 Finally, made it back home from Jocon. That was a great convention. I met a lot of viewers, that was fun. But I am happy to be back home. I'm your biggest fan. How'd you get in my house? How I got here is less important than why I'm here. I have a very important message for you. You must review something from the 90s. Why? Because everybody knows you hate the 90s. Right. What? You've taken on this project of reviewing every G.I. Joe toy from the vintage line. But if you don't review something from the 90s now, then you'll get through all the best figures and vehicles in the first few years and then you'll have nothing left to review except for toys from the dark years. There'll be nothing but week after week and month after month of bitterness and disappointment. That's a good point. So I guess I better review something from the 90s. You have chosen wisely. Now get out of my house. My work here is done. This project right, I really do need to look at more G.I. Joe toys from the 90s. So we're going to start this week by looking at the 1993 Ninja Force Snake Eyes. This is Snake Eyes version 5. This is another Ninja Force figure and the previous Ninja Force figures that I've looked at I thought were not very well executed action figures. But this time we have Snake Eyes in the mix and Snake Eyes is one of the most popular characters ever. So can Snake Eyes save Ninja Force? Let's find out. HCC788 presents Ninja Force Snake Eyes. This is Ninja Force Snake Eyes, the fifth version of Snake Eyes from 1993. This figure was only available in 1993 and was discontinued for the year 1994. In earlier years, G.I. Joe figures were available for two years, but this figure was on the peg for only one year and that may have been a red flag that the line was in decline. Of course, 1993 was the penultimate year for the vintage G.I. Joe line. The line ended in 1994 and this is not the final version of Snake Eyes. There was a Snake Eyes issued in 1994. There were six versions of Snake Eyes in the vintage line or seven if you count version 1.5 from 1983. These are all of the Snake Eyes that I have. I do not have version 4 or version 6. I'm not going to show you any images of the version 4 or version 6 action figures right now. They will be reviewed in time. If you haven't seen those versions, I will preserve the surprise. In this review, you will see some depictions of version 4 in animated form, but I'm not going to show the figure right now. Snake Eyes version 5 was in the Ninja Force sub-team and he was in wave 2 of Ninja Force in the second year that Ninja Force was released. Of course, Snake Eyes was G.I. Joe's first Ninja, although he was called a Commando when he was first released. So why was G.I. Joe's first Ninja not in the first wave of Ninja Force figures? All Ninja Force figures had a spring-loaded action feature. Chabong had his silent backslash. Scarlett had her Kato kick. Snake Eyes also had an action feature called the Basami Slice and we will take a closer look at that when we look at his articulation. There's something strangely not mentioned on the packaging and it's one of Snake Eyes' most famous attributes. Snake Eyes does not speak or more correctly, he cannot speak. In the G.I. Joe comic book continuity, Snake Eyes' vocal chords were damaged in a helicopter crash and that same helicopter crash also disfigured his face, which is why he wears a mask. Let's take a look at Snake Eyes' accessories and there are a couple important things to note. First of all, none of these accessories are original to this Snake Eyes action figure. All of these accessories appeared with other figures. Second, all of these accessories are the same color, this light blue color and that's because these came packaged on an accessories tree and the purchaser would have to clip them out. All of these accessories are the same as the ones that came with Ninja Force Scarlett, released the same year and the reason they're the same is because they issued the exact same accessories tree, like this one, just in different color plastic. I've talked about these accessories trees before and how much I hate them. I think they are lazy and cheap and the only thing that could be lazier and cheaper than packaging a figure with an accessories tree like this is packaging another figure with the same accessories tree. We're not even trying now. So, let's look at these accessories. He came with a curved sword. This sword also came with the 1993 Sagaht and the 1993 Scarlett version 2. It looks similar to a scimitar, but who cares really? He came with a long sword and this sword is a reissue of the sword that came with Storm Shadow version 3 from 1992, so nothing original here. He came with a short sword, which is a reissue of the sword that came with the 1992 Dojo, so nothing original here. He came with a knife and this is the same knife that was issued with the 1993 Scarlett version 2. Of course, Scarlett's being in yellow. He comes with two claws that attach to his wrist, though not easily because there's some sculpting on his wrist that make the claws not a perfect fit, way to go design team. These claws are reissued and only slightly different from the claw that came with Storm Shadow version 2 from 1988, so again, nothing original here. And finally, Snake Eyes comes with Nunchucks and this is a copy of the Nunchucks that came with the 1992 figure called Nunchucks. Snake Eyes' final accessory is probably his best one. He comes with a figure stand, a blue figure stand that matches the other accessories, and this was a nice innovation from the 1990s. In the 1980s, the only way you could get figure stands was with accessory packs or small place acts, so it's nice to have figure stands that actually come with the figures. Okay, let's look at Snake Eyes' articulation because we have to. His head is on a swivel, not on a ball joint, even though we've had ball jointed heads since 1985, so we are losing that for some reason. He can move his arms up at the shoulder about so far. He can bend at the elbow about 90 degrees. He does have that swivel at the bicep, so he can swivel his arm all the way around. But his other arm articulation is severely limited by his action feature. So let's talk about the action feature, the Basami Slice, and Basami is a Japanese word that means shears, so Basami is referring to the shearing motion of his slice. One arm goes up while the other arm goes down. You can adjust the arms at the shoulder a little bit. They do ratchet a little, so you can adjust the slice. You can activate the action feature by squeezing the legs together, and that causes both arms to move. I'm not a big fan of action features, and I don't like this one. I especially don't like how we lose articulation for it. But it's not the worst, I guess. Squeezing the legs together to activate the punch makes it a little bit like the DC Superpowers figures. I have a message for all toy manufacturers everywhere. Stop making toys with action features that make this motion. Kids are really immature. There is no articulation at the waist. We sacrifice that for the action feature. In fact, this isn't really even an O-ring figure. This figure is either glued or sonic welded together. He cannot move his legs apart at the hip, so he can't do side kicks or anything like that. He can only move his leg forward and backward at the hip, and bend his knee about 90 degrees. Let's look at the sculpt design and color of Snake Eyes, and in this we have some assistance from the file card. These 90s file cards had guides for some of the features on the figure. On his head we have what looks like a hockey mask over a hood, and the file card calls this an armor plated concealment mask. The eyes are white, so I have to assume these are lenses over his eyes. On the chest we have a black uniform and light blue straps and a criss-cross pattern. Although it looks like there should be a spot of blue paint right there. It looks detached here, although on the back it does keep that criss-cross pattern. These blue straps have some silver details, but at least the base color plastic is black, so he does look like Snake Eyes from that respect. The file card calls these XJ2 baseball grenades, and in fact they look like M67 grenades. The file card calls these Torinoco Plastic Charges, and the only reference I could find for these that would be in any way relevant was to Ninja Smoke Bombs. He does not have a separate waist piece, this is all one solid piece here, but on his waist he has this rope belt that goes all the way around, then he has this large whatever this is here in front. It looks like home plate, I guess this is supposed to be padding. It's still not as embarrassing as Scarlett's V-Crotch. The file card calls these Nage Teppo Smoke Grenades, and these are based on real Ninja Smoke Grenades. One thing I don't like about this whole chest assembly is how low the arms are set on the body. You have the shoulders up here, then you have a drop off, and then you have the arms. And compare that to the way 1980s G.I. Joe figures were constructed. You have the arms really right at the shoulders that looks much more human. This I don't know what this is supposed to be. On his forearms he has what the file card calls sword blocking forearm shields. And I do like these, these elbow pads. They are in that blue color and that's not my favorite color, but I like the idea of these and I think they're nicely sculpted. Well done. On his right arm he has what the file card calls Mitsubishi Escape Flares, and Mitsubishi refers to a device that is used to blind the enemy. On his right leg he has a pistol, which the file card calls a standard issue 9mm Beretta, so this is probably a Beretta M9. On his left leg he has what the file card calls a Shinobi Tana Dagger. And finally we have some fairly plain black boots. And I have to be grateful that anything from the 90s is understated, so that's good. Then he has these knee pads, which I kind of like. I mean they're not the best, but they're not bad, they're unique, and they are legitimate knee pads. I have to give the designers some credit for trying to give authentic Japanese names for some of the sculpted features on the figure, although the origin of some of them is a little obscure and some of them may just be made up. At least they tried, at least that's some effort. So now let's look at that file card, and as with all under ninja force file cards, I hate this background color. This background color makes me want to gouge my eyes out rather than read it. It has a portrait of Snake Eyes here, it has that guide for the features on the figure that we've already looked at, it has his code name as Snake Eyes, and it says he's the covert mission specialist. It doesn't just call him a ninja here, nor does it refer to him as a commando, as it did on most of his file cards. Snake Eyes, a covert mission specialist, makes it sound like he's a replacement for the 1985 Lady J, who was the covert operation specialist, but I don't think that's what they intended. This file card adds to the mystery of the disappearing hyphen. Snake Eyes' version 1 file card did not have his name hyphenated, but the version 2 file card did, then the version 3 file card, again, did not have his name hyphenated, and now the version 5 file card does have the hyphen. So with Snake Eyes' code name hyphenated or not, you decide. This information up here is very similar to other versions of Snake Eyes' file card, file name classified, primary military specialty infantry, secondary military specialty, hand to hand combat instructor, birthplace classified, and grade is E7. Snake Eyes got a promotion, his pay grade on his first two file cards is E5, and I like seeing GI Joe characters get promoted like that. I think in reality they should. That promotion occurred on his version 3 file card, where we first see his grade as E7. Here it has a quote, but who is it quoting? It's not quoting Snake Eyes, as noted earlier, Snake Eyes does not speak. So who's speaking here? Did they get this from a fortune cookie? Move with the wind, and you will never be heard. Break like the wind, and no one will want to sit next to you in the movie theater. This section has some background information on Snake Eyes, and I've got to be honest with you, I am not going to read this to you. This more or less follows the comic book continuity for Snake Eyes' background, so I'm just going to call it a day, because I am sick of looking at this horrible file card. As far as Ninja Force Snake Eyes' use in GI Joe media, I cannot find any confirmation that Snake Eyes appeared in the cartoon series in his Ninja Force uniform. In the Deke animation series, he did appear in his version 4 uniform. Snake Eyes of course did appear in his version 1 uniform in the very first GI Joe cartoon episode in 1983. Many made a lot of appearances thereafter, but in the cartoon series, Snake Eyes was never really a main character. He got a lot more attention in the comic book series. In the GI Joe comic book, Snake Eyes did appear in his Ninja Force uniform. In fact, Ninja Force had its own story arc in issues number 135 to 138. I have to admit though, I did not like that story arc, and I consider it a low point in what was otherwise a brilliant comic book series. I wasn't reading GI Joe comic books when those issues came out. I only got them as an adult collector, and going back and reading them now, I am saddened by how fatigued that series had become. But Snake Eyes was perhaps the most important character in the entire GI Joe comic book run. He had a two part origin story in issues number 26 and 27, and he was part of what was perhaps the single most important GI Joe comic book issue of all time, issue number 21, the silent issue. Snake Eyes was connected with a lot of other characters in the GI Joe universe, particularly Stalker and Storm Shadow, and he was romantically involved with Scarlet. In the later years though, the comic book relied heavily on the popularity of Snake Eyes to sell the comic books, at one point even calling itself GI Joe starring Snake Eyes. When you start doing stuff like that, you have lost focus on what you are really about. You are missing the forest for the trees, or really missing the forest for one really big black tree. Because Snake Eyes was popular and connected with so many other characters in the GI Joe universe, the comic book tried to connect him with even more characters such as the Baroness and Cobra Commander. Those connections were very contrived and improbable. I'm not a fan of this kind of storytelling. It's good to have threads that run through the backgrounds of multiple characters, that's fine. And you can even have a few improbable coincidences that can be accepted. But with each unlikely coincidence, the story becomes less believable, until the reader no longer buys in. The GI Joe story lost me when it tried to link Snake Eyes with the Baroness and Cobra Commander. That just went too far and it broke my suspension of disbelief. Looking at Ninja Force Snake Eyes overall, he's alright. What? You heard me. This figure is alright. Now don't get me wrong, this is not a good figure. The loss of articulation is bad. The action feature is bad. That baby blue color they have on him is bad. The accessories are bad. The accessories are beyond lazy. He doesn't come with his signature Uzi and he came with another one of those accessories trees and they didn't even give him an original one. They just stamped out more of an old one. This isn't the worst GI Joe action figure. There were far worse figures released for GI Joe. This figure, despite not being very good, is pretty far from the bottom, which is kind of scary if you think about it, because if this is in the bottom, then the bottom is pretty low. The figure has a few small things going for it. I mean at least the base color is black, which it should be for Snake Eyes. And at least the figure kind of looks like Snake Eyes, which is not something I could say about all versions of Snake Eyes. Despite being a bad action figure, this is not the worst version of Snake Eyes in the vintage line. It's the third worst version of Snake Eyes, which puts it about in the middle. The real shame is that it shows what happens when a character becomes popular and then gets exploited. His name and likeness gets slapped on everything. As time went on, Hasbro released as many versions of Snake Eyes as they possibly could. And with so many versions being released, inevitably you're going to have some that are mediocre and even bad. And this is one of the bad ones, just not the worst. This wasn't as much of a problem in the earlier years of the GI Joe line. He didn't have a Snake Eyes on the pegs every year. There were some gaps between versions. By the 1990s, Snake Eyes becomes a cautionary tale about the overexposure of a popular character. At one point, the comic book was even called GI Joe Starring Snake Eyes, and Snake Eyes got bigger billing than GI Joe. I don't resent having ninjas in GI Joe. When they're done well, they add a bit of mystery and adventure to the line. But I have a problem when GI Joe becomes about ninjas, when it strays too far from its core concept and becomes ridiculous. In 1982, GI Joe knew what it was about. It knew its core concept. But by 1993, it really didn't. In the 90s, GI Joe was trying to be all things to all people, which you can't really do. And that's going to be a theme in a lot of these 90s reviews. But for now, that was my review of Ninja Force Snake Eyes. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, make sure you subscribe on YouTube, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, comment and share this video. And thank you to everyone who came up and said hi to me at JoeCon. That was great. That made the convention for me. It was such a thrill to meet some of you in person. So let's do it again next year. And don't forget, next week begins Cobra Month. You don't want to miss that. I'll see you then. Joe's loose again, Scarlet. You're the one that just rode Snake Eyes. It's the GI Joe Ninja Force with real Ninja moves. Here's Snake Eyes on the Ninja Lightning with Thunder Missiles and Zip Strip Speed. And now Joe and Cobra Ninja Raiders get into and ride Ninja Spring Interaction in their own fast attack vehicles with a Ninja Surprise. GI Joe Ninja Lightning and Ninja Figure Soul separately. Ninja Raiders come with exclusive figures available in May. Uh oh, we need that gold to build our ultimate weapon.