2019 TBM Cobra Ghost Mortal (1985 Snake Eyes V2)
Earlier in 2019, The Black Major produced a brief run of Snake Eyes figures based on the V2 Snake Eyes mold. The figures had an eclectic mix of color schemes and were interesting, to say the very least. Every now and then, TBM strays from the standard army-builders and instead produces figures that are more novel in style, such as these. The result is a figure that feels as fresh as a brand-new Joe release could be, but the downside is the tooling gets repetitive sooner.
Until I acquired these figures, I’d never owned the V2 Snake Eyes mold. It was never repainted after the 1985 release (Judging by the canned ‘97 boxsets, the mold was lost early on.), and the vintage figure just outpriced my interest in the character. So getting these was very interesting, as for me they were completely new molds. Besides this Mortal, TBM used the mold for some very high-quality color schemes including a standard silver and red Mortal, Python Patrol, Slaughter’s Marauders and more. Given the quality of these repaints and this mold’s lack of exposure, I’d say they’re some of his most interesting work to date.
With that said, I’m not a huge fan of this mold. It’s surprising given the quality of 1985 sculpts, but the mold just lacks the same amount of details other figures had. Likely, this is because the mold is meant to be represented in black, but even the proportions feel off to me. His legs are kind of skinny, the head looks weird, doesn’t have much going on in a lot of spaces… Overall, I’d say it wasn’t the best sculpt from 1985.
The build quality of this run feels pretty solid. Normally, I’m quite easygoing when it comes to these things, but compared to the typical problems you find in factory customs, I’d say the V2 Snake Eyes repaints have relatively few. Mine all had good paint, joints, and no casting abnormalities or anything of the like. Additionally, they can hold their parts well and don’t have gripping issues like the Steel Brigades from a few years back.
As for this Cobra Ghost Mortal color scheme, it’s a pretty nifty repaint. By using the 1985 Snake Eyes mold, it gives me a unique design to represent this character which I like a lot. The original Snake Eyes V1 mold is surprisingly well suited for generic repaints, but I don’t associate the visor look with SE much either, so I like having a different sculpt to represent the Cobra Mortal apart from say, the Invasor. As this is the Ghost Mortal, it swaps the standard red details for extra silver on the visor and sigil, which doesn’t contrast as well, but still looks pretty nice.
The parts really interest me on these figures. It’s funny too, since normally with a 90‘s figure, you’d complain about guns and parts in bright neon colors, but with this guy, it actually enhances his value. This Cobra Mortal included the original sword, backpack, uzi and wolf all in translucent green. It’s crazy, but recolored parts like this feel new and interesting. Standard black parts would have been okay, but in bright colors like these, you can find new uses for the parts with other figures. Clear green is a tough one, but the bright red parts from another Snake Eyes repaint quickly found their way into the hands of Battle Corps Major Bludd.
This mortal seems a little harder to find than the other ‘85 Snake Eyes customs, but overall these figures are still pretty easy to get. Most variations are still available for their original prices, though for how long that lasts, who knows. In general, there’s still more thirst for classic army-builder sculpts than unique ones, and that seems to be reflected in how the factory customs are valued.
2019 TBM Cobra Ghost Mortal (1985 Snake Eyes V2) Links:
TBM Snake Eyes Recap post at Surveillance Port
Forgotten Figures – Purple Haze Cobra Invasor
I definitely prefer the white Snake Eyes as the COBRA Mortal look, than the red and grey style (And you didn’t even link to my review 😛 j/k)
These figures were definitely more interesting than some of the army builders, it’s just kind of a shame that the 1985 Snake Eyes mold kind of sucks! It looks cool, but overall isn’t much fun to use.
I remember disliking the colouring of the weapons originally, but they wound up growing on me!
Updated! I forgot you wrote about this one because he didn’t have a swivel-neck, LOL.
That red and grey one was really nice too though. The paint was much more elaborate on it, and that helped breath some life into this mold. I didn’t buy too many of these, since I felt like a few were enough, but looking back I might try and still snag the Firefly colored one.
This is my 2nd favorite the Snake Eyes repaints right now. (Behind the Purple Haze figure.) The white and silver is a fun combo and the neon green accessories just work with him. I’ve had him out for a few photos and he works well in a variety of environments.
The Firefly figure is worth getting just for the green gear that matches the ’84 Firefly gear’s colors. It looks great with the Comic Pack Firefly figure.
Why go with the fake boot look that Hasbro tried on repaints like Lamprey V3 and V4?
I guess it make him look less like a guy in white tights?
It’s mildly interesting. Don’t care if I ever own one.