G.I.Joe Retaliation is a troubled movie. Earlier in 2012 the movie was ready full salvo for its June 29 release with a major add campaign, toys showing up in stores, and licensed merchandise everywhere. Then Paramount drops the bomb; G.I.Joe Retaliation has been delayed until March 28, 2013. Everything came to a screeching halt and the film industry ends up with a major void in the Summer line-up. Official reasoning was that they wanted to improve character relationships and adapt it for 3D, but I know a lot of fans that hoped they completely dropped the whole 'everyone's a ninja' storyline. Unfortunately that's not too likely, but we can hope!

So now we're back in December, only 3 months from the new release date and the blitz has begun again. Perhaps the best thing about the delay is it has opened up some new opportunities. Chief among them is Hot Toys announcing today that they've acquired the rights to G.I.Joe Retaliation and they're blowing the doors open with their first offering: Snake Eyes! This could actually be the single most amazing thing to ever come out of the movie and I may not be exaggerating. Hot Toys is truly the master of the 1/6-scale and they continue to prove it here!

I'm really glad their first figure is from the second movie and not the first movie. The original Snake Eyes outfit used for the Rise of Cobra movie was a little too Power Rangers for me. I had a hard time getting around that sculpted on mouth. The new Snake Eyes design removed the mouth and packs on the armor, what Hot Toys is calling 'military ninja'. I just call it bad-ass! Certainly looks like Snake Eyes has been raiding Batman's closet which is exactly how a modern military ninja should look I think. Underneath the helmet, body suit, armor, and boots is a 30cm (11.8 inch) True Type body with 30 points of articulation, perfect for tons of ninja action. The figure is rounded out with five pairs of hands including specialty grips for guns and swords.

Of course Snake Eyes has no short supply of weapons. The original toy released in 1982 classified Snake Eyes as a commando with a primary specialty in infantry and secondary as a hand-to-hand combat instructor. His only weapons were a submachine gun and an explosive. It wasn't until his 1985 redesign that his ninja origin came to light to coincide with the previous year's Storm Shadow release. This is why Snake Eyes is shown carrying guns just as often as swords. As it should this figure comes with an assortment of both. Included are a pair of metal swords with a sheath, a pair of daggers with sheaths, a submachine gun, and a pistol with holster. Can't think of anything missing for this movie version of Snake Eyes! Lastly, he also comes with a display stand with nameplate and movie logo.

We've seen Sideshow tackle the G.I.Joe cartoon/comic line in the past, but when it comes to movie style figures in 1/6-scale you really want to see Hot Toys in action. Look for him to launch some time in the second quarter of 2013. After seeing how awesome Snake Eyes is one has to wonder where they can go from here? Storm Shadow or Cobra Commander seem like obvious choices, but it's in real-to-life likenesses that Hot Toys truly excels. Could we see 1/6-scale versions of Bruce Willis, Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson, or Channing Tatum in the future? Time will tell!