Review date: 4/30/2005

Manufacturer: Medicom

Released: 2005

Availability: HARD

Type: Trading Figure

 
 

Personal Story:
I saw news of this figure and I HAD to preorder it since I really wanted this figure for the crocodile hat. The included crocodile cap was originally only available with the olive drab camouflage Snake figure which is uber rare and very expensive now so this was a nice alternative. I tried preordering from a Japanese site but they wouldn't ship this particular item overseas (for some reason) so I had to preorder from a US import site. But they couldn't fulfill my order so I canceled with them after finding it in another online import site. It was the same price so it was worth it. I got it right away. It was fairly expensive even with the DVDs.
 
Introduction:
This is a Kubrick figure based on the character Naked Snake from the video game, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. This was available exclusively with the Metal Gear Solid 3 Extreme DVD box set in Japan only. This figure depicts Snake in his tiger stripe camouflage uniform with his crocodile hat.
 

Sculpt:
Since this figure's sculpt and gun accessories are exactly the same as the regular version, I'd advise you to read that review for information on the sculpt. I'll only discuss the sculpt for the crocodile hat accessory.

The crocodile hat's sculpt is excellent. It looks exactly like the hat in the game except it's cuter. I like the fact that it looks realistic instead of being simplified like the figure. Everything has been sculpted including the eyes and bits of scale texture. The teeth are amazingly detailed. I'm really happy that all of the teeth were sculpted out. Medicom could've easily skipped out and simplified the design.

The hat fits on Snake's head quite snugly. But when you push down the hat all the way, the top half of Snake's eyes would be covered so I had to control how much I pushed down on it. I also have to mention that since the hat fits on so snugly, some people might have trouble taking it off. The only way to take it off is to hold the hat tightly and wiggle the head out. It's a bit cumbersome. The tight fit works very well but some people might not like how tight it actually is. But the overall sculpt is fantastic.
 

Paint:
The paint is very clean with some minor problems. The colors are quite accurate to the source and his face is very clean. I'm glad they added all the lines and details on his face because it looks just like the character because of that. It is NOT the same design as the Solid Snake kubrick. The camouflage design on his outfit is excellent and very well done. They used about four colors on the stripes which is quite impressive for Kubrick standards. It's very close to the source. I did find some minor bleeding between black parts and the stripes. This can easily be fixed. I also found that the back wasn't fully painted, especially near the pouches which was somewhat disappointing. But even with those problems, the details with the tiger stripe camouflage are simply amazing.

All the little accessories on his outfit were painted including the clips and straps on his pouches. Nice. The guns are also nicely painted with plenty of detail including a bit of silver on the pistol and some nice camo pattern on his rifle (even the straps on the handle were painted!). I was very impressed with the guns' paint job. Great job on that department.

The crocodile hat's paint job is great too. They used a airbrush for the lower parts of the head which was a nice touch and makes it stand out. The eyes are painted with a glossy yellow paint. The outside parts of the teeth are all painted very well with little to no bleeding. The inside of the mouth is actually painted with a pink color but it seems all the pink paint is on the inside of the teeth which was somewhat disappointing. I guess Medicom couldn't fix that problem. It's a very clean paint job with minor slop on the eyes and the inside section of the teeth. Good job overall.

 
Overall: A
This is a great kubrick figure based on Naked Snake. Any fans of the Metal Gear Solid series will definitely want this. Even though the overall sculpt and paint job has all the trappings of the regular version, the inclusion of the popular tiger stripe design and the awesome crocodile hat is well worth it. Definitely check it out!
 
Where can I find this?
Pretty hard. Even though it wasn't labeled as a limited edition item, many sites are having trouble obtaining the DVD set. Only a handful of import stores may have it. You might find it if you look hard enough.
 
Other Images:


The figure in its packaging. This was how the figure was packaged inside the DVD set. It was also covered with a cardboard box for protection. Very simple packaging.

 


The elusive crocodile hat. Very nice sculpt!

 


"Yeah, try laughing at me now, punks, I dare you!"

 


The back with the hat.

 


The guns. Same as the regular version. No knife (again)...

 


The back. All the sections next to the pouches were left unpainted for some reason...too bad.

 
All images and site content are copyrighted and property of © Lik Way Chan and may not be used without permission or expressed written consent of the site's author.
Other images are copyrighted to their respective owners and creators.