2005 Snake Eyes - Comic Pack

Snake Eyes is the most popular G.I. Joe character.  He has been since the vintage days.  Whether he's your or my personal favorite isn't really relevant as he is the one character on which the brand hinged and will continue to hinge for some time.  Depending on your age, various versions of Snake Eyes embody his iconic look.  I spanned two looks for Snake Eyes, his original the fabulous 1985 re imagination.  But, could I only choose one, the 1985 would be the Snake Eyes for me.  That has left me less enthusiastic about the multitude of interpretations of the Snake Eyes character that were based on his 1982 design.  It's not that they are bad.  It's just not a figure that has overly relevant to me and is a look that I consider inferior to the Commando/Ninja from a few years later.  In the 2000's, though, Hasbro make many attempts to perfect the original Snake Eyes release.  Various paint applications and different accessories worked...to a degree.  In 2005, Hasbro tried something different.  They sculpted a new head for the classic Snake Eyes design and attempted to release an update of something that had been done many times in recent months.  And, they were relatively successful with the 2005 Comic Pack Snake Eyes.

Hasbro's idea of selling multiple G.I. Joe comic packs was really ingenious.  Packaging three figures from a comic and including the comic so that kids could see their figures in action and offering it all for a cheap price was a feat that deserves more recognition.  The reason, though, that the products are less heralded than their sheer innovativeness suggests is because the execution and timing of the releases was less than ideal.  The packs quickly stagnated as they repeated the same basic colors over and over again.  This was a function of the failed notion of chronological release.  By the time Hasbro got around to some more eye-catching color schemes, the line was dying at retail and comic packs were instant pegwarmers.  The final wave of retail Comic Packs, though, produced some truly nice figures.  Included with a reprint of the most famous Joe comic book of all time (issue #21, Silent Interlude) was yet another Snake Eyes.  While the basic trappings of an oft released theme were there, the figure also included a new head and produced a figure that's better than you remember, but still short of iconic.

By the time of this figure's release in 2005, we had seen five prior releases of Snake Eyes that were based on his original appearance.  (They all had differences, but were designed as homages to the classic original.)  There was really only so much that Hasbro could do to keep the solid black body and update the smattering of details on the Snake Eyes mold.  So, the reality is that this sixth release wasn't all that different from a plethora of figures already on the market and heavily concentrated in collector circles.  The green grenade had not been seen before.  But, the only real calling card for this figure was that Hasbro sculpted a new head for Snake Eyes.

In the 2000's, Hasbro struggled with new heads.  Their early attempts were all balding, pasty guys who looked more like sad, middle aged collectors than hardened military.  The heads were bulbous and out of place.  With the comic packs, Hasbro's detailing improved substantially.  But, they still had issues finding the right scale.  Most of the 2004 Comic Pack figures had pre-production variations where the heads were smaller or larger than the production release.  But, in 2005, Hasbro started to hit their stride.  The Firefly head from one of this Snake Eyes's wave mate releases breathed new life into an incredibly stale mold and produced the best Firefly ever made.  Serpentor was equally excellent, even if he was a bit different.  But, this Snake Eyes head falls somewhere in the middle.  It is cool.  But, it's not something that's spectacular and it doesn't really bring a new visual to the entire character.  Part of that is that Hasbro didn't paint the head.  Giving even just the goggles a splash of grey or metallic blue would have gone a long way towards showing off the head's details.  But, in all black, the more defined face is obfuscated and Hasbro's efforts are washed away.

The Comic Pack figures, in general, were better accessorized than the figures in the Toys R Us exclusive 6 packs.  But, they were still lacking the definitive gear that was iconic to many of the early characters. This Snake Eyes, though, has some really decent gear.  Of course, he includes the classic Uzi.  As this was central to the Snake Eyes character and prominent on the comic cover, it was an imperative inclusion.  Snake Eyes also includes a sword.  It is a JvC era repaint.  But, the version included has a silver painted blade, giving it great depth.  The accessory is in scale with the figure and works quite well with him.  The final accessory is a grappling hook.  As a kid, I loved rope based accessories.  And, that fondness carries over today.  So, I place a great deal of value in the grappling hook since it would have been one of my most beloved accessories had it appeared during my childhood.  Again, the hook is properly scaled and is a fun add on to the figure.

Hasbro started using softer plastic on hands and arms in 1997.  By 2005, though, the material had gotten overly pliable.  As such, Snake Eyes's hands stretch out upon the slightest pressure.  The upside is that you can easily move them back into position with a slight squeeze.  But, the simple act of holding his gear will cause the hands to pry open and it's difficult to get the figure to hold a solid pose with his weapons for very long.  We've seen discoloration on the softer plastics from this era that were colored blue or white.  While we don't have much to worry about in the coloring department with this figure, it's unknown how this soft plastic will hold up over time.  Granted, if it lasts 50 years, we'll all be too old to care that it's breaking down.  But, the soft, pliable material can be surprising on the first encounter and is something to note on this figure.

Personally, I kind of like this Snake Eyes.  The metallic paint highlights are kind of nice and the green grenade adds just enough color to the figure.  The new head is good and gives a different look for a character that could otherwise be done to death.  Sadly, the soft plastic, awkward waist and flimsy limbs detract from the figure a bit since he can be a pain to hold a pose.  But, that's a small complaint.  The upside with a character like Snake Eyes is that he works in many different photos and settings.  So, having a variety of looks for him helps to blend him in and not get as stale as other figures who have less variation in their releases.  During this figure's release era, it was a sad disappointment to see Snake Eyes in what seemed like every release.  But, at least Hasbro tried a few different things with him and there are enough differences among the figures for each to offer just a bit of diversity to photos of the character.

Snake Eyes figures based on the 1982 original are a dime a dozen.  Aside from straight arm releases in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, the swivel arm figure had an European exclusive in the Action Force line and several variants that were released by Funskool in India.  But, starting in 1997, Hasbro did the character to death.  The basic premise was released twice in 1997, twice in 2003 (though one was purple and was very distinctive), once in 2004 and this figure showed up in 2005.  The new head never appeared again.  I would have loved a repaint of this figure based on the comic cover where he was cast in yellow and orange, as if he were bathed in the light of his muzzle flash.  While it would be a figure of limited use, it would have also been a great homage figure that made more sense than many of the releases based on the classic design.  Despite all these releases, we only really got a cartoon version of the figure that was anything other than a black with differently colored highlights release.  Hasbro could have done the cover homage figure, or, at least, a figure based on the Snake Eyes sticker where he had camo pants.  But, better takes on Snake Eyes would come in the anniversary line starting in 2007.  It's just vintage collectors who got the shaft.

Despite the figure's long tenure at clearance, it has now found a second life on the aftermarket.  Carded figures tend to sell in the $40 range.  And, mint, loose and complete figures range from $10 to $15, depending on whether the figure has his filecard or not.  I consider that a lot.  But, this figure was also released 15 years ago.  And, I would not have balked at paying $10 for a high quality and popular 1990 figure back in 2005.  But, me remembering these figures rotting on the pegs for $5 each colors my perception of the figure.  And, for collectors who were not around in 2005, the fact that this guy was a remarkable pegwarmer is irrelevant.  All that matters is current availability and you don't see these figures with the frequency that you used to.  It could be that they have been spread around.  But, more likely, guys who have half a dozen of this figure sitting in a fodder bin have no idea that this once clearanced figure is now somewhat desirable.  But, that's the story of the 2000's era Joes in a nutshell.