Check out our Dragon Blaster Skeletor Snake Face MOTU Origins hands on review in this special double feature!

First and foremost, we want to send a HUGE SHOUTOUT to Blaine, one of Toy Habits closest friends, for picking up the Dragon Blaster Skeletor and Snake Face MOTU Origins deluxe figures for us so we can share them with you! Given that these figures are supposed to be released by July 2023 on sites like Entertainment Earth, we are very lucky to have these in hand for your viewing pleasure! These figures came out in the vintage line pretty late in the game and are very expensive on the aftermarket so it is great to see these again and to be able to add them to the MOTU Origins collection! Snake Face and Dragon Blaster Skeletor turned out amazing! Snake Face comes with 2 alternate heads to recreate the snake popping out of his head effect and Dragon Blaster Skeletor comes with his trust Dragon that retains the action feature we loved in the vintage figure. Speaking of which, with the action features (mostly) intact, Dragon Blaster Skeletor and Snake Face scratch that nostalgia itch and lucky for you, we have both vintage figures to include for comparison so let’s dive in!

Snake Face

Packing and Art

Snake Face comes on the deluxe Masters of the Universe Origins card with the extra illustration in the upper right corner. As evidence in the rear card art, you can see that Snake Face can turn his foes into stone like Medusa and it’s so great to see the magical charge illustrated on the front and rear card art. The unfortunate souls he’s turned to stone happen to be Prince Adam and Extendar.

Card Art Digital Renders

Once again, Roy and team knocked it out of the park as we see Squeeeze, King Hiss, and Snake Face battling the recently turned to stone Mini Comic Prince Adam and Extendar!

Card Art Teases

What is great about Snake Face’s card art is we also get to see a special someone, Extendar, who is making his 2nd appearance on MOTU card art! Also teased is mini comic Prince Adam, which he have not seen in the line as a single carded standard release yet! Although it is hard to tell if this is actually mini comic Prince Adam because there is no color, he did have a release in the Comic Con 2019 exclusive to kick off the line plus we was packed with the Sky Sled in his vintage Filmation colors.

Figure Details

They did an amazing job on Snake Face and paid homage to his vintage figure in all the right ways. With an updated look that includes extra sculpting detail and an extra head sculpt, Snake Face is one of the most eeriest characters we’ve seen in the MOTU Origins line.

The overall figure buck is cast in a gray plastic with some green overspray on the arms. The overall color scheme of different shades of green, the paint washing, and purple go really well together!

From the side profiles, you can see how the Snakes come out of his head through his helmet around the sides, which is same color green as the paint wash on his arms.

The cool aspect of Snake Face is the snake skin texture around his neck and his face and his huge red eyes. There is so much sculpted detail on this head, it makes it looks like the snakes are piled on his helmet and coming alive. He has really cool fangs and you can see his tongue beginning to peak out. On the back of his head, this is a large sculpted snake.

Snake Face has a unique chest that is clad in black chest armor with a green snake symbol in the middle. The snakes that you pull down from the chest rest nicely in place and have rivet detail on each side. The back is plain without and action feature that came on the vintage figure but you can see the snake tails just reaching the top of his armor.

One of my favorite aspects of this figure is the green paint wash on the arms and the way they sculpted a snake around each of his forearms that run up his bicep. He also was some wart texturing on this upper arms that add to his creepy look!

His waste piece has a scalloped look and feel to it that has a green belt with rivets running around the from and back. His legs are gray with green boots that are fairly plain.

Weapons and Accessories

Snake Face comes packed with his snake shield, his staff, and an extra head sculpt that mimics his action feature he had in the 1980’s.

The extra head sculpt on Snake Face is worth of the price of admission and the snakes coming out of his eye sockets and back of his head have a nice texture to them. Although this figure does not retain the action feature of yesteryear, the extra head sculpt more than makes up for it.

The shield is surprisingly detailed on both sides and it creates a cool effect where it looks like the snakes are intertwined around the shield. The shield is also detailed on the back where it looks like the underbelly on all of the snakes. The handle is nice and chunky, which gives him something large to grab a hold of.

The snake staff is cast in a dark green plastic and is the same snake staff that comes with the rest of the Snake Men. The well in the chest where the snakes come out is also textured and the two snakes are pained the same color green as the symbol on his chest.

Vintage Figure Comparison

The MOTU Origins Snake Face pays a really nice homage to the vintage figure while making some really nice sculpted updates.

One of the major differences you will notice is that the colors are slightly different in shades in various places but overall he retains much of the same look and feel.

One of the main differences is the lack of action feature where you don’t have a red level coming out of his back. This makes the MOTU Origins version quite plain.

Mattel gave the MOTU Origins Snake face a more defined look in his head sculpt and because you can remove his head, he has a much more natural look. Since the Origins head sculpt does not have the action feature the vintage figure does, it looks like his tongue is in a different position. The fangs also frame the Origins figure much better. The helmet and snakes is also painted in a darker green.

With most of the action features retained on Snake Face, they paid homage to his vintage figure by sculpting in the pull down snakes that come from his chest but in order to keep the figure buck swappable, they added an extra head sculpt that has the Snakes protruding from his eyes and around the back of his head. You can also see his forked tongue represented, which looks really creepy.

The way the paint washing is blended on the the Origins figure is makes it look like the green is bleeding into the gray arm versus the vintage figure where it looks like he is wearing a green sleeve.

The Origins sculpting of the snakes is much more defined than the vintage figure and one other difference is the snake tails integrated into the helmet versus the snake tails that were sculpted on the neck of the vintage figure.

The shield and snake are the same general shape but the Origins version is is cast in darker colors, the most notable being the snake staff.

Dragon Blaster Skeletor

Packing and Art

Dragon Blaster Skeletor was recently revealed with official images on Monday, March 20, 2022 and he looks freakin incredible! You can see all of the MOTU Monday’s reveals here: Masters of the Universe March 2023 MOTU Origins Reveals. With the card art, we get to see the pack out, how it is arranged, and the fun card art teases they have included with this one!

Card Art Digital Renders

Once again, Roy and team knocked it out of the park as we see Dragon Blaster Skeletor spraying his venomous spray toward Thunder Punch He-Man who is attacking riding in the Bashasaurus! And by Dragon Blaster Skeletor’s side is Two Bad making his 3 card art appearance! You will also notice a couple of playful dinosaurs in the background! Is this a hint that we are develaing into Preternia and the Powers of Grayskull line soon? Also, one of the dinos have his ribs exposed, could that be a tease for Battle Bones?

Card Art Teases

We also get to see a special someone, Two Bad, who is making his third appearance on MOTU card art! Also teased we see the Bashasaurus vehicle making it’s second appearance! A new comer to the scene is also Battle Bones, which is making his second appearance and looks like the vintage creature featured in the mini comic

Dragon Blaster Skeletor is pretty much a straight up reuse of the MOTU Origins vintage Skeletor head and buck but the his look is dramatically changed when you add his armor and Dragon on his back. Complete with a lengthy metal chain, his green cuff, and lock, Dragon Blaster Skeletor looks fantastic and it always amazes me that they can pull of such a different look for a figure with a simple armor change.

Without his chain, green cuff, and lock, the figure has an oversized look to it due the armor and the dragon on his back. He has a pass through on the front of his chest for the chain to feed through and the Dragon has a pass through on this neck for the chain to run through so you can lock him to Skeletor.

The colors on the Dragon and the armor complement each other very well and the interesting part is that they integrated the dragon into the back armor so and attaches at four points to the front chest armor.

The armor is painted in a purple and outlined in red that goes around his neck and his arms. This red color is also present on the box in the center of his chest where the chain passes through.

Weapons and Accessories

Dragon Blaster Skeletor comes packed with a cuff and chain, a lock, a power sword, and his Dragon that is integrated into his back armor.

The sculpting on the Dragon came out really well, and like Snake Face, has a paint wash that is nicely blended on the top of his head and runs down the middle of the Dragon. He has black eyes with a yellow iris that looks really cool!

The Dragon retained his action feature and all you pop the head off fill the small reservoir with water and he is ready for action!

Vintage Figure Comparison

There are a ton of differences in the MOTU Origins version versus the vintage release. The main differences are in the paint colors and the shape of the Dragon so let’s dive in!

The overall look of the Dragon Blaster Skeletor is relatively the same across both figures. The armor on the vintage figure looks a lot more streamlined than the MOTU Origins figure as the Dragon and front armor look oversized.

The texturing on the vintage Dragon stands out so much more than the Origins version as the dragon scales blend in with the overall paint app. The lock is oversized on the Origins version and the Dragon looks a lot more chonky!

The Dragon face on the vintage figure also looks like it is more detailed than the Origins version with a much darker purple and red paint app.

The paint app looks more uniform on the Origins Dragon and the lock is larger but a lot less detailed on the new version.

The chest armor is a much deeper purple on the vintage version and, side by side, makes the Origins version look pink. The green cuff on the Origins version fits a lot more snug than the vintage version.

Viper’s Vice Mini Comic

Both figures come with the Viper’s Vice mini comic, which teases Fang-Or and the Snake Goddess. Fang-Or and the Snake Goddess make their appearance through the mini comic in various parts of the narrative. Fang-Or appears on the front cover while the Snake Goddess makes her appearance on several pages.

The way that Fang-Or is portrayed in the comic makes me think that they are setting him up to be an army builder as there is more than one of him. The Snake Goddess makes her debut in American media with her transformation from a snake into her human form.

The Snake Goddess is a Medusa’like figure that looks like Battle Ground Teela from the waist down. Fang-Or is illustrated with the longer fangs and you can also see him with two heads on page 3.

The Snake Goddess makes her final appearance in the last scene as a larger than life figure in the distance as you see King Hiss, Snake Face, Stinkor, Beast Man, and Dragon Blaster Skeletor running for the hills.

Where to Buy:

You can also preorder Dragon Blaster Skeletor and Snake Face at the following retailers but you can also use the Deluxe MOTU Origins UPCs (see below) to make these figure magically appear using the Target or Walmart app when they come in stock: