I figured that a 2.5" version of a parachuting figure was pretty much a no-brainer since the paratrooper Duke hit shelves a few months ago. The smaller form factor would seem to be a lot more functional with the whole parachute gig than the larger figure was. This set is pretty bare-boned, but it can still be pretty fun over all.

PACKAGING

More nicely designed packaging here with this set and the included Mission Manuals:

So the concept is neat enough...how does it execute?

The Toys

So there isn't a whole lot to write about with this little set. You get a basic Snake Eyes mini figure with a working parachute and a Sky B.A.T. enemy. Both figures come permenantly attached to bases, but while the Sky B.A.T. has a relatively neutral pose, Snake Eyes is sculpted in a permenant downward gun-firing pose (which I suppose makes some sense based on what he's doing here). The parachute itself works remarkably well considering the smaller size...it makes for a much lighter weight option than the 8" version, which is much more effective in the whole toss and parachute thing. One thing I was pleasently surprised with is that the parachute itself isn't your typical round parachute. It actually seems to be designed more like a realistic rectangular shaped 'chute. I even took it on a few "test drops" and it performed pretty darn well.

As I mentioned Snake Eyes himself is in a pretty limited pose, but the pose isn't all that bad. He's got the stand on his feet and his trusty Uzi clutched in both hands. He does have joints in the shoulders which do give him some more options as to how he's firing that weapon, however the joints on mine at least seem frozen in place. I'm not really sure if they're intended to move or not, but mine do not. His hip joints seem mostly useless, too. I really do like all of the sculpted webgear and harness detail throughout the figure and the more "purple" color to him. He's obviously patterned after the upcoming 8" parachute figure, who I would imagine will end up with a color scheme similar to the alreadyu released Paratrooper Duke. Not too bad, though definitely not your generic Snake Eyes figure.

We have another Sky B.A.T. here, and even permenantly attached to his flame base I find myself really liking this version. He's in a very straight forward, natural pose, has functional swivel shoulders, and none of that silly rubber fake gunfire coming from his weapons. It gives you a pretty generic Sky B.A.T. that looks good filling the 2.5" COBRA ranks. Not too shabby.

Overview

Not a whole lot to talk about with this set, but it makes for a pretty fun set, actually...more so than I thought it might be. From Snake Eyes parachuting off of my roof to a pretty basic and nicely sculpted Sky B.A.T., this set doesn't come with a whole lot, but the stuff it does come with is surprisingly fun. Not a bad set overall, for the newly lowered $4.99 price point.