 Hello everybody, HoodedCobraCommander788 here and I'm back with another vintage GI Joe toy review. Now I have already reviewed the 1982 version of Snake Eyes, but you really should not go back and watch that video because it sucks. It's one of the first videos that I ever uploaded to this channel, and I think I've improved a lot in my video quality since then. So don't go back and watch that video. This is not exactly a remake of that Snake Eyes review. I am going to look at the 1982 Snake Eyes, but I'm also going to look at the 1985 version 2 of the GI Joe Commando Snake Eyes. This is version 1 of Snake Eyes from 1982. This is version 2 of Snake Eyes from 1985. However, there was a version in between these two, version 1.5, which came out in 1983. It was essentially just the swivel arm version of this guy. This 1982 version had the single point of articulation at the elbow. In 1983 he had a swivel arm battle grip, so he had a swivel at the bicep, an extra point of articulation. I don't have that version, so we're just going to look at versions 1 and 2. This version 1 of Snake Eyes came out in 1982 and it was part of the first series of GI Joe action figures when the toy line was relaunched in 1982. Those 1982 GI Joe action figures had a very military look to them, so as you can imagine they were mostly green. So in that sea of green action figures, Snake Eyes really stood out. Whoa, this guy is black. He looks really cool. This version of Snake Eyes was only available in 1982 and 1983 as I said he was replaced with the swivel arm version, so this action figure was only available for one year. For some reason the swivel arm version of Snake Eyes, version 1.5 from 1983, is harder to find than this first version, the straight arm version from 1982. Version 2 of Snake Eyes was introduced in 1985 and he had an animal companion, Timber, the wolf. He was available in 1985 and 1986. He was discontinued in 1987. The third version of Snake Eyes did not come out until 1989, so there were no Snake Eyes on the shelf for a little while. However since then, almost every year we have had a version of Snake Eyes and in most years we've had multiple versions. Yojo.com lists 67 versions of Snake Eyes. Snake Eyes is not the first of those 82 GI Joe's to get a second version. In 1983 we had a tan version of Grunt and in 1984 we had a tan version of Clutch. However, those were just recolors of the previous action figure. This version of Snake Eyes, version 2, is an entirely new sculpt for the action figure. As you know if you read the GI Joe comic book, Snake Eyes does not speak and he wears a mask because his face is hideously disfigured. Let's take a look at the accessories for version 1 of Snake Eyes and he came with only two. He had this really nice looking Uzi. This is a great looking miniature version of the real world Uzi submachine gun. Of course the Uzi is an Israeli 9mm submachine gun and it has been in service since 1954. So Uzi's have been around for a really long time. Some versions of the Uzi are seen with a collapsible stock but not this version. An Uzi is the perfect weapon for a commando like Snake Eyes who needs a light weapon for close quarters fighting. This same Uzi accessory was also released with the 1982 tank driver Steeler. Version 1's second accessory was his explosive pack which is kind of the satchel with a strap over it. Despite what my wife says, this is not a purse. He can carry this satchel over his arm like this but I find that it stays on better if you put it across his body like that. It has what looks like three blasting caps and on the underside it's just hollow, no detail on that side. Let's take a look at the articulation of the 1982 straight arm Snake Eyes. He had the same articulation as all GI Joe action figures from 1982 which meant that he could turn his head from side to side like that. He has lift his arm up at the shoulder about so far. He could swivel it all the way around. He had a hinge at the elbow so he could move his arm about 90 degrees. He had no other articulation there. That's why he is referred to as straight arm. The 1983 version had a swivel at the bicep but the 1982 version does not. He was held together with a rubber O-ring that looped around the inside which allowed him to move at the torso a little bit. He could move his legs apart about so far. He could move his leg at the hip about 90 degrees and he could bend at the knee about 90 degrees. Let's take a look at the sculpt and color of Snake Eyes. He reused a lot of parts from other action figures as did all of the GI Joe action figures from that 1982 line. His chest and arms were reused by a lot of figures including grunt. As you can see grunt has a green version of the same chest and arms. They also share the standard waist piece and his boots were shared by flash. In one of Snake Eyes only had three unique parts. His head and his thighs. You can see on this side it has some pouches and on this side it looks like he has some dynamite. Now let's look at the accessories of version 2 of Snake Eyes and whereas version 1 only had two accessories, version 2 of Snake Eyes had a ton of accessories starting of course with his signature Uzi. This is another really nice miniature version of the Uzi but it is not a reissue of the 1982 Uzi that came with version 1 of Snake Eyes. It is very similar but slightly different. In particular the barrel is slightly thicker on the 1985 version. On the 1982 version it's a bit longer and very thin and narrow. On the one hand it's really cool that they went through the trouble of sculpting a new Uzi for Snake Eyes in 1985 but on the other hand if you want all original accessories you can't just pair the 85 Snake Eyes with an 82 Uzi. You have to go out and find the 1985 version. Version 2 unlike the first version came with a backpack and this was kind of a special backpack because it stored his second weapon, his sword. I'm going to take a look at the sword here in a moment but let's look at the backpack. This backpack has some pretty good detail. It has this kind of texture pattern on the top here, a couple of pouches, a belt across the middle. It's got these clasps. These clasps are for the sword. The sword should fit neatly down in there like that. Now let's take a look at the sword. This is a very interesting looking sword. It's very unique looking. Snake Eyes is a ninja. He has trained in the Japanese martial arts but this is definitely not a Japanese style sword. His rival Snake Eyes did come with more traditional Japanese swords. This almost looks more like a scimitar with the kind of curve on this end, with the hilt that's kind of curved up there. Definitely not Japanese style and not really even European style. I want to say this is more Arab or Persian. Last but certainly not least, the Version 2 of Snake Eyes came with an animal companion, a wolf named Timber. This is all one solid piece of plastic. There's no articulation on the wolf at all but this is an excellent sculpt of a wolf. It looks really nice, some great detailing in the fur. You can see that this is very fierce looking. He's in an attack position with his body low to the ground, his teeth are bared, his ears are back and he just looks like he's ready to pounce. Timber is molded in a light gray but he does have a paint application on his belly. There is a white paint wash on the belly which is a nice subtle contrast and I think it looks good. This is a good animal companion for Snake Eyes. Both in the comic book and in the cartoon series, Snake Eyes was associated with wolves. Snake Eyes is not the only G.I. Joe action figure to come with a dog animal companion. Of course we had Mutt and Junkyard and later on we had Law and Order so there are quite a few G.I. Joe action figures that have these solid plastic molded dog companions. Timber is somewhat unique though in that he's not a trained dog. He's a wild animal that Snake Eyes befriended. Let's look at the articulation of version 2 of Snake Eyes and he had the typical articulation of 1985 G.I. Joe action figures and that was considerably more articulation than his first version. First of all, his head was on a ball joint so he could turn his head from left to right but he could also look up and down like that. He could swing his arm up at the elbow about so far. He could swing it all the way around. He had that joint at the elbow so he could swing his elbow about 90 degrees and he had a swivel at the bicep so he could swivel his arm all the way around so he could grip his weapons with a two-handed grip. He was held together with a rubber O-ring. He could move at the torso a little bit. He could move apart at the legs about so far. He could move his leg at the hip about 90 degrees and he could bend at the knee about 90 degrees. Let's look at the sculpting color on version 2 of Snake Eyes and there's so much more to look at with this version. This is his iconic look. This is the Snake Eyes that most people remember. On his head of course he has this visor. I'm not sure exactly if this is supposed to be like a clear visor with a dark glass on it or white but it's a visor that covers his eyes and his nose. He has sculpted on lips under his mask and this is something that I really don't understand. Why do they sculpt lips on the action figure? I do think this is probably the reason Snake Eyes that was in the movie Rise of Cobra had those sculpted on lips but that just is not a good look and that's not how he appears on his card art. If you think about it, why would you ever see his lips behind his mask unless he's biting the cloth behind that mask? Why would you do that? It just doesn't look right. As you can see he's still in the basic black but this time he has some very subtle color differences. He has a dark gray on some of his molded on accessories there, on this strap, on some of his belts and that gives a nice very subtle contrast to the black. He has a single strap that goes across his chest and that continues to his back. He has some sculpted on grenades which I could live without. I still think they overdid the grenades on these action figures. On his arms he has these pouches on his upper arms and on his right wrist he has this silver dart gun. It looks like a little miniature arrow gun and that looks kinda cool. This is the only part of the action figure that is not black or gray and it's not bad. They are not overusing the silver paint on this. On his left wrist he has a watch. On his waist piece he has a double belt that's in that dark gray and he has some more pouches. On his right leg he has a sculpted on pistol with the holster also in that gray and on this side he has a sculpted on, looks like a dagger also in that gray color. Those are appropriate weapons for a commando. Then you get to the boots and he has these pouches on his ankles and you know that's getting really close to overdoing the pouches. If you do too many pouches you're getting into Rob Liefeld territory. But it's not overdone on this action figure. I think he has a reasonable number of pouches to add some detail and he just looks really great doesn't he? He's so much more detailed than that first version. Comparing the two, version two looks bulkier. He has bigger arms, bigger chest, bigger legs. He looks like he's been working out. So which version do I like better? I think I originally said I liked the first version better but I've had some time to think about it and I have to go with the popular choice. Version two is my favorite of the two. Even though I really like the version one I think that he was very original for the time. He really popped on the shelves. Version two, he's just so much more detailed and he just looks so great. I can't deny it. Version two is just a beautiful action figure. Let's take a look at the file cards starting with the first one. These file cards were printed on the back of the card on which the action figure is packaged. You can see the part of the front of the card here and this has a portrait and it says his factionist GI Joe. It says up here commando and a commando is essentially just elite light infantry. It comes from an Afrikaans word which roughly translates to mobile infantry regiment. Commando is also slang for not wearing any underwear. As to the question of whether Snake Eyes goes commando, that remains a mystery. Any Scarlet knows for sure. His codename is Snake Eyes. His file name is classified. His primary military specialty is infantry. His secondary military specialty is hand to hand combat instructor. His birthplace is also classified and he has a grade of E5. So a lot of the information about Snake Eyes is secret and that lends an air of mystery to the character. This section says Snake Eyes is proficient in 12 different unarmed fighting systems in parenthesis karate kung fu jujitsu and is highly skilled in the use of edged weapons, has received extensive training in mountaineering, underwater demolitions, jungle, desert and arctic survival and some form of holistic medicine. I'm not sure exactly what they mean by that. This bottom section is a quote although it doesn't say who it's quoting and it says the man is a total mystery but he's real good at his job, heck he's the best. It does not mention anything about ninjas on this file card. That was something that came along later. It also doesn't mention that Snake Eyes does not speak. It also doesn't say why he wears the mask. For kids who got this action figure and didn't have the comic book or cartoon portrayal of Snake Eyes, they could basically make up their own character. There was a lot that was kind of a blank slate about Snake Eyes. Let's look at version two of the file card and this top section is pretty much the same as the first version so I'm going to skip that. The second version gives a lot more of Snake Eyes background. It says subjects served in long range recon patrols in Southeast Asia, that means Vietnam essentially, left the service to study mystic martial arts with the same ninja family that produced Storm Shadow. So finally we have a mention that Snake Eyes is a ninja and a mention of his rival Storm Shadow. According to the GI Joe comic book storyline, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow are a part of the same ninja clan, the Arashakage clan. Arashakage is the Japanese word for Storm Shadow and the clan is identified by a hexagram tattoo on their right forearms. Snake Eyes was living an ascetic existence alone in the High Sierras with a pet wolf named Timber, that's how we know that the wolf's name is Timber, when he was recruited for the GI Joe team. This middle section is basically a reworded version of the first file card. It says qualified expert all NATO and Warsaw packed small arms, black belt and 12 different fighting systems and highly skilled in the use of edged weapons. In this bottom section, the writer kind of waxes poetic a bit. It's another quote, again not saying who it's quoting, and it says Snake Eyes was tempered on the anvil of life until he was as dangerous as a razor edged sword flailing in the dark. The GI Joe team sheathed that sword and harnessed its deadly energy, but even they are wont to forget that even within the safety of its scabbard, the blade retains its cutting edge. Both of these file cards portray Snake Eyes as a very dangerous individual, a highly trained fighter, an expert in many forms of combat, and you know he's been through a lot and so he's a survivor. The comic book written by Larry Hamma revealed a lot of connections between Snake Eyes and other members of the GI Joe team and Cobra. For instance, he was romantically linked to Scarlet, and his face was disfigured in a helicopter accident in which he saved Scarlet's life. Also his service in Vietnam on the long range recon patrols mentioned on the file card was with his lifelong friend, Stalker, and his friend turned enemy, Storm Shadow. Another guy on the long range recon patrols with Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Stalker was a guy that later became a Crimson Guardsman for Cobra. And of course Zartan murdered the hardmaster for which Storm Shadow was blamed, and Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes both sought revenge against Zartan. So what do I think of Snake Eyes overall? Well Snake Eyes does suffer from overexposure. There have been way too many versions of Snake Eyes, he's really overdone, and I think even a lot of hardcore fans have kind of had enough of Snake Eyes. And certainly he's not my favorite action figure in the GI Joe line, that would actually go to Stalker. But I would still put him in my top five, he's really cool, his backstory is very well written, and you know you just gotta love this guy. His life is filled with tragedy, but he's also highly trained, he's a very sympathetic character, he kind of binds together the stories of a lot of different Joes and Cobra, and you know his story is a central theme in the GI Joe mythos. Plus just look at him, I mean even 30 years later he looks awesome, how can he not like this guy? That was my review of Snake Eyes Version 1 and Version 2 and their file cards, I hope you enjoyed it and if you're thinking of getting a Snake Eyes I hope you found this video informative. If you did make sure you give it a thumbs up, don't forget to subscribe because I've got a lot of great new GI Joe toy reviews coming up, you do not want to miss them. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.