G.I.Joe ‘Snake Eyes’ Story by Mitchell Smith!

In 1982 the 3-3/4 inch G.I. Joe revitalized the franchise after a long hard fight to keep the 12 inch GI Joe name alive. Along with Comic books came the action figures and GI Joe was reborn and surged back into popularity. GI Joe had 16 figures, 9 main figures, 4 figures that came with vehicles, 2 Enemies and a mail away Cobra Commander. Each figure had an accessory or two. Most of the original 13 Joes and the 3 Cobra figures have stayed popular over the years and they have grown and morphed over the years.

One of the most popular and mysteries characters created has remained at the top of the list – Snake Eyes. Originally created all black for cost effectiveness and using parts from other figures from 1982 accept his head. It was just a plain black plastic with no paint. Little did the marketing people know that this would become one of the greatest figures and character of all time. 30+ years later and I believe we are up to 68 versions of Snake Eyes, and I think I even said at one point not another Snake Eyes, but there are some awesome figures of him. For his long run we still don’t know where he was born and what his name is. What we do know is he is one bad ass dude and that makes him one of the all time greatest characters.

I didn’t have a 1982 or 83 Snake Eyes figure when I was a kid. I didn’t have a 1985 Snake Eyes figure either. It wasn’t till I was at the end of my toy days as a kid that I got the 1989 version of Snake Eyes. Then I kind of hit that teenage year and left my Joes behind. When I started collecting Joes the first Snake Eyes figure I picked up was V27 in 2005. Then the modern 25th and beyond styles started and I can’t remember how many I have somewhere in the 20-30 range, maybe more. He is one of my favorites now and here are my top ten 3-3/4 figures of him.

10. V24 – 2005 – This was one of the figures that just had a nice look to it. Classic all black in the figure line between the original style and the 25th style. This was one of the first Snake Eyes I bought as a collector.
9. V59 – 2014 – I like the original 1991 version as well, the 1991 had a nice color scheme and mask update, this look gave Snake Eyes another dimension, I just like the 2014 version better as it was a bit more proportional. Both were pretty cool updates.
8. V35 – 2008 – I believe this was supposed to be the 25 style version of the 2004 Comic pack, but either way I remember doing some hunting for this figure, this is just a cool figure and can be used in many different dioramas.
7. V36 – 2008 – Classic cartoon moment when Snake Eyes gets infected by radiation and we think he is going to die. I traded this figure years ago and then bought him back off of Ebay. It’s just one that a Snake eyes fan has to have.
6. V18 – 2004 – this vintage style Snake with green pants just jumps out at me, very cool look and he came in a comic pack with Kwinn and Scarlett.
5. V1 – 2006 – Vietnam era figure was a look back at Snake Eyes’ past, but still not revealing his identity.
4. V3 – 1989 – This was the first version of Snake eyes where we got a ninja feel for him, he had lots of ninja weapons and his uniform had the 2 knives on his chest, he was always cool and now he was even cooler.

3. V2 – 1985 – this was a version of Snake Eyes that was predominant in the cartoon, there were many adventures and it was just a cool little revamp on his head gear and he came with Timber.
2. V1 – 1982 – The original Snake eyes is still cool and the figure holds it’s value. Simplicity at its best.
1. V54 – 2011 is my all time favorite Figure. This figure just has everything and looks awesome.

This may spark a count down voting for # 1 Snake Eyes figure. You can join in the Conversation after the JUMP and let us know.