Fang-Or MOTU Origins Mattel Creations Card Art Tease He-Ro and Lady Slithers Lair
Fang-Or MOTU Origins card art teases He-Ro from the Powers of Grayskull & Lady Slither Lair, an unproduced playset from the MOTU Classics era
Thanks to colecaoacaoshow, we now get a more detailed look at the upcoming Mattel Creations MOTU Origins exclusive Fang-Or, which includes his card art. We know from official press releases that Fang-Or will be the next Mattel Creations figure going up for preorder on August 8, 2023 starting at 9am PT and it’s great to see some production images
Fang-Or Carded Images
Fang-Or comes on the MOTU Origins single carded figure blister with the an extra illustration of the “Fearsome Fanged Snake Scientist.” On the back of the card features an amazing scene with Fang-Or pouncing on He-Ro with Lady Slither lurking in the background. We can also see Lady Slither’s Lair, another concept that was not produced from the MOTU Classics era.
In these images, we can also see Fang-Or’s long and short fangs, which is an interesting concept! Rather than making an alternate head, the fangs are swappable!
He-Ro Tease
Seeing He-Ro teased on Fang-Or’s card art gives us hope that we will see a He-Ro figure come to the MOTU Origins line and this lines up with an Instagram post from the amazing Axel Gimenez. Axel Gimenez posted a very intriguing post to Instagram today, with a Super7 5.5″ Vintage Style He-Ro in package next to him and he says “Working, working, and working ??” with a pen sitting next to He-Ro. Now He-Ro holds a very special significance to the Toy Habits family, because it was a friendly trade of the MOTUC He-Ro’s staff that brought the Toy Sorceress and Michael of Toy Habits together to form an amazing partnership of the Toy Habits team you all know and love today! So, if this is a real indication of He-Ro coming to the MOTU Origins line, believe me I would be totally over the moon! that I don’t know about you, but I feel like we have been getting small hints of the Powers of Grayskull for a while now. First with the Camo Khan Card Art Teases, then with the Moss Man MOTU Origins Art Reveal, which both were heavily influenced and teased many Powers of Grayskull characters! If you follow us on YouTube, you know that we have been predicting The Powers of Grayskull to be coming to the MOTU Origins line in 2024! We have had several theories and wish list videos where we discuss our theories on the Powers of Grayskull being the next big theme in the MOTU Origins line, as it naturally follows the Rise of the Snake Men, where the Snake Men originated in Preternia, but we will have more about that for you below.
How cool would it be to get a shiny vac metal gold colored MOTU Origins version of He-Ro, just the thought of it makes me so happy and excited! Also, this opens the door to the Powers of Grayskull characters and dinos! The possibilities are endless! So let’s explore this MOTU Origins He-Ro Tease!
Then a week ago we had the following posted by ¡Yo tengo el Poder! (@yo_tengo_el_poder) | Instagram, coincidence, I think not!
He-Ro has been a very popular yet desired character for many years.
¡Yo tengo el Poder! (@yo_tengo_el_poder) | Instagram
Even though we were introduced to the character in Mattel’s 1987 catalog in the United States as the protagonist of the Powers of Grayskull subliminal, it never saw the light and became a desired figure for years. It finally saw the light inside the Classics collection in 2009, but its vintage version was still highly requested, so Super7 released that version in 2019 to the delight of the fans. A new release has been released in 2022 by Mattel within the Masterverse line, based on his appearance in the Masters of the Universe Revelation series.
And, surely, we won’t be long to see the Origins version.
¡Yo tengo el Poder! then included a series of images from He-Ro from early Mattel Prototypes to the Super7 version, to the MOTUC version to the latest Masterverse verision that was recently released. I don’t know about you, but this does not seem like a coincidence!
Here you can see early prototypes of the never produced He-Ro figure by Mattel.
Here you can see early test shot prototypes of the never produced He-Ro figure by Mattel as well.
And of course, once we got to Masters of the Universe Classics, He-Ro was finally released as a production figure for the first time in MOTU history! It was quickly followed by the Super7 5.5″ vintage style version. Then in 2022, we finally got He-Ro in the Masterverse line!
History of He-Ro
He-Ro was a character that Mattel came up with that was supposed to be the new lead heroic leader in the late 1980’s Powers of Grayskull Line to take the place of He-Man. By that time in the line, interest in Masters of the Universes was waning and kids’ attention was now going elsewhere. Well, the Powers of Grayskull line was very short-lived with only a couple of Dinosaurs and Giants being produced in the oversees markets. Only a prototype was made of He-Ro, with gorgeous gold colored vac-metal armor, but sadly, the He-Ro figure was never produced.
According to He-Ro | Wiki Grayskull | Fandom:
He-Ro is the name of two fictional characters in the Masters of the Universe franchise, both linked to the main character He-Man and both achieving only a “prototype stage”, until 2009, when the initial version was finally released as part of the Masters of the Universe Classics line.
He-Ro was planned to be a new character introduction, the centerpiece of The Powers of Grayskull, a spin-off line of Mattel‘s Masters of the Universe toy line in 1987. The Powers of Grayskull was to be set in Eternia’s prehistoric past, called “Preternia” to differentiate, and promised to reveal secrets about the source of He-Man’s power, through the adventures of He-Ro, a young but powerful wizard who lived in that time.
In Mattel’s license guide it stated that Gray (the original alter ego for He-Ro) could, “by placing one hand over his heart & flexing the other into a muscle & saying, Magic & strength tempered by heart… I stand for peace!”, he would become He-Ro of Grayskull, the most powerful wizard in the Universe.
However, the line was cancelled in early 1987, and none of this came to fruition. The 1987 Mattel Toy Catalog published pictures of the proposed toys from the line, including an action figure of He-Ro. Three of the dinosaur toys from the line actually made it to stores, and the two “giant” action figures saw release as exclusives in Italy, but He-Ro was never released as a toy.
He-Ro | Wiki Grayskull | Fandom
Lady Slither’s Lair Tease
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!
Some other images include a first look at the Fang-Or mini comic art and a cool scene where Fang-Or is tangling with Snake Armor He-Man.
Fang-Or SDCC 2023 Reveal and Preorder
As we reported back in May in our Masterverse Vykron MOTU Origins Fang-or Lady Slither Coming, our friends over at Adultcullector.org on Facebook confirmed that Masterverse Vykron, MOTU Origins Fan-Or and Lady Slither were officially announced new characters by Mattel! They were said to be Mattel Creations exclusives, coming out in later this year! Well at SDCC, the Mattel team also confirmed that the new “vintage style” Origins figures were going to be Mattel Creations exclusives. According to the Mattel Creations launch calendar, there will be a MOTU drop on August 8th, at 9am. So set your reminders for this MOTU Origins Fang-Or Mattel Creations Exclusive Preorder!
MOTU Origins Fangor
When we last reported by Adultcullector.org on Facebook, had confimed back in May that the MOTU Origins Fang-or is set to be released also as a Mattel Creations exclusive, set to be up for preorder in August. So this date on the Mattel Creations launch calendar makes sense! We had previously predicted that Fan-gor was going to be coming to the MOTU Origins line, but what we didnt know is that he was going to be a Mattel Creations exclusive, which is a welcome surprise for fans so that we don’t have to be hunting him down. Hopefully they will supply enough so he doesn’t instantly sell out.
Per Adultcullector.org on Facebook:
ORIGINS FANG-OR**
Availability: Mattel Creations
Page Go-Live Date: August
Pre-Sale Date: August
Product Copy: To be provided later.
Notes from the Team: Both Lady Slither and Fang-Or are original designs created by Axel Gimenez during the Classics era. Ever since they were first revealed, they have been two of the most requested characters, so for us to make them into Origins figures feels epic! As a fan, it is a “checkbox” moment for me that I get to bring these two characters to life through directing the artwork and designing their packaging. 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.Fang-Or will come inside our collector-friendly packaging. The blister bubble is easily removable it can slide off and on, and he will also come with an exclusive mini comic. 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 playmat that Mark Taylor originally envisioned, and the sea creature is one of the creatures illustrated in The Castle Moat.
Adultcullector.org on Facebook
Fang-or SDCC Reveal
Also on display was the rest of the new offerings for the MOTU Origins line! The first thing that stands out to us is the all night Night Stalker Horse! Then there was Lady Slither, Fang-or and surprisingly Rokkon! They also had on display the just released Moss-Man, and the latest Rulers of the Sun 3 pack, with Kiktko, Holographo, and Zap-Man! The back of the package features gorgeous artwork featuring all of the Rulers of the Sun! Also on display was the upcoming Skeleton Warriors 2 pack, and the Screech and Skeletor 2 Pack. Let’s take a close look at these exciting new reveals!
We already seen image of the Rulers of the Sun 3 Pack: Kiktko, Holographo, and Zap-Man, but it’s the first time we got to see the actual production figures! The Skeleton Warriors were featured in last year’s 2022 SDCC Eternia display, so we have seen them before, but it’s cool to see them officially on display! One of the most exciting figures in this group is Rokkon and let’s hope they retained his rock transforming action feature! We previously already leaked Lady Slither and Fangor!
Fang-Or Tease
Fang-gor was recently teased on the Diabolical Snake Invasion MOTU Origins 4-Pack. This is the 2nd time Fang-Or has been teased officially and we are aware of the leaked figure but we were asked to remove our our post about it. Fang-Or makes his appearances in the mini comic, Viper’s Vice, and he is being portrayed as an army builder!
Complete Your MOTU Collection
Be sure to check out our Masters of the Universe shop pages where we’ve curated figures from MOTU Origins, Masterverse, Classics, Vintage and more so you can find the figures you need easier!
