Today it's time to jump back into the cold with a look at the Snow Serpent, the backbone of Cobra's cold weather operations crew. These guts aren't just your average grunts, though; the Snow Serpents are actually a division of the Cobra E.E.L.S., so they're kind of the best of the best of Cobra's legions. I still remember picking up the vintage figure at a K-Mart with my dad, so it had to have been some older stock as the only two 1985 figures I had were Barbecue and the Snow Serpent. The Snow Serpent has long been a popular figure and Hasbro has revisited the troops on multiple occasions. The Classified Series version also seems to be draw inspiration from the 1991 v2 figure, the 2002 Joe vs. Cobra figure, and the 2008 Snow Serpent from the Extreme Conditions: Arctic Assault Squad. This Classified Series version takes the legendary vintage figure, adds some of the best additions from the variants of the past few decades, and ends up as one impressive toy. Let's check the Snow Serpent out after the break...
The Positives:
Height: 6 1/2 inches
Articulation: Swivel/ hinge ankles, boot swivels, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed drop down hips, ball jointed waist, balljointed mid-torso, butterfly pecs, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, ball jointed neck base, and a barbell jointed head.
Accessories: Rifle, rifle magazine, SMG, SMG magazine, 2 pistol, 2 holsters, cape, hood, goggles, 2 snowshoes, backpack, 4 missiles, missile launcher, loading port cover, and snowboard.
Non-Scalper Price: $35 dollars.
The Positives:
* The Snow Serpent uses some of the body of Snow Job, but there's so much unique here that it's pretty hard to tell. The Snow Serpent's bulky snowsuit is an off white with a tinge of grey in it while all of his straps, belts, and holsters are a very, very dark blue. At first they actually look black, but they're really a midnight blue. He's wearing lots of fur, too. The Snow Serpent isn't going to be getting a birthday card from PETA as he has way more fur to wear than just what you see here on his shoulders and gloves, but we'll get to that in a minute. His harness and parachute back are one separate piece fastened over his torso but they're not removable.
* The Snow Serpent's helmet is very sleek, like something you'd see someone competing in an extreme winter sport wear. You can't see his face at all thanks to his facemask and some smaller goggles which cover his eyes. He's definitely doing everything he can to protect himself from frostbite.
* His polarized goggles are removable and they can rest on the top of his helmet or over his eyes. You know, covering his goggles with stronger goggles. Kind of like how the Vipers cover their visors with goggles.
* I always liked the parachute that the vintage Snow Serpent wore though it somehow ended up on my vintage Han Solo in Hoth Gear figure. Hey, the colors matched. This one isn't removable but it's secure on the figure. There's also a cool red cobra logo on the Snow Serpent's left bicep.
* The right bicep has a new logo for the Snow Serpents that looks like a snake on a snow covered mountain in the shape of a spade. That's a pretty neat extra detail.
* When things really get chilly the Snow Serpent can throw on his wolf skin cloak. Yes, wolf skin. This is a feature that appeared on the 2002 Snow Serpent (from the Joe vs. Cobra line) and which also made it's way to the Valor Vs. Venom Snow Wolf. It's quite nice to have some options for displaying this guy and the cape just adds some more flair for him if needed.
* Want to really show the rest of the Cobra troops who the leader of the pack is? Then how about a wolf head hood? This is completely crazy! I love how it looks, though. I like wolves, so I'm kind of pissed that the Snow Serpents are killing wolves, though there is a long history of doing so for their pelts. Maybe it's part of some sort of initiation right that the Snow Serpents go through?
* The Classified Series always has impressive articulation and while the Snow Serpent has some bulkier clothing and such, he can still move quite well and interact with his accessories. The inclusion of fun stuff like the snowboard and snowshoes just gives you so many great posing options.
* The 1991 Snow Serpent came with a snowboard, so maybe that's where the current Hasbro G.I. Joe team got the idea to include this accessory. The 1991 Snow Serpent's was purple and looked much crazier with a serpent's head front and thrusters in the back while this one is much more like your standard modern snowboard, but it does have designated places to place the Snow Serpent's boots.
* There's a white Cobra logo on the top while the bottom is decorated with some white and black digital camouflage and the spade shaped Snow Serpent unit logo.
* The snowshoes that the Classified Series Snow Serpent comes with our much more modern than the old lattice styled snow shoes the vintage figure came with. They're also different from the snowshoes that Snow Job comes with, which kind of surprised me. I figured they would be reused.
* Most of the weapons that the Snow Serpent comes with are actually shared with the
Cobra Valkyries. The rifle look a bit like some sort of HK with an underslung grenade launcher. It's definitely more modern than the AK-47 of the vintage figure. The barrels on both the rifle and the grenade launcher are hollow, allowing you to use firing effects with them if you have some spares around.
* Of course, the magazine is removable.
* The Snow Serpent is also toting a submachine gun that look to be based on the M3A1 with an added scope and flash suppressor on the barrel. Again, these were the default weapon for Cobra Troopers in the Sunbow animated series (where they fired lasers) but this version is much more realistic in appearance.
* And, again, a removable magazine.
* The two pistols from the Valkyries are also included here. These are great sculpts that nicely capture the design of a perfectly modern pistol. There's a lot of detail on the slide and the grip. They have hollow barrels as well.
* There are two functioning holsters, one on each thigh. The pistols can slip right in and stay securely in place. They're quite nice and give the Snow Serpent a weapon close at hand no matter which hand he has free.
* The knife is the last weapon reused from the Valkyries. It's not painted here and there is no specific sheathe but it does seem that many collectors are slipping it in between the straps of his web gear.
* The Snow Serpent comes with a missile launcher shared from Bazooka. The back and grayish-white color scheme fits the arctic environment and it seems like an upgrade from his vintage missile launcher. One of the Snow Serpents included with the 25th Anniversary Extreme Conditions: Arctic Assault Squad also came with a missile launcher from Bazooka, so this isn't the first time this sharing has happened.
* The back of the launcher has a loading port which can slide open or be completely removed to allow for a projectile to be loaded inside. That's a pretty neat feature. Of course, a missile can fit in the front end of the launcher, too.
* The same four projectiles that come with Bazooka also come with the Snow Serpent. They look like old school bazooka rounds, though I really wish we'd had something more modern. They look great in this light grey, though, and you get four of them.
* The projectiles fit inside the barrel, too, which looks really cool. I've seen folks add their own effects and even some from Mezco's One:12 Collective line, so you've got a lot of options here. The rocket trails from the Classified Series Scrap-Iron also fit perfectly. When you seat a missile in the rear it pushes the front missile forward, and vice versa. There's a narrower part of the launcher which prevents missiles from sliding all the way through and getting stuck. It's pretty well designed.
* The Snow Serpent also comes with a repainted version of Bazooka's backpack. There is a standard storage area there but it's mostly a rack for storing missiles.
* The hooks on the bottom also allow you to hang the missile launcher from it.
* If you don't want to hang the missile launcher, try hanging the snowshoes! They fit down there as well.
So many of Hasbro's deluxe figures in their other lines are a joke but in the Classified Series, deluxe means something. I mean, look how much stuff this guy comes with! There are so many options. While he might be a bit pricey to army build (granted, most figures these days are, anyway), you can definitely vary up the look of your Snow Serpent nicely. This is an Epic figure with so much play value and display value. Yeah, he borrows some weapons from other figures, but he has plenty of unique details that are all his own, too.
This is the first figure of a Snow Serpent I've reviewed on the site. For more G.I. Joe: Classified Series reviews check out the following:
if turns out that wolf hood is Timber, Snake Eyes gonna be hunting this serpent
ReplyDeleteRight? I would not want to be that guy. Something tells me he's going to get a more intimate tour of Snake Eyes' collection of spike knuckled trench knives than he ever wanted.
DeleteMy favorite figure as a kid. They knocked this one out of the ballpark.
ReplyDeleteHe is loaded down and is definitely a good example of what a Deluxe figure should look like and come packaged with.
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