We're back with another Super 7 action figure review. Welcome to Dan's ToyBox as this review is discussing the G.I. Joe Ultimates! Snake Eyes Action Figure. This is the second Super 7 figure I've purchased in the G.I. Joe line and with this Snake Eyes, I realized that these figures are based on the cartoon appearance of the characters. This is very cool for me as I am a big fan of both comic and cartoon.
I really dig the fact that this version of Snake Eyes directly references the cartoon episodes from the Sunbow Animation first five-part mini-series: The M.A.S.S. Device. In this series, the Joe team is called into action to prevent Cobra from using this new weapon to terrorize the world. The M.A.S.S. device is powered by three elements, deep blue hard water, a red radioactive crystal, and metallic ore from a meteorite. Snake Eyes is assigned to the team dispatched to recover the crystal. While in the arctic, Snake Eyes sacrifices himself to protect the team and recover the crystal. Trapped in a snowstorm, injured, and suffering from radioactive poisoning, Snake Eyes rescues and befriends a timber wolf, who accompanies him as he struggles to return to civilization. Collapsing under the strain of injury and poisoning, Snake Eyes and Timber are rescued by a blind hermit. This mysterious stranger cures our heroes of the radiation poisoning and tends to their injuries. He also repairs the container with the crystal, containing the deadly radioactivity inside. Snake Eyes and Timber soon manage to return to G.I. Joe Headquarters with their portion of the element intact, allowing the team to continue building their own M.A.S.S. device to counter Cobra.
Enough of the history lessons, let's get on with our discussion.
Accessories: 10/10
Once again, Super 7 does not disappoint with the goodies packed inside. Snake Eyes comes with: Timber, his laser rifle and pistol, the J.U.M.P. jetpack, the radioactive crystal container, his radio and multiple pairs of hands. One pair of fists, one pair of rifle holding trigger hands, one pair of pistol holding trigger hands, and one pair of radio holding hands. Unlike Storm Shadow, swapping hands on Snake Eyes is much easier, which was a relief. I particularly enjoy the attention to detail on the radio and with the cobra sigil painted on the container. Granted, the cartoons gave the characters more futuristic weaponry in the form of lasers, thus making it just a touch more sci-fi than reality. This is really evidenced by the design of the pistol, which adds just that much more cool detail to the figure.
Appearance: 9.5/10
I thought long and hard about giving them a perfect 10 for appearance, but the area they fell short is with Timber. Now, don't get me wrong, the color scheme, paint apps, and overall sculpt is incredible, but not featuring an alternate head with open, snarling mouth was a mistake. Hasbro gave alternate heads for both versions of Timber and while this is a very good-looking version, he just appears too docile, more like a tame dog than a wolf. That's honestly my only nitpick about their appearance. Let's get into the good stuff now. Snake Eyes looks absolutely fantastic. His look matches exactly with his appearance in the cartoon, right down to the bare hands. I was impressed to see that his black harness is attached at the belt, but loose over his chest and back. Ideally this was done to increase the range of torso motion, which we'll get to in a little bit. The color components, design, and overall look is exceptional for the character. The small details add up, such as the ribbed cuffs at his wrists, the seams on his mask, and even the small vent cuts for him to breath. I was also pleased to note that his pouches all have buttons or snaps sculpted on them, which is a detail sometimes overlooked on action figures. There is a very small part of me that wants to add a touch of silver paint to them, just to make the detail pop even more. Not sure if I'm going to, but we'll see. As mentioned earlier, Timber looks terrific. The white/gray/black gradient color scheme is done very nicely. The black streak down his back and tail gradually lightens to the darker gray over his sides and legs which, in turn, lightens to a brighter gray and eventually white on his lower legs, chest, chin, and belly. I did have a bit of paint overspray on his left side as there's a small black dot just above his foreleg. On the plus side, if you look closely, you'll see his eyes are yellow, which helps them stand out against the rest of his facial features. I do like the fur sculpt, although I feel like his torso is just a bit too smooth. The Hasbro version has significantly more sculpted detail in the fur. One last thing to keep in mind is scaling. Super 7 is much taller than other 1/12 scale figures, so if you have other G.I. Joe Ultimates! he'll fit in just fine, but he's going tower over any Retro or Classfied series Joe figures you may own.
Articulation: 5/10
As much as I like the figure, I really wish I could give it a better articulation grade. Starting with Snake Eyes, his head will turn side to side easily, has some upward and downward range and can tilt, giving him a decent range of "expression." The shoulders can raise to a T pose and will rotate a full 360 degrees. The lack of a butterfly joint means now forward or backward range. The bicep swivel works fine and isn't hindered. The elbow joints are single and stop at just about 90 degrees. There is a swivel at the elbow joint, which helps somewhat with crossing his arms in front of his torso. The wrists all hinge and swivel much easier than Storm Shadow's. The diaphragm joint is very tight and even with the harness strap design is very limited. I thought the straps would slide under the shoulder pieces, but it appears they are attached, which means bending him forward or backward, even one click is nearly impossible, at least on mine. The waist does swivel, but again, the harness straps prevent you from turning the figure too far. For as cool as they look, this design wasn't thought out very well from an engineering standpoint. His legs will split reasonably well, though not as far as Storm Shadow's did, which I found odd. There is a limited thigh rotation, hidden in the ball socket. The knees are also very disappointing as they, also, are single joints that bend to roughly 90 degrees. There is a boot cut for swivel and the ankle movement is good, with both a hinge and pivot. Timber is quite disappointing. He has 15 points of articulation: 3 points on each leg, but the ankles are very tight, and the range of motion is limited, plus his right rear leg is fairly loose. The tail will rotate and there are two points of articulation at the head/neck. The head will only rotate, while the neck has rotation and very limited up/down movement. Again, Hasbro actually had significantly better engineering on their version of Timber, and this could have benefitted from some more work.
Affordability: 8/10
The Super 7 G.I. Joe Ultimates! Snake Eyes generally retails for $54.99 but is currently on sale at BBTS for $43.99 (the price I paid.) Super 7 really does put a lot of work into getting the look and accessories accurate for their figures. I would appreciate more articulation engineering myself, but that's just a personal opinion. I think that, in spite of the issues I have discussed, this is still a solid figure worth having, especially if you're a G.I. Joe fan.
Overall, I feel there is more to like about this figure than there are issues with it. The appearance and accessories do help to offset the not-so-great articulation, but this isn't going to be a dynamically posed figure on your shelf. That being said, the Super 7 G.I. Joe Ultimates! Snake Eyes and Timber earn a respectable:
8.25 out of 10 ToyBoxes
The figure and packaging are very cool, and the overall aesthetic brings back some fond memories. This Snake Eyes will look great on any G.I. Joe Ultimates! display or even standing guard over your desk. Thanks for checking out this article and until next time... GEEK OUT!!!