Snake

The Metal Gear series has grown leaps and bounds from its humble origins as an incredibly difficult game for the Japanese MSX2 computer. These days you can’t swing a dead cyborg soldier without seeing Hideo Kojima gearing up for another installment in the adventures of men super spies sneaking around in high tech outfits whole battling the rogue militant element fueled by conspiracy and the military industrial complex. This particular Revoltech figure represents Big Boss back when he was simply known as “Snake” during the events of the PSP game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. With the debut of Metal Gear Solid V, it looks like the man who would become the first antagonist to Solid Snake is starring in another game instead of his protege. For now let’s cast ourselves back to the 70’s when Big Boss had less gray hair and he lead the mercenary outfit “Militaires Sans Frontières” while stealthily moving around in a more familiar sneaking suit.

Snake comes with a good number of accessories for a Revoltech which include an M1911A1 pistol, a M16A1 assault rifle, a stun baton, a Revoltech stand, a Revocontainer, effect parts stand, a support arm, two handheld hooks, some goofy things, and a bevy of optional hands.

Like most Revoltechs, Snake possess an incredible range of motion that is executed in a quirky sort of way. Regardless, everything works really well to give Snake a natural stance while doing a variety of poses. In some ways Snake is a bit like a Figma with many parts being made out of really soft flexible plastic. In fact his groin is covered with a pair of rubbery pantaloons that are meant to bend and flex around the gaps in his joints. Even the insides of his hip joints have rubber covers that attempt to hide the large Revoltech balls that make up his hips. The various straps that make up the webbing around his thighs can also stretch and move a bit. The main downside is how all this stuff can bunch up if you try to move his legs really close together. Other than that, Snake is a real poser.

The details on Snake’s sneaking suit are quite good with a Militaires Sans Frontières patch on his left shoulder.

And a CIA FOX Unit patch on his right.

Snake’s face and neck are quite interesting in how he doesn’t have a solid head per se but multiple segments that work together to affect the look of a whole cranium. This means it can look odd from certain angles but overall it works to convey a cohesive body part.

If you take off Snake’s face, you can see a few small Revoltech joints working together to provide movement. He even has a point of articulation in his mullet!

Alas poor Snake… I knew him well as he is saved on my memory card.

Removing Snake’s face is actually necessary for accessing one of his coolest gimmicks.

That little white knob is actually how you control where Snake’s one good eye is pointing. It’s no PERS, but works pretty well provided you can get your fingernail on the tiny knob. You definitely have to make sure the upper Revoltech joint in his neck is removed before you can get at the eye. Also note that Snake’s trailing bandanna plugs into the back of his head with a peg.

Thanks to this feature, Snake can look around like a spooky painting on an episode of Scooby Doo!

Snake is pretty sizable Revoltech figure who is roughly six inches tall. While he can stand unaided, Snake is still somewhat tipsy on his relatively small feet. All these photos of Snake outside just shows how much of a masochist I am when trying to get a good picture as he did tip over a few times. Using a display stand when surrounded by real grass and trees just ain’t natural.

Like any good soldier, Snake carries a full kit around his waist. Due to his rather pantaloons, the port to plug in a stand is located on the bottom of his tactical fanny pack instead of up his keister

Snake’s intense expression is full of so much sincere manliness. The moving eye really helps to give this figure a lot of personality.

Again, as a Revoltech Snake’s articulation may seem strange to those used to typical action figures, but his range of motion is still excellent. He’s ready to sit down for a powwow.

Or do some push-ups.

“What if war hasn’t changed… what if I’ve changed?”

-Audrey Rodan’s “The Snaker.”

The two handheld hooks Snake comes with allow him to hang around on all kinds of things.

The weapon of choice for this super spy circa 1974 is a trusty M1911A1 pistol.

It’s even silenced for stealth kills. The silencer is not removable.

Snake’s stun baton fits into the hand that has an extended thumb and lets him whack people with a mild electric shock.

This kind of weapon is very effective when combined with CQC.

For some heavier firepower, Snake comes with an M16A1 assault rifle.

This weapon is the mainstay of the American military and serves Snake well.

The hand that grips this rifle is permanently cocked at an angle so Snake can hold it in a more natural manner.

And of course this Snake can crawl on his belly to steady his aim when hitting a long distance target.

The M161A1 is a lightweight rifle that can go anywhere.

To a soldier, happiness is a warm gun baking in the sun.

I’m going to move Snake back inside to talk about some of the less outdoors friendly accessories like the typical Revoltech display stand. It’s good for keeping Snake upright in action poses.

Overall Snake is a very dynamic looking figure who oozes manly action with each pose.

The effects part stand is pretty much the same as fifty others I have stashed away in a disused drawer. The only change is the more solid white coloring as opposed to the semi-transparent ones on the Muv-Luv Revoltechs.

Quite possibly the second most Metal Gear-y accessory included is an alarming exclamation point that can be placed atop the display stand for some tactical intruder discovery action!

You can even rotate it around to reveal a cool blue ! for when the heat is off.

Now the most Metal Gear-y accessory is this suspicious sheet of tissue box grade cardboard that looks oddly familiar.

That’s right! You get to assemble your very own cardboard box! Fans of the Metal Gear games swear by the stealth capabilities of the inconspicuous shipping box. This box is even marked to celebrate Metal Gear’s 25th anniversary! This toy even snuck in under the wire to stay within a year of the July 7th Boxiversary.

While this box probably isn’t suitable for sneaking around a Costa Rican military base, it is pretty snazzy.

It even has the appropriate markings for a cardboard box telling you not open it with a box cutter or to “DON’T FOOTMARK” it.

The included “feel asleep” sign lets everyone know when ol’ Snake is taking a stealth nap.

Being a simple cardboard box means it’s light enough for Snake to dramatically lift it off his head.

A soldier never goes into combat without his box.

It’s also a decent place to pile up all of the accessories that don’t fit in the Revocontainer. I used some packing tape to assemble mine so it’s good n’ sturdy.

The Revoltech stand lets Snake do a little tactical box leaping action too.

It can also let Snake get in touch with the inner oneness of the battlefield. Just cross your legs and meditate on the wisdom handed down by The Boss. You may believe levitation can bloom even on the battlefield.

Or maybe you can just have Snake jump kick a masked crony like any good hero.

A relative newcomer to the pantheon of “stuff Kaiyodo shoves into every Revoltech release” is this “third leg” style support arm that can be used to keep the figure upright. It has a hinge on the peg where it attaches to Snake so it can be adjusted more easily than the main display stand. I guess Kaiyodo figured their buyers wanted a less obtrusive way to provide more support for advanced posing.

Display stands and guns are all well and good, but Snake’s best feature is his rapier wit.

“Hey Lieutenant Takamura that’s a pretty revealing outfit don’t you think?”

“This is a highly advanced shock absorbing protective suit specially designed for piloting Tactical Surface Fighters.”

“Huh. It’s a good thing it can absorb the shock of having to wear such a ridiculous getup in public. Hahahaha!”

-HURK!

“Snake! You can’t die here! You’ll cause a time paradox! Snake?! SNAKE! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!”

The Revoltech of Snake from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is pleasingly ambitious figure for the line that manages to achieve what it set out to do as a stylized rendition of this iconic character. Snake is a solid upscale action figure that uses the peculiarities of the Revoltech line to its advantage. I’ve heard friends of mine describe this figure as trying to capture Yoji Shinkawa’s very sketchy and whispy looking artwork. While I’m not the biggest Metal Gear fan, I did enjoy taking pictures of Snake as he’s a simple figure who travels well.