The Horde and Snake Men are my fav factions. When MOTUC did the create-a-character, I created a female snake character I called Queen Mamba. In her bio I wrote that she was once King Hiss's queen, he betrayed her, leading her to join the good guys during pre-ternia days. Some how she was half human lol, cause she had afro puffs/mini-snake braids. I also drew a character called "Constrictor" and "Sidewine-dor"; I never turned any of them in lol. Always thought that real snakes gave great source material for new snake men characters. Thanks for the vid!
I love the idea that they would have three factions of villains for MOTU, but I really loved the fact that they would be pushed into being the main villains of The Powers of Greystone series
I was into heman early in the 80s and just this past Christmas started collecting again and have a good start and got a book to help remember classics was after i got out as a teenager so ur videos help me learn that line and new figures that came out after I quit Thank you
The Battle Armor 200X inspired Classics figure serves as my actual KH, while the vintage styled one is Prince Koyle, cloned from one of the snake heads Zodak cut from Hsss. He's kind of like a Starscream to Hsss's Megatron. The handy lower torso and extra reptile head that came with Serpentine Hsss really helped to transform the original style one into this character, and once again I give you guys kudos for adding the ability to customize them!
I had no idea the Bruce Timm from these comics was the same Bruce Timm from Batman: The Animated Series. I'm glad you mentioned that. I never would have known...
Fun video! Always interested on the BTS when it comes to the crafting of my childhood icons. Two things I distinctly remember about King Hiss. First, my mother buying him for me without realizing he was a bad guy. She was adamantly against witchcraft n' magic at the time, and wouldn't allow me to get any He-Man villains. I guess she didn't read the packaging very carefully; she just saw that he was a normal-ish looking dude and gave me the green light. I later surprised her with the reveal, and she was both irked and alarmed. But to her credit, she let me keep him. :) The other memory I have is of my friend, who was two years older than me, reading me the comic. He actually kinda acted it out and drew me into the story. I recall asking for a repeat of his performance when He-Man, having pulled off King Hiss' fake arm during a handshake, staggers back and dazedly cries, "Must get away....but can't thiiiiiiinnnk". For some reason I found that to be both chilling and funny and had him read it several times. Thanks for bringing back those memories!
King Hiss was a figure that I was too afraid to get when I was a kid because I was terrified of Snakes although I had Kobra Khan. I'm over my fear now btw.
These videos are very informative and I enjoy each one. Hope to see a Gorpo video I am really interested how that story played out. But thank you so much for this behind the scenes and history of MOTU.
I loved the original king Hiss as a kid. His human form was often shed and I believed that Hiss could still make it talk from a distance, so He-Man often found it stuck in quicksand calling for help. Then Hiss in snake form would jump out and attack He-Man from Behind. That was real easy to recreate with the classic version and I loved it.
Vintage King Hiss was the last MOTU figure I collected during my childhood and I simply loved it; I might say that it was my favourite figure in the entire line (don't judge me :)) I really liked the opening shell feature and I could play with it for hours. I didn't mind the spring loaded feature in the 200x version either, but, yes, the Classics figures are definitely some nice works of art, especially the second snake-torso 🐍
I really liked the fact that You gave a swappable torso to the original King Hisss. When You could have Easily made a sperate snake From King Hisss from the start. I Know Battle Armor King Hisss was a different story, but I was well please with how that was handled.
I'm not sure if it was the mini comics or UK comic but it had always been established that Snake Mountain was originally the Snake Mens home. Tung Lashor and Rattlor both appeared in Filmation too working for both Skeletor and Hordak.
@@spectorcreative1872 Yeah, I do that, and my wife has been having the same problem with her channel, too. Her viewers aren't getting notified, even after clicking the bell. But it's sporadic. Sometimes, they'll get notified, sometimes they won't. I suppose I must make make a sacrifice to YuTuubahocoatl, or something . . . .
The Snake Men were on the filmation series. They just werent a complete faction together. They only had Rattlor and Tung Lashor. Tung Lashor had a Horde insignia on his chest and rattlor worked for Skeletor
Hey ToyGuru, do you know anything about the Food Fighters line and its development? I'd love to hear about it, there's like no documentation of Food Fighters' history (and barely even about subtle variants) like at all.
@13:30 I believe I got a buzz off. Still got it sealed in box somewhere. I was hoping it would have been an extra bow 😂. On another note Congratulations Scott on 5k subscriptions it nice to see your channel growing healthy more and more. I still remember when the channel was working on trying to get 1k for that special video... here’s to getting to 10k and beyond!
I loved this guy as a kid. What would be a good reveal for Hsss in a live movie? His body cracking like an egg? His skinn melting or fading like mist? Or the more gory way, a man not knowing who he is and the snakes eat him from the inside in a really bloody way?
I love Snake-Men and your history got me wondering what other toy lines have snake characters? I know Battle Beasts had one and Dinoriders a few. But I assume there have been others as well?
In the 200X series, when they showed that silhouette of King Hsss devouring one of Whip-lash's race - to quote Bad Boys 2 that when you knew $h!t just got REAL! I think the Classics vintage version is a fine toy - but if I were collecting it'd be the Classics 200X version or nothing at all.
I think, classics may be the definitive motu collection for decades to come. A Good thing about classics, is its done and you can get them all now. a very bad thing about it youre gonna spend some cheese, kid and lots of it now. I'd love to go back and get all the characters i missed. If I ever give up transformers and or "gi joe classified" perhaps I shall. In the mean while I'm ok collecting new motu products as they come. Hey buying new stuff won't cause me to miss any mortgage payments. Chicks dig the man cave, or maybe just the room. they think once i settle down they'll take it over and clear out my stuff. Hahahahahha!!!!
This is great and extremely informative! King Hss and the snake men were my favorite. I couldn’t buy many MOTUC figures, but I got all of the snake men. I have a question for you. It’s not MOTUC, but you still worked on it. Was there ever any plans for mattel to make the Terror Dogs from Ghostbusters? Did it gain any traction or was it always off of the table. I was wondering about that and Gozer. I remember hearing Gozer didn’t sign off on the likeness rights, but I wouldn’t doubt it if I’m wrong. Thank you!
@@spectorcreative1872 thank you, I found the video. I’ve been watching the playlist for MOTUC. It’s really great that you spent the time to put all of these up. It’s very interesting to hear the ins and outs of everything. For awhile you mentioned potentially doing a video on Matty collectors demise, did you ever put this up? I couldn’t find it.
The whole concept of third factions in toy lines fascinate me and the fact that MOTU ended up with four factions in the original line shows how flexible the concept was (even if technically The Horde was stolen from She-Ra). I still don’t get how the ‘looks heroic’ idea from the vintage line was supposed to work - surely that sort of deception would only work on the Masters once, so it’s not like it’d be an ongoing part of the play pattern...
Hey Scott! Love the channel so much! You mentioned in this you did a video on toy copyright (Ninjor, Hsss etc.) but I can't find it! Do you remember the name by chance?
As a kid my favorite faction was the snake men but in my play pattern skeletor ruled over the snake men and had king hiss as the leader of the snake men who answered directly to skeletor lol they fought the heroic warriors as well as the horde who had Mummra the ever living on their side which towered over all the masters figures so he was a dominant force haha
Hordak, man at arm, are the few with body armor that looked right to me. Every other armor looked puffed up. King hiss definitely didn't need the body armor... just a slip on shoulder piece would have made him slimmer.
@@spectorcreative1872 how did figures like khan, lashor, lizard man get slim unique body torso sculpt …. While hiss, snake face get the ugly puffy armour?
Was not Hordak being the third faction before Hsss? So he actually had been a fourth faction. And King Hsss taken from Toth Amon, like Skeletor is to Thulsa Doom from the Conan comics.
@@spectorcreative1872 It does not at all regarding Skeletor/Thulsa Doom ua-cam.com/video/DZL5-YEKmjc/v-deo.html. and King Hsss/Toth Amon ua-cam.com/video/DZL5-YEKmjc/v-deo.html James Earl Jones Character was named wrong in the Conan Movie. The Antagonist he impersonated actually was Thoth Amon.
Amazing figure! I never had a problem with the shoulders. Love him! Great video!!!! Cant wait for the next ones! How about the idea to do the same videos for each vintage figure, playsets and vehicles? 😊
Ah. King Hsss. One of my all time favorite fictional characters, and not just He-Man. MOTUC King Hsss could have been one of the crown jewels in the line, instead he ended up being one of the absolute worse due to manufacturing errors and the 4H being tone deaf and intentionally ignoring the fans. Evidence the 4H need oversight and can't be blindly trusted; which became a consistent problem later on. The reversed shoulders are a problem since they actually do cause some stress marks on the figure if you really work the shoulder articulation. That shouldn't happen but there were several figures in the MOTUC line that you could actually damage the paint and sculpt just but rotating the shoulders normally. The plastic used on the crotch piece restricts the leg articulation due to the immovable material and the point of the thigh armor. The torso not being a unique piece but instead an armor overlay gives him a puffy Stay Puft Marshmellow Man appearance. He can never actually put his arms down at his sides. All this is frustrating since each individual complaint can be ignored but the cumulative effect of them all can't. ------------- Lastly we have the actual snake torso itself. This is the main draw of the figure. Fans were vocal for over a year and half before the figure came out what they WANTED and EXPECTED. There were multiple threads on the various toy websites detailing what was acceptable and what wasn't. We wanted a snake torso that was large enough to convey the monstrous nature of the figure and be a cool toy. Either the Earl Norem poster or the 200x Snake torso. What we got was something so bad, it was universally panned by everyone and forced even the most sycophantic reviewers to mention the fan backlash. The 4H should honestly be ashamed of what they produced with this figure. They were braindead in their devotion to the vintage line - adding redundant dials for nonexistent action features, muppet Clawful, Snout Spout and Buzz-Off's terrible vintage sculpts - but on King Hsss' snake torso they couldn't even at the very least deliver on a copy of the vintage figure. The idea behind King Hsss' snake form is a writhing mass of snakes - clearly inspired by hydras and Lovecraftian horror. From a design perspective you double down on either the number of snakes (Earl Norem poster version) or you go with the 200x version which was much larger in size. Instead the 4H gave us something that was less than the sum of the vintage figure (5 as opposed to 6 snakes). Just a complete misunderstanding of the character and a total lack of caring what the fans wanted. This really felt like a half-assed job by the 4H. ------------------- King Hsss should have been a deluxe figure like Ram Man or Modulok in my opinion. Thankfully the 200x King Hiss released later in the line correct a number of these issues and gave us the first actual competent King Hsss figure ever produced by Mattel. At the end of the day it took Mattel 3 tries to get a King Hsss figure that should have been released on DAY 1 - Classic Vintage, Two Pack 200x King Hsss, Snake torso King Hsss patch job). The sheer incompetence and lack of due diligence for the fans of King Hsss blows my mind. But hey, Clawful got his muppet head and Hurricane Hordak got an ugly non-functioning dial, ammiright?
And this is a big reason I really wanted to take a second stab at him with the 200X version. Thanks for taking the time to express all of your comments and feedback on the line. It is most appreciated!
4:42: “How do you think he’s a good guy with the snake on his chest…” Ask Tim Kilpin! “Welcome He-Man. I’m a warrior of Grayskull that bears powerful armour (hides snake staff). That’s better.” “Ok but why do you bear a snake symbol on your armour?” Also how did Mattel not realise Snake Mountain was the old former fortress of the Snake Men in 1985? Though it did appear in the original tv spot for the Snake Men as they came out from the depths in the storyline.
Scott plesse settle something: Khan is part of the Snake Men or is he Skeletor's Mole? Have read all the bios you wrote, and I put my Khan with King Hsss. But have seen so many displays where Khan is one of Skeleys!
In the original mini comics and UK comics he was a spy for Skeletor. In 200X he was fully loyal to King Hiss. So really you can pick or choose which you prefer.
In the Marvel Star Comics, Kobra Khan reluctantly joins King Hiss in hopes of getting away from Skeletor. Kobra Khan has olive drab/brown colors in that issue that would've made a nice repaint.
@13:07 is it just me but does it look like Draego-man is about to spoon with King Hiss? And he's whispering sweet nothings into his ear. There's some erotic fan fic for ya lol.
7:14-7:23 thats actually the problem that I have with the trend of twist villains in the 2010s. Especially with films like Incredibles 2 and Captain Marvel, and shows like the series finale of My Little Pony Freindship Is Magic. Why bother caring about the hero, if were not allowed to enjoy or get to know the villain? Bottom line; you wont let us enjoy the villain, we're not gonna care about him/her.
@@spectorcreative1872 I like that the dc run king hssss never had an original form he would be the original idea he will be a someone of power in disguise
Please Mr ToyGuru, keep doing your MOTUC videos, now they are part of my life!
You got it! Please do repost to anyone else you think might like
Haha yep. Any obscure facts or deep dive into the MOTUC line is so interesting!!
The Horde and Snake Men are my fav factions. When MOTUC did the create-a-character, I created a female snake character I called Queen Mamba. In her bio I wrote that she was once King Hiss's queen, he betrayed her, leading her to join the good guys during pre-ternia days. Some how she was half human lol, cause she had afro puffs/mini-snake braids. I also drew a character called "Constrictor" and "Sidewine-dor"; I never turned any of them in lol. Always thought that real snakes gave great source material for new snake men characters. Thanks for the vid!
Most welcome! And yes we did get quite a lot of Snake Characters. Also why I created Fang-or and Quick Flick to add to their ranks
I love the idea that they would have three factions of villains for MOTU, but I really loved the fact that they would be pushed into being the main villains of The Powers of Greystone series
I so wish the vintage line had not crashed and burned!
I was into heman early in the 80s and just this past Christmas started collecting again and have a good start and got a book to help remember classics was after i got out as a teenager so ur videos help me learn that line and new figures that came out after I quit Thank you
The Battle Armor 200X inspired Classics figure serves as my actual KH, while the vintage styled one is Prince Koyle, cloned from one of the snake heads Zodak cut from Hsss. He's kind of like a Starscream to Hsss's Megatron. The handy lower torso and extra reptile head that came with Serpentine Hsss really helped to transform the original style one into this character, and once again I give you guys kudos for adding the ability to customize them!
It is AWESOME when people make their own stories. That is what this brand is all about
I had no idea the Bruce Timm from these comics was the same Bruce Timm from Batman: The Animated Series. I'm glad you mentioned that. I never would have known...
And now you know!
Really love these behind the scenes videos Scott. Glad I found the channel.
Welcome aboard! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Picked him up off Amazon for $20 still a great figure thanks Scott!
Nice buy!
Fun video! Always interested on the BTS when it comes to the crafting of my childhood icons. Two things I distinctly remember about King Hiss. First, my mother buying him for me without realizing he was a bad guy. She was adamantly against witchcraft n' magic at the time, and wouldn't allow me to get any He-Man villains. I guess she didn't read the packaging very carefully; she just saw that he was a normal-ish looking dude and gave me the green light. I later surprised her with the reveal, and she was both irked and alarmed. But to her credit, she let me keep him. :)
The other memory I have is of my friend, who was two years older than me, reading me the comic. He actually kinda acted it out and drew me into the story. I recall asking for a repeat of his performance when He-Man, having pulled off King Hiss' fake arm during a handshake, staggers back and dazedly cries, "Must get away....but can't thiiiiiiinnnk". For some reason I found that to be both chilling and funny and had him read it several times.
Thanks for bringing back those memories!
So glad! Bringing back fun toy memories is exactly why I wanted to do this channel. Thanks for commenting, I am most grateful
King Hiss was a figure that I was too afraid to get when I was a kid because I was terrified of Snakes although I had Kobra Khan. I'm over my fear now btw.
Facing your action figure is the best way
These videos are very informative and I enjoy each one. Hope to see a Gorpo video I am really interested how that story played out. But thank you so much for this behind the scenes and history of MOTU.
So glad you are enjoying. Many more to come
I loved the original king Hiss as a kid. His human form was often shed and I believed that Hiss could still make it talk from a distance, so He-Man often found it stuck in quicksand calling for help. Then Hiss in snake form would jump out and attack He-Man from Behind. That was real easy to recreate with the classic version and I loved it.
Yeah he translated pretty easy from vintage to classics. Shoulders aside.
King Hsss is honestly such a terrifying villain to me. Thankyou so much for this vid
All snakes are scary huh? He eats people alive in the 200X show
Vintage King Hiss was the last MOTU figure I collected during my childhood and I simply loved it; I might say that it was my favourite figure in the entire line (don't judge me :)) I really liked the opening shell feature and I could play with it for hours. I didn't mind the spring loaded feature in the 200x version either, but, yes, the Classics figures are definitely some nice works of art, especially the second snake-torso 🐍
Glad it brought back some cool memories! That is what the Classics line was all about
I am officially addicted to your videos!! Great videos Scott!! Old Matty subber here since 2nd year
So grateful for your comment. Please do repost and share with anyone else you think might enjoy!
Will do Scott! I have already started sharing among my MOTU fans buddies!!
Love your channel , cheers from Tijuana Mexico Amigo
Thank you for the kind comment! I am most grateful. Please do share videos with friends online. It helps the channel a ton!
what a great informative channel.keep up the good work...thumbs up and subscribed
Thanks so much! So grateful for new subscribers and appreciate you watching.
I really liked the fact that You gave a swappable torso to the original King Hisss. When You could have Easily made a sperate snake From King Hisss from the start.
I Know Battle Armor King Hisss was a different story, but I was well please with how that was handled.
Glad that feature worked for you It was all intentional!
I’m pretty sure we got the free figure because Frosta came with her left and right forearms swapped over, which btw was incredibly easy to fix.
Getting collector level figures done at a mass toy company is not easy stuff.
I'm not sure if it was the mini comics or UK comic but it had always been established that Snake Mountain was originally the Snake Mens home. Tung Lashor and Rattlor both appeared in Filmation too working for both Skeletor and Hordak.
Yup. And that is why we gave them Horde armbands in the Classics line
Fun video! Thank you! Bloody UA-cam seems to be forgetting to put new videos from my subscriptions in my recommendations . . . .
Try "ringing the bell". I think that will help guarantee new videos pop up
@@spectorcreative1872 Yeah, I do that, and my wife has been having the same problem with her channel, too. Her viewers aren't getting notified, even after clicking the bell. But it's sporadic. Sometimes, they'll get notified, sometimes they won't.
I suppose I must make make a sacrifice to YuTuubahocoatl, or something . . . .
The Snake Men were on the filmation series. They just werent a complete faction together. They only had Rattlor and Tung Lashor. Tung Lashor had a Horde insignia on his chest and rattlor worked for Skeletor
Yup. And we tried to incorporate that into classic by giving Tung Lashor a Horde armband
Hey ToyGuru, do you know anything about the Food Fighters line and its development? I'd love to hear about it, there's like no documentation of Food Fighters' history (and barely even about subtle variants) like at all.
Not as much as I wish I did. I'll see what I can do
@13:30 I believe I got a buzz off. Still got it sealed in box somewhere. I was hoping it would have been an extra bow 😂.
On another note Congratulations Scott on 5k subscriptions it nice to see your channel growing healthy more and more. I still remember when the channel was working on trying to get 1k for that special video... here’s to getting to 10k and beyond!
Thanks so much for all your continued support from the beginning. Yup, 10K is the next goal! Lets make it happen by sharing these videos!!!!
I loved this guy as a kid.
What would be a good reveal for Hsss in a live movie?
His body cracking like an egg?
His skinn melting or fading like mist?
Or the more gory way, a man not knowing who he is and the snakes eat him from the inside in a really bloody way?
I’m thinking pulled apart by birds
@@spectorcreative1872 brutal
I love Snake-Men and your history got me wondering what other toy lines have snake characters? I know Battle Beasts had one and Dinoriders a few. But I assume there have been others as well?
Snake villains are a very common theme in movies and toys. Marvel has the serpent society for example
I do not remember getting an apology figure for Hssss. I am 99% sure that was sent out for Frosta.
I could be wrong. My memory isn't what is used to be
Thanks for the Hssssstory 🐍
Any time! More Snake Men goodnesssssss is coming soon. ;-P
In the 200X series, when they showed that silhouette of King Hsss devouring one of Whip-lash's race - to quote Bad Boys 2 that when you knew $h!t just got REAL! I think the Classics vintage version is a fine toy - but if I were collecting it'd be the Classics 200X version or nothing at all.
Yeah that was crazy. And Zodak's brother too
I like King hiss mostly how he looked in the comics
Me too
Something I've always wondered was there a connection between Goddess/Sorceress/Teela Na and the Snake men? Because she wears a Snake themed armor.
See here: ua-cam.com/video/5kderiJWJms/v-deo.html
I think, classics may be the definitive motu collection for decades to come.
A Good thing about classics, is its done and you can get them all now. a very bad thing about it youre gonna spend some cheese, kid and lots of it now. I'd love to go back and get all the characters i missed. If I ever give up transformers and or "gi joe classified" perhaps I shall. In the mean while I'm ok collecting new motu products as they come. Hey buying new stuff won't cause me to miss any mortgage payments. Chicks dig the man cave, or maybe just the room. they think once i settle down they'll take it over and clear out my stuff. Hahahahahha!!!!
My thoughts too
I hope we get him in origins, he would probably be a deluxe
It would take a lot of tooling...
Always felt the concept as a whole (snake men) came out of how G.I. joe had cobra and coil especially the cobra emperor serpentor.
Snake themes always make good bad guys.
@@spectorcreative1872 I agree
slithery bastards😂😂😂
This is great and extremely informative! King Hss and the snake men were my favorite. I couldn’t buy many MOTUC figures, but I got all of the snake men. I have a question for you. It’s not MOTUC, but you still worked on it. Was there ever any plans for mattel to make the Terror Dogs from Ghostbusters? Did it gain any traction or was it always off of the table. I was wondering about that and Gozer. I remember hearing Gozer didn’t sign off on the likeness rights, but I wouldn’t doubt it if I’m wrong. Thank you!
We tried to do the Terror dogs multiple times. Check out the Mattycollector 2016 video for more!
@@spectorcreative1872 thank you, I found the video. I’ve been watching the playlist for MOTUC. It’s really great that you spent the time to put all of these up. It’s very interesting to hear the ins and outs of everything. For awhile you mentioned potentially doing a video on Matty collectors demise, did you ever put this up? I couldn’t find it.
Motuc King Hiss gives off James Spader vibes lol
Ha!
Love it thank you! 👍🏻👍🏻
Glad to hear! Any shares on social media are most appreciated!
The whole concept of third factions in toy lines fascinate me and the fact that MOTU ended up with four factions in the original line shows how flexible the concept was (even if technically The Horde was stolen from She-Ra). I still don’t get how the ‘looks heroic’ idea from the vintage line was supposed to work - surely that sort of deception would only work on the Masters once, so it’s not like it’d be an ongoing part of the play pattern...
I have a video coming up about the origin of the Snake Men which dives into this a bit more!
Missed Rio Blast in the 2002 Snakemen season.
Yeah that would have been sweet
Hey Scott! Love the channel so much! You mentioned in this you did a video on toy copyright (Ninjor, Hsss etc.) but I can't find it! Do you remember the name by chance?
Here it is: ua-cam.com/video/hruWEGDAjs8/v-deo.html
@@spectorcreative1872 Thank you!
I had this one... (classic version, split torso)
It is quite the toy
As a kid my favorite faction was the snake men but in my play pattern skeletor ruled over the snake men and had king hiss as the leader of the snake men who answered directly to skeletor lol they fought the heroic warriors as well as the horde who had Mummra the ever living on their side which towered over all the masters figures so he was a dominant force haha
I only had Snake Face when I was a kid, but glad we got to all of them in Classics!
What would the army builder figure for King Hsss's soldiers be called? The Garder?
Snake Warriors. We made them in Classics.
Hordak, man at arm, are the few with body armor that looked right to me. Every other armor looked puffed up. King hiss definitely didn't need the body armor... just a slip on shoulder piece would have made him slimmer.
We definitely had puff up issues
@@spectorcreative1872 how did figures like khan, lashor, lizard man get slim unique body torso sculpt …. While hiss, snake face get the ugly puffy armour?
Was not Hordak being the third faction before Hsss? So he actually had been a fourth faction. And King Hsss taken from Toth Amon, like Skeletor is to Thulsa Doom from the Conan comics.
The Conan comparison does fall apart. Really they are only both "Barbarian themed" much as Star Wars is a Space Western.
@@spectorcreative1872 It does not at all regarding Skeletor/Thulsa Doom ua-cam.com/video/DZL5-YEKmjc/v-deo.html. and King Hsss/Toth Amon ua-cam.com/video/DZL5-YEKmjc/v-deo.html
James Earl Jones Character was named wrong in the Conan Movie. The Antagonist he impersonated actually was Thoth Amon.
Amazing figure! I never had a problem with the shoulders. Love him! Great video!!!! Cant wait for the next ones! How about the idea to do the same videos for each vintage figure, playsets and vehicles? 😊
Oh I'll get to them. I'm going in release order!
Awesome!
Glad you continue to enjoy!
@@spectorcreative1872 something we can all agree on and not argue about.....
@@spectorcreative1872 I respect and appreciate everything that goes into these videos!
@@spectorcreative1872 my goal is to ensure if for no one else, I can stress how much I enjoy and appreciate everything!
King hiss is the man.
Technically a reptile.
@@spectorcreative1872 ok he’s the reptile that pretends to be a man man.
Ah. King Hsss. One of my all time favorite fictional characters, and not just He-Man.
MOTUC King Hsss could have been one of the crown jewels in the line, instead he ended up being one of the absolute worse due to manufacturing errors and the 4H being tone deaf and intentionally ignoring the fans. Evidence the 4H need oversight and can't be blindly trusted; which became a consistent problem later on.
The reversed shoulders are a problem since they actually do cause some stress marks on the figure if you really work the shoulder articulation. That shouldn't happen but there were several figures in the MOTUC line that you could actually damage the paint and sculpt just but rotating the shoulders normally.
The plastic used on the crotch piece restricts the leg articulation due to the immovable material and the point of the thigh armor.
The torso not being a unique piece but instead an armor overlay gives him a puffy Stay Puft Marshmellow Man appearance. He can never actually put his arms down at his sides.
All this is frustrating since each individual complaint can be ignored but the cumulative effect of them all can't.
-------------
Lastly we have the actual snake torso itself. This is the main draw of the figure. Fans were vocal for over a year and half before the figure came out what they WANTED and EXPECTED. There were multiple threads on the various toy websites detailing what was acceptable and what wasn't.
We wanted a snake torso that was large enough to convey the monstrous nature of the figure and be a cool toy.
Either the Earl Norem poster or the 200x Snake torso.
What we got was something so bad, it was universally panned by everyone and forced even the most sycophantic reviewers to mention the fan backlash.
The 4H should honestly be ashamed of what they produced with this figure. They were braindead in their devotion to the vintage line - adding redundant dials for nonexistent action features, muppet Clawful, Snout Spout and Buzz-Off's terrible vintage sculpts - but on King Hsss' snake torso they couldn't even at the very least deliver on a copy of the vintage figure.
The idea behind King Hsss' snake form is a writhing mass of snakes - clearly inspired by hydras and Lovecraftian horror.
From a design perspective you double down on either the number of snakes (Earl Norem poster version) or you go with the 200x version which was much larger in size.
Instead the 4H gave us something that was less than the sum of the vintage figure (5 as opposed to 6 snakes).
Just a complete misunderstanding of the character and a total lack of caring what the fans wanted.
This really felt like a half-assed job by the 4H.
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King Hsss should have been a deluxe figure like Ram Man or Modulok in my opinion.
Thankfully the 200x King Hiss released later in the line correct a number of these issues and gave us the first actual competent King Hsss figure ever produced by Mattel.
At the end of the day it took Mattel 3 tries to get a King Hsss figure that should have been released on DAY 1 - Classic Vintage, Two Pack 200x King Hsss, Snake torso King Hsss patch job).
The sheer incompetence and lack of due diligence for the fans of King Hsss blows my mind.
But hey, Clawful got his muppet head and Hurricane Hordak got an ugly non-functioning dial, ammiright?
And this is a big reason I really wanted to take a second stab at him with the 200X version. Thanks for taking the time to express all of your comments and feedback on the line. It is most appreciated!
@@spectorcreative1872 I've had my Classics 200x King Hsss sitting on my computer desk ever since he was released.
4:42: “How do you think he’s a good guy with the snake on his chest…” Ask Tim Kilpin!
“Welcome He-Man. I’m a warrior of Grayskull that bears powerful armour (hides snake staff). That’s better.”
“Ok but why do you bear a snake symbol on your armour?”
Also how did Mattel not realise Snake Mountain was the old former fortress of the Snake Men in 1985? Though it did appear in the original tv spot for the Snake Men as they came out from the depths in the storyline.
Snake mountain was originally a jungle play set that was changed last minute to co inside with the filmation series
@@spectorcreative1872 yes I remember that. Still though it would’ve made sense by that point.
Scott plesse settle something: Khan is part of the Snake Men or is he Skeletor's Mole? Have read all the bios you wrote, and I put my Khan with King Hsss. But have seen so many displays where Khan is one of Skeleys!
In the original mini comics and UK comics he was a spy for Skeletor. In 200X he was fully loyal to King Hiss. So really you can pick or choose which you prefer.
Classics follows the 200X series where Kahn is a Snakemen decedent who joins the Snake Men when they are released from the Snake Pit by Evil Lynn.
@@spectorcreative1872 Thank you. With the Snake Men he will stand then.
In the Marvel Star Comics, Kobra Khan reluctantly joins King Hiss in hopes of getting away from Skeletor.
Kobra Khan has olive drab/brown colors in that issue that would've made a nice repaint.
@@scockery If there was only a trade paper back on those issues combined, darned marvel/star comics!!!
I wonder how he would compare to Serpentor from GI joe. I wonder if any relation. Great add to 200x animated series
No, sadly no relation
@@spectorcreative1872 it would have been something even though different show. The snake theme was popular
Writhing. “RYE-thing” 😉
This was probably my favorite toy as a kid. Loved all then incarnations!
Yeah I have a CT accent. It comes out in words like Drawer too.
Not sure who would be fooled by a snake insignia…
Get Tim Kilpin on the line!
I do have his number but I try to only call every so often
@13:07 is it just me but does it look like Draego-man is about to spoon with King Hiss? And he's whispering sweet nothings into his ear. There's some erotic fan fic for ya lol.
Hey I didn't draw it...
5:05 No way, Bruce Timm!
Yups
7:14-7:23 thats actually the problem that I have with the trend of twist villains in the 2010s. Especially with films like Incredibles 2 and Captain Marvel, and shows like the series finale of My Little Pony Freindship Is Magic.
Why bother caring about the hero, if were not allowed to enjoy or get to know the villain?
Bottom line; you wont let us enjoy the villain, we're not gonna care about him/her.
You said it very well. Darth Vader is a great example in the right direction.
I would love it if Bruce Timm and Paul Dini wrecked Kevin Smith's MOTU. Watch him cry about that. 😈🦹 SNAKE MOUNTAIN FOREVER!!!!
I don't know if fights work that way
"Roy Hsss"
Ha!
"writhing" [rhye - thing] ;)
I have a CT accent. It hit with certain words like Drawer
I’m curious why gi joe did the same with a new enemy been a guy that dress like a snake
Snakes represent a primordial fear in humans, part of the reptilian brain we have Hey, even Indy is afraid of snakes!
@@spectorcreative1872 I like that the dc run king hssss never had an original form he would be the original idea he will be a someone of power in disguise
*slithering effect haha
could be worse...
..slithering
Did I mispronounce thaT?
This figure was a huuugee disappointment
Sorry to hear that.