UPDATE: Joe Trooper pictures on Page 2!

A friend procured this Wave 1 Retaliation Snake-Eyes for me, and it arrived in the mail today. It came only with the blue gun seen in the pictures and one of the wing-like launcher things from the backpack (which I didn't bother to photograph since without its other parts it's a big blue lump of launching plastic). Here's a look at the figure:







And, a few thoughts on him:

-The most notable difference between this figure and the previous few years of Joes are the "rocker" ankles, and they're going to be a love-it-or-hate-it change. For dynamic-posing purposes, they're very effective: they mimic the motion of a human ankle in certain positions better than the previous ball-jointed versions, and they look good when the figure's standing or crouching with a wide stance. When it isn't, they kind of suck. They're better than no ankle articulation at all, but without a point of rotation that doesn't also change the angle of the foot (if that makes sense), they force the figure to stand with his toes pointed straight forward when in an upright position. In fact, they're actually pointed a bit inward when in their default position; it makes the figure look awkward when standing straight up.

-The sculpt is very nice: he's got a detailed light-body-armor upper body (which is about a billion times better-looking than the RoC fake-muscle armor), and a well-sculpted pair of BDU pants. The boots have an odd shin-guard on the front, but they're nice-looking. The head is...well, it's an 85-Snake-Eyes-looking head. For those who like that look, it's probably great. The head will go right into the fodder box for me. The hands are the newer ball-jointed variety, and they're some of the best Hasbro's produced thus far. This fellow definitely doesn't suffer from the reduced articulation that many of his brethren do.

-The only other knock on the figure is that his arms can't hang at his sides very well. The last photo shows them as close as they can get. Not a huge problem, and a fixable one, but something that you'll notice if and when you get the figure.

I'm glad I've got him, and I'm sure I'll buy another at some point: he's got some nice custom potential, and it's a pretty cool figure as-is (if you somehow don't have enough Snake-Eyes figures yet). I don't know exactly when these guys are supposed to hit stores, but this figure is a pretty good start.

I'm actually looking forward to this fig, but I didn't realize he was gray. Gonna have to break out the black paint. Probably going to give him the visored head off of V54, cause I like the shape better.

I, for one, love rocker ankles, but they don't really shine until thigh swivels enter the mix, as well. Even without those, I'll still take the rockers over standard ankles.

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A ok figure, He needs webgear of some sort and more paint apps. He needs a belt as well. The ankles IMO are ok but I hate the new wrist hands

I'm sure if you wait like 5 minutes, Hasbro will realease this body in a Black and you can save the time/effort of painting... though with your custom pace that's probably going to happen before you even pick up a paint brush.

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You'll only have to wait until the "Battle Pack" 3-packs come out, because I'm pretty sure the SE that comes in the one with Storm Shadow and the red-and-black ninja dude also contains a black (or at least darker) version of this figure.

HEY! I resemble that remark!

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Hello Kettle, I'm a Pot If I had a visor I'd look like '85 Snake Eyes.

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This is like getting an upgrade from a Motorcycle to a Moped.

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I got one as well. Few thoughts: In pictures, the sculpt looks less polished than others, but in person it's clear SE is wearing some sort of skin tight leathers with armor bits. So it is supposed to look more organic and asymmetrical. It's a pretty cool looking costume. He's one of the more articulated figures in the line. His thighs look to be Shock Trooper thighs, and I think he shares shins with the red ninja coming later. The rocker ankles are great for poses like a side kick as he can "point" the blade of his foot. On the down side, he can't pronate or supinate ( I think the first thing I do when I stand a figure is point the feet out). As others have pointed out, the old head doesn't really look right on the new figure, but I'm thinking of using this body less as Snake Eyes and more as a trooper with lighter armor than ROC RA Duke. It would look a lot cooler in black.

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What is the fix to get the arms to hang by his side?
Like some others have said, this fig will make a good base for other stuff but the arms poking out llike that would bug me to no end.

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You could go one of two ways. The first would be to carefully try to dremel out a bit of the torso in the area directly underneath the shoulder joint (his armpit, basically). The downsides here are that it'll be difficult to get a smooth, polished finish to the dremeled area because sanding it will be tough with the arm in the way. The second way is to crack the torso open (a pain, I know) and do the same thing, but with a lot more room to work. I'll probably go this route, although getting some of the torsos open can be difficult.

Please tell me the gun color is due to this being an early test shot and not indicative of the end product.





/Shades of 1993 BattleCorps!

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Sorry dude. Everything he comes with is electric blue.

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The shoulder problem could easily be fixed if Hasbro had thought out the shoulder design better to start with. Sinking it into the body? That's almost as bad as replacing the waist joint with a torso swivel.

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