Horror comes to Eternia. It comes slithering. After a complete absence from the Classics line (two years running!), the Snakemen are coming back to plastic Eternia. While it seems like the wait has been forever, it is nowhere near the millennia they were gone from the real Eternia (because Eternia is a real place). Ever since his debut at SDCC 2010 I have been very excited for King HSSSS to join the fray, and that is saying something since I have never been a real fan of the character until just recently. I have been recalling Jimmy Tango’s Fatbusters in anticipation for March (RIDE THE SNAKE!)- just shy of the beaded car seat cushion suit because the invasion of the Snakemen has always been a big deal to the Masters mythos, even if it has always meant death and destruction for characters and action figure lines alike. However, while King HSSSS may very well kill off several of your MOTUC characters, I predict he will actually be bolstering an already super-strong action figure line this time around.
As I said, the Snakemen don’t have the best track record when it comes to success in the various incarnations of the Masters toy lines. They came near the end of the vintage line and they were not enough to help bring the Powers of Grayskull line (in which they would have been the primary enemies) to retail; they were also making their debut in the 200x action figure line just as it was dying its discount store death at Aldi’s. Now, I am not saying that the faction or idea itself is what did in any MOTU line, maybe they just have bad timing, but you can account for the coincidence. Of course, MOTUC is different with its monthly release schedule so I think we need not even factor in the bad timing. Plus, King HSSSS is one of the most overall impressive figures in the line so far.
With the Evil Warriors and Horde playing first and second fiddles (interchangeably) for me in the vintage days, the Snakemen did not get a lot of play. I had no real media to go off of and since I did not really build up my own background for them, they just kind of languished. I liked the Rattlor and Tung Lasher figures quite a bit, but they mostly ended up hanging out with Skeletor. King HSSS was at a major disadvantage with me simply because he was a big wad of snakes. Even if I did like his disguised visage, the fact that he had multiple snakes for body parts did not click with me and my child imagination. He could not be “one” guy in my head, he was a bunch snakes wearing green pants.
So, this is one case where the 200x cartoon actually bolstered my favor for the character, and quite a bit, actually. I don’t like the “Egyptian” influence in the design and I am glad we got the vintage update, but man, the cartoon made the Snakemen SCARY. I mean, they eat people for pleasure and sustenance. Even Kobra Khan could not handle that. I would say the fact that Zodak has an axe to grind with them is pretty well-warranted. Benty put it best: the Snakemen are the “horror” province in MOTU; the evil warriors are the constant struggle, the Horde represent utter dominance and despair, so horror corner fits the Snakes awfully well. I mean, people are terrified of snakes and man-eating snake people just take it to the next level.
Yeah, I think it is safe to say that I am recent Snakemen convert (the Powers of Grayskull storylines in the bios have helped with that as well) and while I can’t wait to add my old favorites of Rattlor and Tung Lasher to my collection, King HSSSS is the perfect start. Awhile back Toy Guru had mentioned that Mattel had kind of lost their shirts with overall cost of the HSSSS figure, but you know what? It was worth it. There is so much to this figure in terms of design, accessories and overall unique sculpt that he probably used up more than his fair share of the original tooling budget for the entire year. It had to be though in order to do him right.
It is obvious that he is pretty much a Cadillac-update to the vintage design and that is good for me. The funny thing is that you would probably expect the snakes to be the more impressive of the two forms, but the disguised look is what I find to be really impressive. The Four Horsemen (they have done it again) took everything from that vintage figure and made it better. That includes not backing down from the some of the lesser qualities of the design. See, the old figure was made to look almost friendly with a smile to help sell the disguise, but I think it lost a lot in translation with kids; he just looked like a nice guy. This new figure has more of a smirk to him and while it does lend itself to the essence of the old figure, it almost makes him look more smug than anything. I consider this to be an improvement personally as even if he were able to fool anyone with that disguise once, he would never do it again. Looking arrogant and smug though, I can get into that.
The sculpt detail in his costume has all of the textured “scales” to it so he really seems like a guy in an outfit of snake skin. The “armor” piece does retain the ab-crunch articulation since it is soft (but not removable) and I really like his all new red trunks. Much like Bow’s hips, they give the appearance of pants rather than furry shorts and they provide about the same range of motion ability. He does utilize the Keldor boot scheme and Zodak gloves sculpt (but a new tool due to the sleeves), but on the outward surface of what you would see as he is displayed, I think that pretty much does it for reuse. Even though there was no reason NOT to expect it, I really like the snake emblem on his chest. Much like the Horde armbands, this give a nice little cohesion to the various factions and I hope that we see it through with Rattlor, Tung Lasher, Sssqueeze, Snakeface and any other new snake characters they want to do (*hint, hint – generic snakemen two back army builder, nudge, nudge*).
Where the figure takes a major departure from the vintage version (and probably why he was an expensive figure to produce) is in the snake form. First and foremost, this form is not hidden under the snap-on disguise like before, the upper body(ies) is a completely separate piece that swaps out at the waist. This was certainly the way to go for the figure as the old design would have really hampered both the articulation and the overall sculpt. I am glad that the 4H and Mattel put the extra effort in here; it makes for a satisfying effect. Both the disguise and snake forms can be displayed well and neither is dependent on the fact that the other form has to be accommodating. I think this, while probably expensive, was the simplest solution to the design and, as usual, the least complicated answer is the best approach. I would be hard-pressed to be convinced that the other option would have been more viable.
I am a slightly mixed in my feelings about the look of the snake form though. The two issues I have with the design become a little more minor because I plan on displaying the figure in the disguised form (it just looks more “kingly” to me). First though, I really like the “main” snake sculpt. It looks very evil and has a lot of detail. The fact that the jaw is articulated is a nice bonus and is an obious throwback to the vintage and 200x figures. It is very convincing that this is HSSSS’s (that’s a lot of esses) savage and primal form and if you get too close, you are lunch. Feel honored. The coloring is also very nice and it matches what we are familiar with while adding scale detail. That point, coupled with the fact that the paint on this portion is shiny, really makes him look almost like a real snake.
My first quibble is that his “arm snakes” are a little too thin for my tastes. Now, this is just a personal thing and while I like the length for them, they seem a little scrawny. Now the fact that they have bendy wire in them for posing (which I love) probably has something to do with that so I can understand that, I just wish there was a little more girth to them. I don’t think He-Man would have much trouble tearing those “arms” right off. To their credit though, the snake arms are posable enough to hold the snake staff, which looks surprisingly cool.
While that is personal preference, the second issue is more of a design miscue. The little “collar” snake is missing from the figure. Vintage HSSSS was made up of six snakes and this version is only five. I am not sure why they left off the little snake, there might be a very reasonable explanation like cost, but it makes the overall form seem a lot thinner. I know, he was a seemingly inconspicuous serpent that probably served little purpose to the overall snake form, but now that he is not here, I have to say that I miss him. I will remember him as Lil’ Hss, and think of him often. Yeah. While these two issues have their impacts (especially the latter), the snake form is still very impressive and they might just be aesthetic bumps for me that could dissipate in time, given an opportunity to get used to them.
His accessories are, again, vintage updates in both form and function. I like the snake staff quite a lot and it has tons of detail and two different plastics in its make up. While I was originally hoping for guys like Rattlor to also have the staff in a different color, I am kind of coming off of that, at least as a requirement. Really, I see the snake staff as HSSSS’s Havoc staff (for me, Hordak does not need a staff even though he was provided with one) and is the projection point for his magic. Still, I look forward to seeing the various color combinations for this piece and (correct me if I am wrong, Sssqueeze was the only snake not to have this accessory. Like the Horde crossbows, the staves are the Snake Men weapon. The shield also has all of the touches of the original and it snaps onto his disguised form wrist just fine so the humanoid version can be defensive if need be – I doubt very much that the snake form would require personal shelter, it will eats all of yur weponz!
We are straight up rolling with MOTUC this year and what we have already gotten, coupled with what was revealed at Toy Fair makes for the potential for 2011 to blow all previous years out of the water. King HSSSS is going to be a large part of that and I think many Masters fans will rack him up in their “Figure of the Year” considerations. He has so much to offer and while I think the disguised form is the stronger of the two, fans of either form will have a very imposing new faction leader to add to their Eternia collections. Bring on the snakes – I want more right now as a King is without full purpose when he doesn’t have guys to boss around. We need Zeelahr [sic?] too so HSSSSy has something to nosh.
*Thanks so much to Toy Guru and crew for making this First Look possible. King HSSSS will be landing on Matty Collector on March 15th. Stay tuned, we have more First Look goodness coming your way soon!
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