Storm Shadow's headsculpt: depicts the intensity of his character in his eyes, and then sculpts the look of the white balaclava draped over his face, and a white hood over his head. The details of Storm Shadow's face under the mask are masterfully captured. The Cobra emblem in red stands out against the brilliant white hood. This headsculpt is evidence that an action figure can be a work of art.
Snake Eye's headsculpt: also has a great attention to detail. The look of the balaclava clinging to the neck and the facial expression under the mask are excellent. However, the front of the head has a horse shoe mark around the top of the head, which seems to indicate that Snake Eyes has developed male pattern baldness.
Is Snake Eyes blind? Back in 1992 when the Hall of Fame set was issued, Snake Eyes clearly had both eyes (see photo above left). But now he is wearing some kind of radiator grid over his eyes, similar to the Star Trek: Next Generation Geordi eye visor. The visor seems to be hooked to a round cap around the ears, and that must be uncomfortable. Having worked at a Service Station, it is hard for me not to notice that Snake Eye's visor looks like someone cut an old V-8 Air Filter in half and strapped it to his face. Of course, during the early years of ST:NG, the visor used for Geordi was clearly improvised from an air filter from a four cylinder vehicle. At least Daredevil's radar senses do not rely on automobile parts.
The Figures: Storm Shadow has the ultra muscular GI Joe body, but Snake Eyes has a regular CC body.
The outfits: Both figures are wearing lycra bodysuits. Snake Eyes is wearing a pair of black cleats, and Storm Shadow has black boots with a scabbard for his short sword on one of the boots.
The Gear: Snake Eyes has shin guards that combined with the baseball cleats makes me wonder if he is not dressed for a part-time job working as a blind catcher for some minor league franchise or perhaps he is the proverbial blind umpire. Snake Eyes also has forearm armor and a sword-sheath and shoulder armor which hook under his arms like a back-pack.
Storm Shadow has a much nicer set of swords (from the Japanese Officer set) with a realistically designed dual-sheath harness that makes Storm Shadow an excellent display figure. He also has a rubber belt with an Action Man laser gun as a sidearm. Each figure is equipped with a rope and grappling hook
Overall: In the modern GI Joe era, this set is the best GI Joe bargain ever issued by Hasbro. A great way to introduce kids to GI Joe! The new Storm Shadow looks a lot better than the first version. But the Hall of Fame Snake Eyes had a cooler sculpt with the scar over his left eye.
Market: This Ninja Showdown set including the dvd cartoon is available at K-marts, Wal-Marts, Targets and other retailers at prices ranging between $17.99 to $19.99. Some toy stores and online dealers have the sets at $24.99.
Grade: A+
