New MOTU Origins reveals from Mattel!

[Mechanizor]

Slow it down Axel.

Let's get through the poster first.

He's more or less just confirming what's been discussed before that the Powers of Grayskull/Preterina era is still in Mattel's plan... Again, the SDCC 23 cannot come soon enough to find out what the whole enchilada is all about!

[MIDOR]

Slow it down Axel.

Let's get through the poster first.

[Mechanizor]

Another hint by Gimenez:

Preternia and the Snake Men

.

[Mechanizor]

Gimenez posts this again on his instagram page:
T

hese are the early designs that I created 10 years ago for Mattel and its Masters of the Universe Classics line.
Fang-Or was the only one made in that Classics and as it was recently revealed, he and Lady Slither will be made in Origins.

Is this another hint in regards to the other four character having a potential chance to be in Origins?... I think Red Shadow was a subject of discussion among some You Tubers before!

[Mechanizor]

This is a quote from Axel Gimenez from his instagram page, and I believe he's giving us a hint of what could be coming up?!:

Preternia and Snake Mountain in that age, with its original inhabitants, the Snake Men. And also the birth of the Diabolical Snakes. About Snake Mountain, we could see in Mike Young's series that this stronghold was different in the past when it was the domain of the Snake Men, having three snakes instead of one. In the case of Origins, since we have the design of the vintage playset, I thought of changing the wolf's head for another snake, and the facade with the demon face, for the main snake of the Snake Men logo.

And if you've missed it, he was referring to those two images:




What do you guys think, an expansion accessory set for the Snake Mountain is coming up, a new exclusive Snake Mountain with the Snake Face and the two snakes, or he's just flexing his art muscles?!

[Mechanizor]

I think those extras we’ve seen during the Classics days are gone I’m afraid… They could have done a bunch of accessory sets already with the modularity feature of this line, but they’re just penny pinching from what I’m observing!

Also, they don’t think like how some of us do even if it’s an opportunity for them to capitalize on some of the items!… I’ve worked with those type of people who only think in a linear fashion for many years, and many of them only move in the safest possible direction as long as they don’t lose their jobs or become broke!

[Andy]

They could always sneak in different colors with any deluxe figure. Like Prince Adam in the bottom of Orko. It doesn't even have to tie in. Like sell an unpopular character with an extra snake body as an incentive or something.

[Mechanizor]

I personally would like to see the red-hooded nameless snake dude as a generic snake warrior so I can army build him with this unique Lady Slither body.

Seeing this body type in different colors would be awesome, but I don't think Mattel would do a body accessory pack!... Unless they make another multi-pack Snake Men with this version!

[Andy]

I recommend "Sidewindor" or "Mambar" for the red one. Also I'd like to see his lower body in other colors for our other snakemen. Also, also hope we get a Deluxe Lady Slither at some point.

[Mechanizor]

The MOTU artist Alex Gimenez just teased this image on his instagram page, and it appears that those box art Snake Men have a big possibility to become figures:

[Mechanizor]

The other half is either wallet depletion or bankruptcy!

[MIDOR]

DERP!

Well, that settles that.

At least we definitely know what's coming down the MC site pipeline.

Which sucks because guessing is half the fun.

Don't know what the other half is.

[Mechanizor]

Mechanizor.

Wasn't you who made a post, which I tried to look for but can't seem to find. Don't remember which thread it was a part of, about a June sale on Mattel Creations.

At that time none of was sure it was MOTU.

I wonder if that's what June sale is. Vykron.

Yes, however from the MC's calendar, the $$$ exclusive set was listed as a May 12th release!... And I think they screwed up with that date! LOL

[MIDOR]

Mechanizor.

Wasn't you who made a post, which I tried to look for but can't seem to find. Don't remember which thread it was a part of, about a June sale on Mattel Creations.

At that time none of was sure it was MOTU.

I wonder if that's what June sale is. Vykron.

[Mechanizor]

From AdultCollector's Facebook page:

***BREAKING NEWS: MATTEL ANNOUNCES MASTERVERSE VYKRON, ORIGINS FANG-OR, and ORIGINS LADY SLITHER!***

You heard it here first! Mattel has given me some amazing news to share with you! The MOTU team at Mattel has been hard at work to bring us even more exciting new Origins and Masterverse figures. No photos yet, but Mattel has provided lots of info about them! Happy Friday!

* Origins Fang-Or
* Origins Lady Slither
* Masterverse Vykron

"
These figures are set to be released this summer / early fall, with Vykron being the first to launch! By producing the Vykron figure, the team’s aim was to pay homage to He-Man's original prototype, which we think you’ll appreciate. On the other hand, 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 the Mattel Creations team is excited to make these epic Origins figures!

The figures will be announced and available for pre-sale on:

Masterverse Vykron
Announcement, 5/30
Pre-sale date, 6/6
Origins Fang-or
Announcement, August
Pre-sale, August
Origins Lady Slither
Announcement, September
Launching, September

***NEW ETERNIA VYKRON***
Availability: Mattel Creations Exclusive
Page Go-Live Date: 5/31/23
Pre-Sale Date: 6/6/23

This Masterverse™ New Eternia Vykron™ is a deluxe action figure at 7-inch scale with 30 points of articulation and classic design details MOTU™ fans and collectors will love. Bringing the legendary gladiator home, this Vykron™ figure comes with three separate armor and weapons looks for storytelling – the Barbarian, the Eagle Tank and the Spaceman. The New Eternia champion, Vykron, is a
collector must-have, with 3 different armor and weaponry looks with metallic details.

This master of combat can strike virtually any pose for action play or display. The Barbarian look includes a detachable fur-style softgoods cape, an armored chest harness, removable head with spiked helmet and removable leg armor. His axe accessory is ready for action poses. The Spaceman look features a space helmet head and chest and belt armor piece. A flexible, removable air hose connects them.

Swappable wrist armor, orange blaster and rocket-tipped winged jetpack complete the look. The third look features a unique tank-style helmet with posable turrets that fits over the Barbarian Vykron™ head. This Eagle Tank look for Vykron™ comes with chest, wrist and leg armor pieces and a battle ram accessory.

Notes from the Team: Before the original He-Man toy was fully realized, he started as a figure concept where you could change his outfit and turn him into different characters. The original prototype model called the ‘He-Man Trio’ had 3 outfits; a barbarian, a spaceman, and a tank-headed soldier. In the end, we know the barbarian won out and became He-man.

By producing this Vykron figure, our aim was to pay homage to this early concept. We have reinterpreted the 3 outfits of the “He-Man Trio” and have made the armor and accessories removable
and interchangeable so you have the power to decide what your figure looks like. Careful attention was paid on the sculpt and deco details as we do on all our Masterverse figures. We hope you are as excited as we are on the release of this Deluxe Masterverse Vykron who celebrates an important part of MOTU history!

***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.

***ORIGINS LADY SLITHER***
Availability: Mattel Creations
Page Go-Live Date: September
Pre-Sale Date: September
Product Copy: To be provided later.
Notes from the Team: Lady Slither will have an elegant slipcover wrapped in snake scales with a bronze patina finished medallion of Lady Slither’s face (our nod to Medusa’s head on Athena’s shield). On the top of the slipcover, we have a bronze crest of the Snake Men logo. The back has a character writeup of Lady Slither inside a bronzed serpent frame. 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.
"
-

[Mechanizor]

I just saw this posted on ToyHabits' site:

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!

Axel Gimenez's instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CsY2Bnsuh9Y/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D


It looks like the Powers of Grayskull theme is still happening as depicted before.

[Mechanizor]

If Origins suffers any sales, it's all on Mattel with their distribution hiccups and whatnot, not the fans/consumers!

But I still think it's making enough money for Mattel to keep making more SKUs... We'll find out more soon enough around the SDCC month.

[MIDOR]

yah yah yah! That's right. Thought I was remembering and saying it all wrong.

Potential is still there.

Possibilities are still there.

Can someone pull the preverbal trigger?

Is the Mattel backing there?

Is the MOTU line still making enough $ to move forward?

Going to find out.

[Mechanizor]

Midor, it wasn’t TG who came up with the idea by having Snake Man-at-Arms working for King Hisss, if I’m not mistaken it was done by the 200X-MYP’s team including Dean Stefan, and it was planned for the next episodes that never made it into production.

As for the TMNT mashup, I think Mattel’s marketing team just wanna bring in some of theTurtle fans investing in this line while keep using some of the older molds of the current Origins line. From what was leaked, this new mashup line/sublime is meant largely for the retail audience!

I have no idea if this will grow and succeed or not, but I hope it won’t hinder the potential creativeness of what could be done within the MOTU’s original property…

[MIDOR]

You, Mechanizor, bring up a very interesting notion. Snake Men vehicles. Something I didn't think of when I saw snake Teela and Snake-At-Arms.

Toyguru was going to have SAA work for King Hissss/Hsss/Psssst/however it's spelled this time around and make snake vehicles.

But that's getting ahead of ourselves.

Because of that Mechanizor I fully and totally agree with you on who needs the mashup when there is potential.

[Mechanizor]

That is cool. Interesting that Snake Lair has two snakes and I don't see the wolf head. Thanks for the pics Mech

You're welcome Andy...

I'm very intrigued now with this Preternia SM tease for the second time (Camo Khan's card art being the first), and I'm wondering if Mattel is willing to do a MC exclusive of it, or an accessory pack with the extra Snake and the Snake Face that can be added on the current/upcoming SM?!

It would be awesome if that ever happens, especially if the Snake Men get their own reptilian vehicles as well (Like a repurposed Land Shark for example or the Dragon Walker with different stickers)...

Who needs a TMNT mashup when you have a lot of potential within the MOTU's property itself?

[Andy]

That is cool. Interesting that Snake Lair has two snakes and I don't see the wolf head. Thanks for the pics Mech

[MIDOR]

Now that's blinking cool.

[Mechanizor]

A few more:











Notice that Fang-Or and a newer Snake Mountain (Or Snake Lair) have been depicted/teased in the box art.

[Mechanizor]

Now Roy the box designer's instagram page has better pics of the 4 pack set, but I'll wait for a higher resolution pics still:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsUJ-hMPhqG/

Now these images posted in TNI: