At this point we know that the GI Joe Renegades figures are a tad different from what we came to expect after viewing them at Toy Fair and Joe Con this year. Are you a Snake Eyes fan? Intrigued by the new Renegades Snake Eyes figure? On the fence? Read on to check out Rockshield’s thoughts on the figure!
HissTank › G.I. Joe Renegades › Rockshield Reviews Renegades Snake Eyes
Rockshield says
Got my hands on the new "Renegades" Snake Eyes figure, and thought I'd share the experience... although for the life of me I cannot figure out how to make these tiny bitty thumbnails bigger....
I like the new card art and packaging. It says "Renegades" right on the front, so you know what now-defunct show you're buying into. Also, the artwork looks like it comes straight from the show... although if you look closer, you will see it was altered to match the figure. (The color patterns on Snake Eye's hands are completely different then they were in the show)
I was actually surprised how unique the figure looked when I first pulled him out of box. I remember the prototypes we saw earlier looking like the old resolute figure with a new head. Turned out to be dead on accurate, although the new arms and webgear help alot.
The first thing I do when pulling out something from a new wave is open up the mini-poster and see if we've finally got something new. No luck here... as we see Snow Job and his artic scene being advertised, along with the first wave of figures. HASBRO - newsflash - update the inserts or scrap the idea. Please
Now.... the accessories. Although it seems like we've got enough "stuff" for the Ninja Commando, it actually looks like a light weapon load-out. Recently, Hasbro has been stuffing the PoC figures with things like extra heads, masks, helmets, guns, swords, knives, machete's, and so forth.. so he looks almost short changed here.
According to the file card, these are: the Hand-forged Katana and wakizashi sword, the Plasma pulse baster, and twin "tek-sai". He comes with a very small backpack and webgear, and the usual stand.
I was actually surprised at how unique the figure looked when I first pulled him out. I remember the prototypes we saw looked like the resolute figure with a new head. Turned out to be dead on, but the new webgear and arms make it stand out somewhat.
Now the torso and legs are just a simple repaint, but the arms and hands are completely new. The hands feature the same new wrist articulation that v54 SE and Low Light came with, but the hands themselves are new. Because of the added swivel, the hands look really long and funky. Overall his reach is slightly longer then the Resolute figure... although this pic barely shows that.
Something I thought was interesting and cool is the approach to the paint job around the knees. Instead of just making the knee pad silver, the paint actually went the full diameter of the mid leg, making it all look "together".
The "pulse blaster" sits on his left side as in the show, but inside of a clip, instead of a holster. One of the designers told me that originally a holster was made, but because it was HUGE (to fit the big bulky gun), it was scrapped for this clip. It doesn't look bad in my opinion. The rest of the weapons all fit on the figure... something I like since I don't have to open up a baggie to store everything else in.
On a side note, according to the file card, this blaster is "silenced" - although there is no visable way one would come to that conclusion.
Now the swords - WOAH! This is NOT what I expected at all. Snakes carried twin ninjato's crossed across his back. This looked more like an update on the Resolute figure's sword-carrying method. According to the file card, this is the "Hand-forged Katana and wakizashi". The only problem is that in no way resembles a Katana. If you have seen enough Samurai movies, then you're probably familiar with the method of carrying two swords in the waist area. This is commonly known as daishō, translated as "big-little". The katana was the big or long sword and the wakizashi the companion sword. I would LOVE to see this in a samurai action figure... but it has very little place on Snake Eyes. He didn't carry these swords in the show, so why did we get this? And why does the name "Katana" keep coming up? The katana is curved.
The swords though DO look good and if it hadn't been for the lack of integrity to the inspiration, I would absolutely love this weapon load-out.
Above the swords, we get two "tek-sai", one is open and one is closed. I do believe they appeared on the show and are a nice touch, albeit a bit snug in the backpack.
Here we have the familiar Arashikage Clan emblem. It appears on both shoulders and is both accurate and big enough. During the Sigma 6 period, (and in IDW's run of the Joe comics) this emblem was messed up several times, so I always cringe until I see it done properly.
Somehow, Snake Eyes lost a little bit of height by going back to the Resolute body.
At least the Clan emblem looks MUCH better!
Although this is the same EXACT head that came with both of the two most previously released Snake Eyes figures, I really like the repainted visor. Seems like the silver brings out the detail a bit.
Now here comes the confusion, and hopefully we can get some further clarity on this from Hasbro. According to the file card, this figure's combat gear include "ARASHIKAGE blade with stand", and "ninja grappling hook". Try as I might, I could not find these in the bubble (sarcasm). Did we get shortchanged here? Was there a bigger weapon assortment planned, and why did it get cut?
Overall, I think the figure is cool and represents the show SORT-OF. The biggest element I was looking for was the crossed twin swords, which obviously was completely dropped. I don't understand the constant confusion between ninja and samurai, and although it's not the end of the world, it gets old.
Aside from my issues with the relation between the show and the end product, I think this is a really sweet figure. The weapons look sharp and are all new, and the detail on both the head and the body (as in previous releases) are nice. The weapons are truly the main reason to pick this figure up, as the body wouldn't be hard to create on your own.
fireflyguy says
Thanks for the pics and review! I originally thought I would get this fig, but the more I looked at it, the more under-whelmed I was with it. It's not a bad figure at all, but even though I like SE, I really don't need another one, especially one that is this close to the CS/Res SE.
killeykahn says
As snake-eyes' go, for me its kinda a so-so fig. I'm kinda wishing they didn't use the wetsuit forearms, I always get the feeling that the left forearm, doesn't bend as much as the right.
as for equipment, I kinda felt shortchanged when I opened him.as seen in generalsjoes are some of the cut equipment, same as FF,Duke, and CC. I just hope they don't cut some of the equipment that comes w/ 30th lifeline, SS, etc.
SE
http://generalsjoes.com/wp-content/g..._snakeeyes.jpg
duke
http://generalsjoes.com/wp-content/g...es/04_duke.jpg
links are from generalsjoes.com
fireflyguy says
as for equipment, I kinda felt shortchanged when I opened him.as seen in generalsjoes are some of the cut equipment, same as FF,Duke, and CC. I just hope they don't cut some of the equipment that comes w/ 30th lifeline, SS, etc.
SE
http://generalsjoes.com/wp-content/g..._snakeeyes.jpg
duke
http://generalsjoes.com/wp-content/g...es/04_duke.jpg
links are from generalsjoes.com
Rockshield says
as for equipment, I kinda felt shortchanged when I opened him.as seen in generalsjoes are some of the cut equipment, same as FF,Duke, and CC. I just hope they don't cut some of the equipment that comes w/ 30th lifeline, SS, etc.
.. one for Snakes to borrow?
The good thing about the stuff shown in the TNI pics is that they are easy to add to your SE display. They don't even look repainted.... so fortunately it's not like we're not going to have something that was NEW.
PROVOST says
Thanks for the pix OP!!!
These look like they are really going to be great!!!
Splintershins says
Those knobbly wrists kinda drop the figure down a few notches. The prototype had much better looking hands/wrists. I'm not seeing much here that makes this a "must buy" figure.
Cannon Fodder says
I don't like the fact his pants below his knee pads doesn't match the rest of him. Why blue-ish purple? Just stick with black! But, I'm one of the hated SE whores so I'll buy it anyhow.
Kroenen says
Thanks for this very insightful review and for all the awesome pics. Do you plan to review the other figures of the wave?
MFJayman says
I'm a bit leery about the newfangled wrist and hand articulation on these newer figures. I think there's a case of diminishing returns when it comes to articulation--at a certain point, the extra little bits of articulation (like on hands and feet) just aren't worth it unless they look good. If it doesn't look so good, than don't bother with it. I'm fine with the old style wrist articulation, so long as the hands don't pop out.
Anyway, the fact that this SE draws heavily from the Resolute SE and City Strike SE doesn't bother me, since I never got the former and never opened the later. So this figure should feel pretty new to me. I'm still eagerly awaiting my 12 pack--hoping it arrives today!
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