play around with his centre of balance and you should be able to get him to stand though.

The pack also has a slight positioning problem. The parka vest has a secondary piece - a shoulder strap/bandolier - that crosses over his body and is positioned right where the hole that allows access to the back port is found. To get the pack to sit against his back requires the repositioning of this strap, which can be difficult. Secondly, the pack also has shoulder-straps and a waist-belt (which clips shut) and wrangling it into position can take some effort. I'd imagine younger buyers especially might find it difficult to get into position. It's worth the effort though, as it looks great.

Snake Eyes also comes with a Katana (which can be slotted into the backpack), a pistol (sadly without a holster) and an ice-axe (which doesn't sit well in either hand and tends to fall-out.)

He also comes with his own stand.

Final Thoughts

This is another figure that makes for a better display piece than it does a plaything. That said, the grappling hook backpack is a fun feature I could imagine kids enjoying playing with and although he's got some articulation problems, to a kid this probably wouldn't be an issue.

Joint problems aside, the figure is well-produced and everything fits together well (except for the ice-axe, which does at least stay hooked in his backpack when you put it there). The parka vest is a great piece that really makes Snake Eyes pop and it's nice to see a version of the character that isn't him as yet another black-clad Commando-Ninja/Ninja-Commando/Commando/Ninja variant.

It's not a figure that will convert non-fans to the line but if you're a collector of Joes then this will certainly be a very worth addition to your collection.

Scores

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

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