Threezero - GI Joe Snake Eyes

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Sold off all my old SS Joe figures except for Cobra Commander since I don't see TZ having plans to make one. Where are TZ Baroness and Destro and I REALLY hope TZ uses the same glasses manufacturer for Baroness as Sideshow did. Here's hoping she's gorgeous, if not I'll stick to TZ Firefly and Sideshow CC and TZ Storm Shadow as a trio. Still have some old Sideshow accessories to use for Dios with them
 
Snake Eyes vs Storm Shadow.
 

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Are those arms pliable / soft? I've always wondered. Also, are hand pegs compatible with hot toys? Can I plug in a hot toys hand set?
 
Are those arms pliable / soft? I've always wondered. Also, are hand pegs compatible with hot toys? Can I plug in a hot toys hand set?
Arms are a little soft but the main thing is if your copy has strong enough ratchets in the elbows. Neither of mine did so their arms barely go to 90degree elbow bends; therefore, I’ve decide to sell mine. Also no, the wrist/hand pegs are not compatible. Snake Eyes’ wrist pegs are too thick and Storm Shadow’s are too short and thin.
 
Well, I didn’t end up selling my Snake Eyes just yet. Decided to try one last ditch effort to save the figure and I think I have, at least for my own liking. I dyed a Phicen/TBLeague M33 body black using Rit Synthetic dye (see below). Don’t mind the plastic wrap at the lower legs and forearms. That was just to make it a little easier to get the clothing onto the body.

Pros about this mod for me are:
  • Fills out the shirt more
  • All the items that go on his arms fit nice and snug now instead of super loose
  • Don’t have to worry about breaking wrist pegs. I broke a lot of the stock ones when trying to take them out of the hands pretty much every time I tired out a new body.
  • Smooth articulation at all major spots, particularly in the arms
Cons:
  • Muscle definition didn’t show through the shirt like I had hoped it would
  • Had to sew the pants shut b/c they were ever so slightly too small at the waist to close with just the velcro.
  • I couldn’t get the belt to completely close in the exact same spot as originally done b/c the waist was slightly bigger than the stock figure.

I’ve already put it back together, but it’s too late to get any decent pics out of it. Definitely don’t recommend doing this unless you’re a somewhat experienced modder/customizer. But, now I’m considering sending my Storm Shadow to GeeWhiz customs to remake the chest, arm sleeves and leg sleeves out of fabric and made to an M33 body as well. It’ll be expensive but well worth it in the end I think.

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Oh man, I've been wanting to do something similar but with a world box body, I want to see, please share.
 
Oh man, I've been wanting to do something similar but with a world box body, I want to see, please share.
which worldbox body are you thinking of using? I've tried many different bodies from other brands before landing on the M33 so I might be able to tell you if it would work before you spend and potentially waste any money
 
Well, I didn’t end up selling my Snake Eyes just yet. Decided to try one last ditch effort to save the figure and I think I have, at least for my own liking. I dyed a Phicen/TBLeague M33 body black using Rit Synthetic dye (see below). Don’t mind the plastic wrap at the lower legs and forearms. That was just to make it a little easier to get the clothing onto the body.

Pros about this mod for me are:
  • Fills out the shirt more
  • All the items that go on his arms fit nice and snug now instead of super loose
  • Don’t have to worry about breaking wrist pegs. I broke a lot of the stock ones when trying to take them out of the hands pretty much every time I tired out a new body.
  • Smooth articulation at all major spots, particularly in the arms
Cons:
  • Muscle definition didn’t show through the shirt like I had hoped it would
  • Had to sew the pants shut b/c they were ever so slightly too small at the waist to close with just the velcro.
  • I couldn’t get the belt to completely close in the exact same spot as originally done b/c the waist was slightly bigger than the stock figure.

I’ve already put it back together, but it’s too late to get any decent pics out of it. Definitely don’t recommend doing this unless you’re a somewhat experienced modder/customizer. But, now I’m considering sending my Storm Shadow to GeeWhiz customs to remake the chest, arm sleeves and leg sleeves out of fabric and made to an M33 body as well. It’ll be expensive but well worth it in the end I think.

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Hmm....I think I would've just used a Storm Shadow body and put the outfit on it.
 
Hmm....I think I would've just used a Storm Shadow body and put the outfit on it.
A couple points about the Storm Shadow body as I've completely dismantled and dissected it before:
  • The arm articulation on the Storm Shadow body is no better than that of the Snake Eyes meaning you can't get passed 90 degrees and have it reliably stay in that position. Both my stock Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow figures barely hold the 90degree position without wanting to fall back down to neutral on their own. So, that would defeat the purpose of the body swap which was to not only gain better articulation but also fill out the shirt better. I want(ed) my Snake Eyes to look a bit more like the Prime1 Statue. That was the goal at least as both designs of the statue and figure are very similar.
  • It doesn't have a full chest under the rubber/plastic chestpiece that makes up the sleeveless shirt. It's not the full "Rambo" body under that. The musculature is made up by the rubber/plastic chest that is his "shirt." Underneath that is just a narrow, smooth, plastic armature. So, it just wouldn't work unless you use the actual Rambo or Roadblock body. Also, the only parts that would swap without any modding would be the head and feet.
  • The wrist pegs are the not the same. The Storm Shadow wrist pegs have a smaller and skinnier stem that inserts into the arm but a larger ball joint that inserts into the hands than the Snake Eyes ones, so it's not a 1:1 swap for the hands either. And, given my experience with 3Z wrist joints, I didn't want to have to deal with them anymore. I don't have to worry about the M33 ones breaking on me since they're made of steel, unlike the 3Z ones that have broke on me each time I've tried out a different body.
  • Lastly, I wanted a black base body which is why I dyed the M33. I didn't want any flesh tone showing through the shirt since it's being stretched over a larger frame and wasn't sure how sheer the shirt would be when stretched. Also didn't want to see any flesh tone at potential exposed areas like the wrists or even at the ankles depending on the pose. This way, I didn't have to try to also dye multiple hard plastic wrist pegs. Not sure how the arms on the Storm Shadow body would take to the dye either. I've seen other customizers dye Phicen/TBLeague bodies before so I knew this would work.
I know you've mentioned previously that you really like the Storm Shadow body and have found some good use for it which is great! But, I absolutely do not, so there was no way that was even a contender. I thought maybe it could be good to use on the original Sideshow Flint, but I ended up selling it in the hopeful event that 3Z eventually makes him. I've study Storm Shadow/Rambo/Roadblock body and many others. For my purposes and goals on this figure, though, the M33 was the right option. And, I say that as someone who actually doesn’t tend to prefer Phicen/TBLeague bodies over other hard plastic bodies
 
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A couple points about the Storm Shadow body as I've completely dismantled and dissected it before:
  • The arm articulation on the Storm Shadow body is no better than that of the Snake Eyes meaning you can't get passed 90 degrees and have it reliably stay in that position. Both my stock Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow figures barely hold the 90degree position without wanting to fall back down to neutral on their own. So, that would defeat the purpose of the body swap which was to not only gain better articulation but also fill out the shirt better. I want(ed) my Snake Eyes to look a bit more like the Prime1 Statue. That was the goal at least as both designs of the statue and figure are very similar.
  • It doesn't have a full chest under the rubber/plastic chestpiece that makes up the sleeveless shirt. It's not the full "Rambo" body under that. The musculature is made up by the rubber/plastic chest that is his "shirt." Underneath that is just a narrow, smooth, plastic armature. So, it just wouldn't work unless you use the actual Rambo or Roadblock body. Also, the only parts that would swap without any modding would be the head and feet.
  • The wrist pegs are the not the same. The Storm Shadow wrist pegs have a smaller and skinnier stem that inserts into the arm but a larger ball joint that inserts into the hands than the Snake Eyes ones, so it's not a 1:1 swap for the hands either. And, given my experience with 3Z wrist joints, I didn't want to have to deal with them anymore. I don't have to worry about the M33 ones breaking on me since they're made of steel, unlike the 3Z ones that have broke on me each time I've tried out a different body.
  • Lastly, I wanted a black base body which is why I dyed the M33. I didn't want any flesh tone showing through the shirt since it's being stretched over a larger frame and wasn't sure how sheer the shirt would be when stretched. Also didn't want to see any flesh tone at potential exposed areas like the wrists or even at the ankles depending on the pose. This way, I didn't have to try to also dye multiple hard plastic wrist pegs. Not sure how the arms on the Storm Shadow body would take to the dye either. I've seen other customizers dye Phicen/TBLeague bodies before so I knew this would work.
I know you've mentioned previously that you really like the Storm Shadow body and have found some good use for it which is great! But, I absolutely do not, so there was no way that was even a contender. I thought maybe it could be good to use on the original Sideshow Flint, but I ended up selling it in the hopeful event that 3Z eventually makes him.
I've study Storm Shadow/Rambo/Roadblock body and many others. For my purposes and goals on this figure, though, the M33 was the right option. And, I say that as someone who actually doesn’t tend to prefer Phicen/TBLeague bodies over other hard plastic bodies
Why don't you be a real Gipetto and carve your own?

You did your homework on what you thought would work. Sometimes that's how it goes. As a guy with drawers and totes of parts and figures, I always feel like I can make something work with some experimentation.

I didn't realize the wrist pegs between SS and SE were different. And their arms won't hold a 90 degree pose? Wow - I haven't seen that happen.
 
which worldbox body are you thinking of using? I've tried many different bodies from other brands before landing on the M33 so I might be able to tell you if it would work before you spend and potentially waste any money
I was planning on using the world box AT012 body. The one used for wolverine.
 
Why don't you be a real Gipetto and carve your own?

You did your homework on what you thought would work. Sometimes that's how it goes. As a guy with drawers and totes of parts and figures, I always feel like I can make something work with some experimentation.

I didn't realize the wrist pegs between SS and SE were different. And their arms won't hold a 90 degree pose? Wow - I haven't seen that happen.
I’ve done that before. I’ve Frankensteined my fair share of bodies to achieve what I’m looking for on quite a few occasions. I have multiple spare parts from many different bodies lying around and mix-marching them is nothing new to me. Over the years, I’ve experimented with nearly every available body in this hobby across multiple brands and when one breaks, I salvage all usable parts down to screws, internal posts and springs (usually at the waist joint) and even the elbow and knee joints.

Nothing I had worked in the way I wanted it to for this particular application. This is why I say in my original post that using the Phicen/TBLeague body was a last effort in trying something out before deciding to sell it.

The only fully body that I have that I didn’t use was the all black HT Concept Cap body but I’m saving that as that’s a vary hard body to come by. I have the parts to sort of make one, but it would require making a particular shoulder hinge joint. I’ve done it in the past but I don’t enjoy making them.

But yes, neither stock figure gets to a 90degree bend and stays there willingly. And I’ve bought spare Snake eyes bodies that I was going to use to port the original sideshow figures onto as I thought they’d be good ones to use to update those figures with, but didn’t turn out to be good ideas, at least for me. We all have different wants/ideas though when it comes to these type of things, so what doesn’t work for me may work for you as evident by your own experience with the Storm Shadow body.

I was planning on using the world box AT012 body. The one used for wolverine.

Off the top of my head, I can tell you that the feet aren’t a 1:1 swap. The ball joints that 3Z uses are smaller than what is more standard like what Worldbox, HT and other brands use. So for that alone, you’ll either have to shave down the ankle ball joints on the Worldbox to fit inside the socket in the 3Z feet or switch out the socket in the feet like I did.

I’d have to verify when I get home if either wrist pegs can be used.

The arms are relatively the same size, so you shouldn’t have any problem there ideally.

You shouldn’t have a problem with the pants fitting either as both the stock body and the Worldbox have a pretty narrow waist.

If you do decide to proceed, be prepared for some seams to potentially pop while trying to get the shirt on that body. With how wide the chest/shoulders are and it being a hard plastic, getting the shirt on will be a little difficult since you won’t have any real give in that area. That body also doesn’t have a butterfly joint at the shoulder if I remember correctly, so you don’t have as much flexibility when shimmying the shirt on. However, if you’re good with a needle and thread, I’d almost suggest undoing the seams at the sides of the shirt ( or at least one side) to make it easier to get it on the body. I didn’t think of this when putting the shirt on the M33, but it definitely would’ve helped.

Hope this helps.
 
Off the top of my head, I can tell you that the feet aren’t a 1:1 swap. The ball joints that 3Z uses are smaller than what is more standard like what Worldbox, HT and other brands use. So for that alone, you’ll either have to shave down the ankle ball joints on the Worldbox to fit inside the socket in the 3Z feet or switch out the socket in the feet like I did.

I’d have to verify when I get home if either wrist pegs can be used.

The arms are relatively the same size, so you shouldn’t have any problem there ideally.

You shouldn’t have a problem with the pants fitting either as both the stock body and the Worldbox have a pretty narrow waist.

If you do decide to proceed, be prepared for some seams to potentially pop while trying to get the shirt on that body. With how wide the chest/shoulders are and it being a hard plastic, getting the shirt on will be a little difficult since you won’t have any real give in that area. That body also doesn’t have a butterfly joint at the shoulder if I remember correctly, so you don’t have as much flexibility when shimmying the shirt on. However, if you’re good with a needle and thread, I’d almost suggest undoing the seams at the sides of the shirt ( or at least one side) to make it easier to get it on the body. I didn’t think of this when putting the shirt on the M33, but it definitely would’ve helped.

Hope this helps.
I was planning to go full custom. Replace hands, feet, pants. The WB doesn't seem like a smart idea anymore. Thanks for the information.

Did you complete the body swap, if so, please share some photos.
 
I was planning to go full custom. Replace hands, feet, pants. The WB doesn't seem like a smart idea anymore. Thanks for the information.

Did you complete the body swap, if so, please share some photos.
While it could've been better, I've been pretty content with the SE body, but now with some of the extra shirts and pants I have, you guys got me curious now to try and experiment with a few things here. I may look into this and post my findings.
 
I was planning to go full custom. Replace hands, feet, pants. The WB doesn't seem like a smart idea anymore. Thanks for the information.

Did you complete the body swap, if so, please share some photos.
If you're going nearly full custom rather than just a body swap, then it really depends on what you're keeping from the original figure

I did complete the swap. I'm currently stretching out the bicep arm bands though as they were still a little too snug on the M33 body and were sort of slightly pinching them like blood occlusion/restriction bands rather than laying there comfortably.

I will say, to keep expectations with my pictures in check as taking photos of my figures is the weakest talent I have in this hobby :LOL: I wish I knew how to photograph these things well, but even with modern phone tech, they still never come out how I see them in hand. And while I can see the more mass on the figure as well as the overall in hand quality feel, it may not look as impressive or different from pics, especially my pics 😧 But, I do like the difference more than any other body I've tried which is nearly every muscular male body on the market of similar size and it's enough to actually make me want to finally display him rather than keeping him in the box where he's been this whole time.
 
If you're going nearly full custom rather than just a body swap, then it really depends on what you're keeping from the original figure

I did complete the swap. I'm currently stretching out the bicep arm bands though as they were still a little too snug on the M33 body and were sort of slightly pinching them like blood occlusion/restriction bands rather than laying there comfortably.

I will say, to keep expectations with my pictures in check as taking photos of my figures is the weakest talent I have in this hobby :LOL: I wish I knew how to photograph these things well, but even with modern phone tech, they still never come out how I see them in hand. And while I can see the more mass on the figure as well as the overall in hand quality feel, it may not look as impressive or different from pics, especially my pics 😧 But, I do like the difference more than any other body I've tried which is nearly every muscular male body on the market of similar size and it's enough to actually make me want to finally display him rather than keeping him in the box where he's been this whole time.
Just the head and shirt. I'm going really slow on starting this up. The shirt looks great but really fragile.
 
Just the head and shirt. I'm going really slow on starting this up. The shirt looks great but really fragile.
Nah the shirt is actually quite durable. I’ve tried it on multiple muscle bodies and before putting it on the M33, I soaked it in hot water and threw it in the dryer on delicate so it could shrink back to original form and it came out looking good as new. I wouldn’t worry about the shirt. Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, the seams will just naturally pop when you’re pulling the shirt on/off.

Below are some pics of the completed figure, though. As I mentioned above, from the pics, you may not be able to tell the difference and the juice may not appear to have been worth the squeeze, especially if anyone is content with the stock figure/body. But the slightly larger and fuller physique plus full range of motion in the articulation was definitely worth it for me. Additionally, I love how all the arm piece fit nice and snug now. In hand, he has a more powerful look to him.

I picked up the black frag grenades loose from the Firefly figure for the cross body strap to give him more of that classic look. Idk why 3Z didn’t give him those in the first place instead of the smoke bombs they included. I plan to use some red waterslide decals of the arashikage symbol and apply them on the katanas. I have the the DDP/Falchion sword from the Sideshow V1 snake eyes to use with this guy as well. Thinking I may pick up a pair of Firefly kneepads to put on him, too, to be a bit more like Prime1 statue but not 100% on that idea just yet. Lastly, I might get one of those nice look 1/6 scale wolves you can buy from around $50-$60 to display next to him. Don’t mind the blank display stand. I plan to get him a better one in the future now that I’ll be keeping him for a while.

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While it could've been better, I've been pretty content with the SE body, but now with some of the extra shirts and pants I have, you guys got me curious now to try and experiment with a few things here. I may look into this and post my findings.
If you're pretty content with the stock figure/body, it may not be worth it to you. If the articulation had been better on my copies, I'd probably not have gone through the trouble to be honest. But definitely up to you. The process of dying a body was a cool learning experience and opens up more possibilities for future customs I think.
 
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Man, that looks damned good. Great job. I am inspired.
Nah the shirt is actually quite durable. I’ve tried it on multiple muscle bodies and before putting it on the M33, I soaked it in hot water and threw it in the dryer on delicate so it could shrink back to original form and it came out looking good as new. I wouldn’t worry about the shirt. Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, the seams will just naturally pop when you’re pulling the shirt on/off.

Here are some pics though. As I mentioned above, from pics, you probably won’t tell the different and the juice may not appear to have been worth the squeeze, especially if you’re content with the stock figure/body. But the slightly larger and fuller physique plus full range of motion in the articulation was definitely worth it for me. Plus, I love how all the arm piece fit nice and snug now. In hand, he has a more powerful look to him.

Also, I got the black grenades on the body strap loose from the Firefly figure to give him more of that classic look. Idk why 3Z didn’t give him those in the first place instead of the smoke bombs they included. Don’t mind the blank display stand. I plan to get him a better one in the future now that I’ll be keeping him for a while. I've also got some waterslide decals of the arashikage symbol in red that plan to put on the katanas as well. I have the the DDP/Falchion sword from the Sideshow V1 snake eyes to put with this as well. Thinking I may pick up a pair of Firefly kneepads to put on this guy to be a bit more like Prime1 statue but haven't decided on that.

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If you're pretty content with the stock figure/body, it may not be worth it to you. If the articulation had been better on my copies, I'd probably not have gone through the trouble to be honest. But definitely up to you. The process of dying a body was a cool learning experience and opens up more possibilities for future customs I think.
 
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