The One: Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes

Yes folks, not because he's the one movie G.I. Joe figure I'd get if I could only buy one more toy before my time was up, but because of his awesome coat that lets him do this:

Can you say Matrix? Trinity? Morpheus? (All in a Keanu voice) Ok, so Neo might not have pulled this move off as "The One" (too easy for him) but Snake Eyes sure can on his fabulous coat tails.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes because I'd heard his caot gets in the way of his poseability. But guess what? It's not all bad news, especially if you're like me and love to pose figures mid-flight/kick/jump/dive/lunge etc. Just look at Snake Eyes' sweet ass flying kick!

They also gave this guy a wedge shaped slit in the back of the coat to allow more maneuverability of his legs. Good move!

Another wonderful thing about these PP Snake Eyes is that he comes with a bunch of accessories, but none of them is the gargantuan unwieldy available in all colours of the rainbow big frickin' gun.

He does though come with Timber, 2 guns, a sword and sheathe (that can plug into his back), a bayonet, and a stand.

A pity that Timber has no articulation and can only thus be considered an accessory. He is though, a repaint and hence unique in his own way I guess. Would've been awesome if even just his head could turn.

No matter, I had tons of fun with PP SE. His only problem is that he can't kneel cuz of the coat, otherwise he'd be perfect. And while the Ninja Commando Snake Eyes does have a BFG with less accessories, he doesn't suffer from knee problems. But he does have the sculpted lips from the movie costume which can be oh, so lame. This is where Paris Pursuit Snake beats Ninja Commando hands down. I guess the best solution, like my cousin Byron recommended, would be to take the PP head and swap with the Ninja Commando's, if that's what one prefers.

Oh, and the detail on the rest of Snake Eyes is also really nice. Like this pouch here.

The down side is that unlike PP Shadow, besides the sheathe for the katana, he doesn't have anywhere to holster his weapons.

It's a pity because I like with his sword in hand more than the machine gun or pistol, which have to be lying on the ground somewhere if he takes up the blades.






































But I just can't get over the awesomeness of the coat! It's like DCSH Superman having a long cape that helps him balance better and do all sorts of taking off and landing poses.

Who needs wire fu when you gots the coat-tail fu? :)
























Let's rate him!

Aesthetics: 9.4/10 - Nice detail all over, plus points for the blank mask and long coat, sleeves, pants and all--Nicely creased at the parts that need to be and just thick enough around the limbs to seem like he's wearing layers. But I guess black's not really my colour, or perhaps the black they used (LOL) makes it hard to make out all the little details.

Poseability: 9.4/10 - Yeah the coat gets him here. Otherwise he'd be really a lot nearer full marks. Go tto give it to Hasbro, though. They didn't cut corners and gave him a full 22 points like Stormie. :)

Fun: 9.5/10 - All together now--COAT TAILS! Ok I'll stop. But really, realizing that he could balance without his feet on the ground made me laugh out loud. I'll put him in a fight with PP Stormie real soon. Pics to come!!!

Value: 9.2/10 - Takes a hit from Timber being only a repaint with no articulation. Don't get me wrong, the wolf is cool and the gang and all, but I'd rather have had more guns and/or places to put em.

Overall: 9.38 - Great figure, get it if you like the lipless mask on Snake Eyes. But I suspect the perfect Snake Eyes can only be found from a combination of more than one of his various versions.

And Check out this fight scene between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes! (Sort of ;P)

Back Road Brawls 3.75" style

Well, after finally getting past the fun of the (cardboard) forest from the Toys 'R' Us Back Road Brawl Wolverine and Sabertooth 3.75 inch 2-pack, I managed to snap some photos of the figures!

I guess what really appeals to me about this line is the size of the figures and how easy it is to take them all out and pose 'em together in a mass brawl or in single combat. Usually what works best is if you have one or 2 big guys like Hulk or a tight-jointed Thing that can be the dude everyone is beating up on (or trying to) so that all the other little guys can balance on/hang on to/be held up by him/her. And a big figure is always good for breaking up the uniform-ness of figs being the same size.

Well, Back Road Brawl give you not one but two of these figures!

You get a tall, comic book costume Sabertooth and a short Logan of correct height when side by side with other figures from this line.

Now I don't own any other Wolvies (except brown and orange comic costume Logan) so I can't speak from first hand experience, but I hear that some of the Wolverine figures from the movie line are too tall. Could be an error on Hasbro's part, or it could just be that they wanted to make a movie accurate and hence Hugh Jackman height Wolverine (Mr H. Jackman is of course over 6' tall). And as any Wolvie fan would know, Logan in the comics towers over hobbits, gnomes, and other such woodland folk at over 5 feet and a bit or thereabouts.

Anyhow, this Marlboro Man Wolverine and the one I already own are (fortunately for me) of the same height and in proportion with the rest of our little heroes and villains!

His hat makes him a little taller as you can see here and unfortunately, it can't be removed. Also his hair and chops are cool, but they restrict him to looking down mostly, though he's ok looking side to side.

I would've also preferred if he had metal claws instead of bone ones. But that'll be easily remedied with some mithril silver paint. His jacket is removeable, but his armes have the sleeves molded on, so he looks quite silly with it off: black sleeves, wife-beater singlet, and jeans. Oh yeah and his jeans are nice, but the hems prevent him from pivoting his feet.

Sabertooth, while tall, is nicely proportionate to large figures like Hulk. And while he's bigger than the likes of any other 3.75" guys, is not overly bulky.















What I really love about him is the slightly shiny paint they used on this guy--makes his costume a little more unique and breaks the flat colours of most of the other figures. And just how awesome is his mane and face? Check out the detailed the washing of his hair and chops as well!












Oh, and there's also one other item they come with--the X-Cycle/X-Bike/X-cessory vehicle! Wolvie would be none too pleased if I didn't feature him posing with his prized steal from Cyclops in X-Men 3.


(Yes, more Marlboro Man imagery)

The bike does have some manoeuverability in the front wheels and handle bars that 3.75" figures can hold onto nicely. It also has a stand, which is really important when you need to stand it up wihout a rider (Duh, what else would it be for. Lol). It's also got a really nicely detailed engine and a great silvery paint job.

The down side is the X-men logos that are painted on it. Not so much the tiny ones on the rear, but rather the large one on the body that thakfully is hard to see from any angle but the top, and that mostly when there's no rider.










Well then, let's rate Back Road Sabby and Wolvie!

Aesthetics: Sabertooth is too darn pretty! Well, if you get by the snarl-iness and ferocity of his evil predatory grin. The paint on him is also simply excellent and Hasbro could've painted and washed his hair the same shade but they didn't! And just look at those eyes and teeth! All the better to eat you with. ;P -- 9.8 for Sabby!




I'm less impressed with Wolverine. His body, legs, and feet are the same as the singlet and jeans movie version of him. But he's got a nicely molded new head, with brilliantly painted eyes, and arms with rolled up jacket sleeves. The removeable jacket/vest is nice and the gaps at the armpits/shoulders are not too obvious. -- 9 for Wolvie.




Poseability: Sabbycat has a ball-jointed head, ball-jointed chest, ball-swivel shoulders, elbows, wrists; ball-hinge legs/hips, double-joint knees, and pin-swivel ankles.

That's 22 points of ariculation in all. I always like greater articulation in the legs because they're vital to a figure looking action packed or stiif as board. Sabby is awesome in this department. -- 9.8.

Wolvie's got the same number of POAs, but he can't look up. His ankles too are such a waste considering how flexible the rest of his leg is. -- Still, a solid 9.


Fun: Boy are these guys fun when they come together! They've got a nice bike to toss around and a lush, tranquil background to pose/play against.

Too bad Logan's hat isn't removeable and they didn't throw in acouple of logs. Hey, they gave single packed Sabertooh not one but 2, yes TWO logs! :P -- 9.5

Value: Right now, a big, fat 10! At S$12 a pop at TRU you can't go wrong. That works out to S$6 a figure AND you get a large X-cessory in the X-Cycle, AND you get lush, green forest (smells not included)!!! 10/10! I can't say it enough: 10!!!!!!!!!!

Overall: Sabbytooth Kitty -- 9.78, Wolfie-reen -- 9.38. Get it now while you can! TRUs here in Singapore may be overstocked with them, but there's no telling when the scalpers might come along and buy em out, only to sell 'em at China Square Central for a boosted price.

Fun with Backgounds!

It's lucky I didn't realize how amazing a good background from the Marvel Universe Back Road Brawl 2 pack can be. Because if I did, I would have bought this Toys 'R' Us exclusive set at it's retail price of S$39.90. I then wouldn't have snagged it at the low, low price I did of S$12. And if you're a Marvel Universe fan, what in the world would stop you from getting this 2-pack that also comes with a nifty X-cycle (that all your MU 3.75" guys of all shapes and sizes can ride :P) at that price?

Well, I was going to review the exclusive comic book costume Sabertooth and Cowboy hat Wolverine from this set, but I guess I got distracted by the wonderful Back Road Background. The forest background insert was one thing, but the plastic packaging mold that holds these guys up in the box was quite another.

You see, they weren't glued to the background but rather tabbed into slots, making them removeable without damaging the beautful scenery. And you could re-insert them anytime. What's the big deal about plastic packaging, you say? Well, the molds fit pretty much any two 3.75" guys and the bike if you so choose.














Here's a taste. ;)

Wolvie with no Back Road X-Bike!














Wolvie catching Sabertooth's scent in the wind and tossing the bike in anticipation of the fight!













Wolvie jumps Cap on bike! Why? Cos Cap must've stole it from Xavier's Mansion! (Why else? :P)













Or maybe Wolvie jumps Cap, who stashed the bike earlier and doesn't have it on him (or under him. ;])













Or Cap jumps Wolvie for even thinking that ol' Stevie boy would even consider stealing!













Or Wolvie, after changing into different duds and a hat, jumps Hulk by mistake thinking that Hulk is Cap who pinched the X-Bike?












Or maybe Hulk stole X-Bike.














And Hulk mad bike don't start!

So Hulk toss Bike...RAARGH!!!! Bike only for sissies and Cyclopses anyway!!