Snow Job (25th Anniversary)

By KansasBrawler

The 25th Anniversary line really impressed me at the time. While some of the figures look horribly dated compared to what came later, I’m still rather impressed at how faithfully Hasbro was able to recreate some of the classic figures in this new style. One of the figures I found really impressive was Snow Job. I didn’t really have strong ties to the original character and I’ve always thought arctic figures were a little limited in their use, but I was excited to grab Snow Job. He’s a great update of his original figure and Hasbro managed to make him a lot more visually interesting than his vintage counterpart.

Since Snow Job came from 2008, he gets the benefit of being made of all new molds—though from the neck down he and 25th Anniversary Wild Weasel share parts. While they did get reused as a Cobra flightsuit, I think the mold is more effective as a snow suit rather than a flightsuit. It looks appropriately bulky but at the same time, it’s not so thick it impedes his poseability. Unfortunately, the skirt piece (which is also the only piece not used with Wild Weasel) does hinder his legs’ movement. The slit is high enough that he still has quite a bit of range of motion in the front, but the lateral hip movement is pretty restricted. I also imagine it prevents him from sitting in vehicles all that well. That’s not a super big drawback to me since I don’t really need to put him behind the wheel of anything but it’s still part of the bigger problem that some earlier 25th Anniversary figures had—the focus on looking good over being playable. Snow Job isn’t as affected as badly as other Joes at this point of the 25th Anniversary line, but it’s still a little lame that his hips aren’t as useable because he’s got his jacket hanging so low. The right leg has a functional holster for his snub-nosed revolver. As a nice little Easter egg, the holster has the Adventure Team logo on the flap. It’s a great nod to the Joes of old. His left leg also has an Easter egg—this time the classic kid-sized Joe Pocket Patrol Pack. In the real world, it was a fun way to clip your three favorite Joes to your belt and take them wherever you wanted. On Snow Job, I can see it being used as a waterproof/snowproof carrying case for his orders or matches or other small items you wouldn’t want exposed to the elements while on assignment. The detailing on his torso faithfully recreates the chest pouches Snow Job had back in 1983 and the pouches being there helps disguise the midtorso joint a bit better. Some of those early 25th Anniversary figures looked really awkward because of the very visible gap created by their midtorso joint, but the pouches help draw focus away from the articulation cut and it’s a great way to disguise it. The arms are appropriately wrinkled for a parka and I like his pair of wrist pouches. I’m not sure how useful pouches there would be but Snow Job had them back and the day and he’s got them here. Snow Job’s hands are a bit of a weak point because they’re molded rather open. He has a bit of a hard time holding anything in his left hand and the right hand is only marginally better. With Snow Job I do find myself really missing the old C-hands that the Joes had back in the day. They may not have been the most natural-looking hands out there, but they could really hold their accessories well. I think part of my problem with so many arctic figures is that their hoods are often permanently molded up. I never had Snow Job as a kid, but I did have Sub-Zero and I always kind of wished he didn’t have to have his hood up all the time. I just thought it made him look out of place anywhere except out in the field. To address this with Snow Job (who had both a hood and goggles), the designers found a way to make the hood and goggles removable. Snow Job’s head sculpt is great. His beard is appropriately bushy and I like the fact that he’s wearing a skull cap underneath the hood. I’m sure from a design standpoint it was done to make it easier for the hood and goggles to sit on his head, but in the real world, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least for an arctic trooper to have something like that around his head to minimize exposure to the elements even further. The only thing I really don’t like about his head sculpt is his expression. As I was writing the description, I was about to compliment his serious express, but then I remembered, this is Snow Job. He’s always been portrayed in the Joe media as a fun loving guy. If I could tolerate anyone having a cocky grin permanently sculpted on any Joe’s face, it’d be Snow Job. He’s a consummate BS-artist who’s always looking for a little fun at someone else’s expense in the most good-natured way humanly possible. I kind of wish his head sculpt reflected the personality we were introduced to all the way back in Issue #11 of the Marvel series.

Part of why I don’t like arctic figures is that they generally tend to be painted in all
white, which looks a bit boring. While Snow Job is still rocking pretty much all white, the paint team included enough additional colors to make him at least look a little more interesting. First of all, the entire figure has just a little bit of a tan wash over the white. It’s not a lot, but it definitely breaks up all the white. Snow Job’s boots and chest pouches are a similar shade of off white and to help bring out the details on the mold itself, the belt and the straps for his pouches get painted with brown for the belt and black for the buckles. Even though there isn’t a lot of color, it’s still enough to make him interesting. I do wish his shoulder pockets and some of the chest harness would have gotten a little more attention from the paint team, but it’s definitely more colorful than the classic Snow Job so I’ll call it a win. Of course, Snow Job’s head gets a good deal of attention from the paint folks as well. His beard is a very natural red color and while his goggles get rimmed with brown and the fur on his parka’s hood is also off white. Snow Job really looks great here and I have to admit, Hasbro really did a great job with this particular arctic figure without deviating too far from his original paint colors.

Snow Job is one of the early Joes who came with a lot of gear and like some of my favorite Pursuit of Cobra characters that also came with quite a bit of equipment, he can carry it all at once. Starting off small, Snow Job has a black snub-nosed revolver for his holster. It’s a great little piece and it’s something I can see a trooper carrying as a weapon of last-resort. Snow Job’s primary weapon is something that anyone who watched the Joe cartoon should be familiar with. Its official designation is the XMLR-3A laser rifle, but we all know it’s the laser rifle that every Joe carried on the cartoon back in the day. It’s the same weapon that Snow Job had back in 1983 so I’m glad they included it here again. I only wish Hasbro (or the GIJCC) had found a way to include this piece with more figures. If nothing else, the rifle should have been given to every Joe in the cartoon-based DVD battle packs. There are a lot of Joes I’d love to see running around with the cartoon laser rifle, but I’ve only got one and it stays with Snow Job. Snow Job was also probably one of the best accessorized figures back in 1983 because of his ski equipment and Hasbro did a great job recreating his signature gear in the modern style. The skis and backpack are a simple white and the poles are black. The skis and poles can also attach to his backpack to help him keep his hands free. The skis fit nicely on his feet, but unfortunately, his slightly-too-open hands really can’t hold his skipoles effectively at all. The wrist straps fit nicely over his wrists but I really do wish he could come close to holding his skipoles. The hood and goggles look proportional even though they’re removable pieces. Hasbro hasn’t had the greatest track record with removable headgear that wasn’t a helmet, but they did fine here.

Snow Job surprised me. Without any childhood attachment to the figure, I wasn’t sure I needed him. However, reading Issue #11 when I was in high school apparently impacted me more than I thought. I really liked Larry Hama’s characterization of the Joe’s premiere arctic trooper and getting him in figure form really made me happy. Though I wish he had a little less dour facial expression, there’s still enough of Snow Job’s personality in the face that I can make it work. Hasbro actually made me like and want to buy an arctic figure. That, in and of itself, should say a lot. They did a great job replicating his old look but adding in the removable hood and goggles really sold me. Snow Job didn’t have to have his hood up all the time and you could actually see his face. Those two changes really sold me on the figure and turned what I thought was going to be an arctic guy who I could pass up without any problems into a figure I was very happy to have gotten.