Deep Cut MOTU Origins Snake Men Teased by Fang-Or and Lady Slither Announcements

Fang-Or and Lady Slither MOTU Origins Mattel Creations figure details tease deep cuts from the MOTU Origins Snake Men!

With the announcement of Fang-Or and Lady Slither coming to the Masters of the Universe Origins line, the devil is in the details and Mattel might be hinting at more deep cut Snake Men figures coming to the line. Both Lady Slither and Fang-Or are original designs created by Axel Gimenez back in the MOTU Classics era! Fang-Or was produced by the Super7/Mattel collaboration while Lady Slither was just a concept that never saw the light of day. We take a deeper look at the characters and a possible playset that could be coming to the Masters of the Universe Origins line.

Fang-Or Announcement Teases Lady Slither’s Lair

Along with the announcement of the figure, Mattel provide some very juicy details for us to chew and stew on. As Mattel (we think this might be Roy Juarez speaking) was describing the packaging and art direction for for Fang-Or, they said “When it’s revealed, you will see a direct connection to Preternia. We’ll focus on a lush swamp background, and in the middle of it you’ll be able to see Lady Slither’s Snake Lair…The artwork teases potential upcoming figure reveals and a very cool easter-egg I had to include in the cardback artwork. Fans will notice that the Snake Lair is surrounded by a moat and a creature. The moat pays homage to The Castle Moat playmate that Mark Taylor originally envisioned, and the sea creature is one of the creatures illustrated in The Castle Moat. This concept was held over from the MOTU Classics line but would make an amazing MOTU Origins playset!

Lady Slither Announcement Teases Axel’s Concept Snake Men

Lady Slither was a huge surprise and the details provided by Mattel say the following, “The front of the box features Lady Slither commanding her troops Fang-Or, Vypor, Stretch Neck and Raptilax (from the vintage mini comics) into battle. On the cardback we have Lady Slither in her human form (featuring her interchangeable human legs) sitting on her throne inside her Snake Lair. To the left of Lady Slither is High Priest Pythonus, a character also designed by Axel, and to the right of Lady Slither is the red Snake Man fans will recognize from Kol-Darr’s cardback art.” The Snake Men referenced were concepts that Axel Gimenez sketched for possible MOTU Classics releases but they look like they might be coming to the MOTU Origins line as the figures are teased on the upcoming packaging so let’s take a look at Lady Slither’s band of merry Snake Men

Vypor

As designed in the MOTU Classics line, Vypor would reuse parts from Snake Face, Lord Dactus and Prahvus but he would need new armor, a new head and a new neck piece. What does make him a possibility is that his head sculpt is inspired by the Snake Tower from the Eternia playset, which comes out next year. Also as Mattel goes deeper into 200x , we could see Lord Dactus and Prahvus as possible figures they could make out of Vypor., who are are both unique characters to that era of MOTU and strong contenders for figures for the MOTU Origins line.

Here is a custom concept of Vypor, from the MOTU Classics line, created by the talented Orsogranito Granitebear Shop! You can see the nods to Viper Tower with the shape of the Snake Head , the chains, and the manta spy!

Strettch Nek

Strettch Nek is a concept based on an early Roger Sweet design and he would have a bendy neck, similar to how Squeeeze’s arms bend and stay in place. He would resuse arms, loin cloth, and legs from Whiplash and the torso could be formed from the bottom piece of Tung Lashor combined with the top piece of Ceratus, who has not been hinted at or teased in the MOTU Origins line. He would need new armor and a head but this figure could be done using existing parts that Mattel has created for the Origins line.

Here is a custom concept of Strettch Nek, from the MOTU Classics line, created by the talented Orsogranito Granitebear Shop! It looks like a direct translation from the Axel concept art and would make a very unique addition to the Origins line.

High Priest Pythonus

Nepthu first appeared as an articulated action figure in August 2013 as part of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics toyline. He is also referred to as High Priest Pythonus on many MOTU forums. His Classics Bio makes him the first known member of the Snake Men Faction who is not part of the Snake Men species. This concept builds off of the Nepthu character from MOTU Classics who pledged his life to King Hiss during the 2nd Ultimate Battle Ground

Golden Rod

Golden Rod is the robot of the Snake Men. According to Toy Habits Crew member, Allison Troy (YouTube Channel | Instagram), “He reuses parts from Roboto and the Horde Trooper – but he also needs parts from Multi-bot. Golden Rod is a really deep dive but his parts re-use makes it possible to fill out waves that need more tooling and helps Mattel get more use out of the Multi-bot tooling. So at some point he’s not an unrealistic idea for Origins. However – if (when) we get Multi-Bot – Golden Rod is easily achievable via 100% re-use of existing parts. And let’s be honest – other than mini-comics Roboto – that head sculpt doesn’t have a lot of use. So Mattel should definitely consider Golden Rod to join the ranks of the Snake Men.

Reptilax

Reptilax is another figure Axel designed using a character who appeared in the vintage mini-comics. And he’s also appeared in Origins materials – both on Kol-Darr’s card and in the Camo Khan comic as well as the card art. However, other than parts from He-Man and King Hiss, he requires parts from Tuvar (Two Bad has been teased but yet to be released and Laser Light Skeletor plus he uses parts from Fang Man. While he could be a way for Mattel to work their way to Fang Man and is a reuse of Tuvar parts, which gives them more use out of the eventual Two-Bad figure which itself has limited re-uses.

We came across a 3D rendering of a MOTU Origins style Reptilax figure so you can see what this figure might look like it if was produced.

Quick Flick

Quick Flick is a Snake Man archer. According to Toy Habits Crew member Allison Troy Allison Troy (YouTube Channel | Instagram), “He’d re-use parts from Mantenna which currently exist in the line. He does reuse Lizard Man pieces – but that could be easily replaced with a more generic waist if Mattel doesn’t have any plans to include Filmations’ Lizard Man in Origins. Also he needs Modulok’s feet. Since we have no Modulok yet… although it’s another case where they could make that tooling for this figure and then just re-use it – and we do already have Frog Monger who’s chest gives us a Filmation accurate Modulok. So maybe another new bit of tooling or two for Quick Flick – and then Modulok is more easily achieved.”

Red Snake Creature

There is a red snake creature that is prominently featured on the back of the card back art work for Moss Man but we first saw this character teased on the back of the Mattel Creations Kol-Darr card art. We searched high and low to confirm who he is, but came up empty handed. So we went right to the source to ask the artist himself! Roy Juarez did respond back to our inquiry, and says that this is an unnamed new character! They are working on giving him a name, but nothing official yet. He looks like a combination of Camo Khan’s flared snake head and body, with an actual snake like tail on his lower half. In any case, this is an amazing new character! Given that Mattel said that Lady Slither would have a snake lower body, this makes this figure more of a reality now!