Snake Eyes (2006 CLASSIFIED)

What? Classified? I thought this was Snake Eyes? Isn’t he a ninja? Why’s he just a dude in a boonie hat? This, dear reader, is a flashback version of Snake Eyes, or as his file card states, CLASSIFIED. Snake Eyes’ real name and place of birth have always been listed as such on his file cards. The mystery related to this figure is meant to reflect his portrayal in the comics as a man whose past we learned, yet whose identity still remained unknown. Snake Eyes’ past first began to be revealed in Marvel’s GI Joe comic beginning in issue #26. In the story, we learn of the connection between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, and how it goes back to their time together in the Vietnam war. For more info on this issue check out yojoe.com.

The figure is part of a three pack of comic book based figures, and also included Vietnam versions of Storm Shadow and Stalker. The combination of parts does a fairly decent job of approximating the Vietnam era look of the character in the comic, and even includes the detail of a picture of Snake Eyes’ sister stuck into the  hatband.

Throughout the flashback, Snake Eyes’ face is obscured. It’s mainly done through the use of shadows and placement of the face in the comic frame. And while it’s easy to hide a character’s face when working in a  medium like comics, it’s harder to transfer into a sculpture that can be viewed from any angle. Hasbro manages to portray a similar effect by painting a shadow across the figure’s eyes. The effect is a bit cheesy, but it’s a nice approximation of the comic effect and an interesting concept–using a two dimensional convention on a three dimensional object.