I try to say this often, but I don’t know that I, or anyone else, say it enough: I love this hobby.
Sure, it has it’s issues- anything that involves people usually does. But for every fan who makes it their business to belittle and complain, there’s at least one more who add genuine enjoyment to the hobby, and goes to great lengths to make it something they can share.
And that’s how you end up with things like this ONE12BOX quarterly lootbox. You might remember I posted about this last year before it launched, and I tried to make a case for it– long before I knew what it would actually contain. Some of you were interested, some rolled their eyes, but I could tell there was passion and talent behind this idea.
This is what that talent looks like, in 6-inch form. Inside the box are the combined efforts of Can of Beams, Resin Armory, Harker Customs, ToyBox Customs, and BestLee Studios, (and Crashbox Customs for the epic box dio) all rallied and marshalled by One12Shop. And those efforts came together to make one badass Snake Eyes figure.
If you were lucky enough to get in on this box, allow me to make some suggestions/pointers on the assembly. You will need a Mezco One:12 Blade a heat gun or hair dryer, and a pair of small scissors or a seam ripper.
I suppose you could just cut the suit off of Blade, but he does have a cool suit as-is, so to preserve it, just open the seam on the middle of his back, leaving the collar intact. This makes it much easier to re-stitch on a new figure down the road.
Heat up the boots until they feel pliable, then pop them off. The belt just pegs into itself, so no biggie, and the thigh sheath will just slide off with the pants. Put his neck through the opening you made in the suit, and then just slide off. Obviously this works better if you put the shirt on first, and snap it in place. The pants fit pretty snugly, so work them up slowly- I like to use a little flat piece of plastic to tuck the shirt in as I go. While the clearances feel pretty good, I’d do the belt and leg drop before the boots. Then heat them up again a little and pop them back on, tucking the pants into them.
Everything else just slides into place like you would thing. Bandolier before the head, bicep pouches before arm guards. The piece of flex tube goes on the neck ball, then slide the head over for a nice, clean fit. The arm up, shemagh, and go to war. Amidst all this fine detailing is a beautiful visored headsculpt, a wrist arrow launcher, a bandolier with the proper M67 grenades, a trench knife with hand guard, a Desert Eagle, Mikimoto sword and Uzi.
He’s almost equal parts Resolute, Classic and Sideshow in his appearance, and the Blade parts compliment his new pieces expertly. Blade already has a great base body and articulation range, so he makes an excellent place to start, really building on an already stellar figure. Even the magnetic sheath clip still works for Snake Eyes blade.
He is easily the best and last Snake Eyes I’m ever going to get, and yes, I am aware of the word on the street this week. This Snake Eyes figure is literally by the fans, for the fans, and that love shows easily through the final product. And even if you missed out, all hope is not lost, because One12Shop is going to make the pieces of this set available on the site.
So, it may not be the cheapest custom you build this year- sadly, it’s not the most expensve for me, and it’s only January- but it will be one of the top quality, with very little learning curve. Pair it up with some can of beams effects, and you have a visually striking figure the looks factory fresh, but better.
And while you’re over at One12Shop, maybe get in on that April box. Again, I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s going to be fun, because I trust the folks involved. And that’s the other part about this hobby you have to love- people are always excited to see what you do for an encore.
