"His real name is classified. His birthplace is classified."

The 1982 Snake Eyes is the first wave's silent commando — straight-armed, sculpted in solid black plastic, packaged on a 13-back card. The figure ships with no file card portrait, the file card masked because Snake Eyes was the only operative whose appearance was classified. The all-black sculpt was a cost-saving move that became one of the franchise's most enduring design choices.

The v1 lasted exactly two years on shelves. By 1984 Hasbro replaced him with the v2 swivel-arm "battle grip" sculpt and the visor mask. Today the v1 carded mint is in the top-5 most-collected first-wave Joes, second only to the mail-away Cobra Commander and the Hooded Cobra Commander.