Since we got ourselves two hovercycles in the 8" line, it only makes sense that we'd see the same thing happen in the smaller scale. In fact, the cycle uses the same exact mold, only painted in the familiar COBRA colors and with Snake Eyes' sword brother mounted on the back. How does it shape up to the other?

PACKAGING

The art and packaging is great as usual, with impressive presentation and the always entertaining Mission Manuals.

Patterned almost exactly after the Wave 1 Sky Cycle, does this version add enough value to make it worth a purchase?

The Toys

Value is an interesting term, because it is totally subjective. What someone considers valuable, someone else might consider totally without any value whatsoever. It's a little easier to compare the value of two different things then it is to come up with something arbitrarily, however. And in this case, I'm not sure I can endorse the value of this set all that highly. First of all, while the Sky Cycle came with Snake Eyes, the hovercycle, and a Ninja BAT all in this package, the Secret Ninja Files set only comes with the bike/Storm Shadow and one other figure. No drop cage at all. Granted, pricing has dropped somewhat since Wave 1, so you should be able to find this set for $4.99 instead of $6.99 for Wave 1, but still you can't help but notice this set has less in it, but was designed for the same price point. Not only that, but the COBRA Ninja Hovercycle has the same tooling and function as it's Sigma 6 counterpart.

To me, I don't mind a whole lot, just because I kind of like having the 2.5" renditions of the 8" stuff, but for more discriminating folks, I'm not sure it's really worth dropping five bucks for this item.

From a functionality standpoint, this bike is pretty much the same deal as the Sigma 6 version, with the "rev up and go" feature, which is fine, though nothing new. I do kind of like how the two bikes can potentially face off against each other, but beyond that the bike isn't any thing real new and exciting. I do like the paint apps here, as I did with the eight inch version, and white/red color combination is striking (and mixes with Storm Shadow well) and it's gotta get some points for looking so close to the larger version.

The Storm Shadow figure on it is as one-dimensional as the Snake Eyes figure was in Wave 1, and really doesn't serve any purpose other than sitting there with his sword extended. It kind of makes these items seem more like "party favors" so to speak, and not nearly as much as "action figures". The appeal is there for some folks, I'm sure, but this particular set doesn't do a whole lot for me.

The other figure in this set (and the only other item in this set) is Snake Eyes, who is in permanent machine gun firing mode, which just ends up being another non-figure that serves little purpose, unfortunately. The sculpting is nice, and from a static statue point of view, the dramatic positioning of his leaping and shooting has some coolness to it, but ultimately I don't find it very exciting or useful, to be quite honest.

3 3/4" Compatibility

Like the Sky Cycle, Storm Shadow is permenantly attached, so there isn't really much to talk about here. Even if he could come off, the bike would be too small, and there are similar motorcycles for the 3 3/4" guys already anyway.

Overview

With the hovercycle included with the Dragonhawk, this marks the third bike we've gotten for this line, and really doesn't have many selling points beyond the collectibility factor. It's not a bad little toy per se, but I've always been about the action figures and characters, so it doesn't knock me out in either of those regards. Stuff like this might make for great party favors or stocking stuffers (especially at the new reduced $4.99 price points!) but for an action figure line, it doesn't do much for me.

A good way to possibly capture a different audience, though, to be sure.