Snake Men

Tung Lashor: Evil tongue-shooting SNAKE MEN creature (1986)

I don’t remember seeing Tung Lashor in stores as a kid, so my first memory is really from reading about him in the minicomic that came packed with Rattlor. One of the first things of course that strikes you about Tung Lashor is that, despite being a member of the Snake Men, he looks much more like a frog than a snake.

Design & Development

As for the snake Men, Rattlor and Tung Lashor were designed ahead of King Hiss (and included as Horde Villains based on their earliest designs). By the time King Hiss was completed and the Snake Men as a faction had been created, She-Ra was already in full swing.

James Eatock

The earliest known design for Tung Lashor doesn’t look like a frog creature, but it doesn’t look particularly snake-like either. This concept by Ted Mayer seems to be a demon or an imp in an acrobat costume:

Image source: The Art of He-Man/The Power and the Honor Foundation. Dated July 12, 1984.

There may or may not be some relationship with the Ted Mayer Jester design below. The costume and pose are quite similar, but otherwise the relationship between the two is unclear:

Image source: Tomart’s Action Figure Digest, courtesy of Jukka Issakainen

Ted Mayer’s early design was used to create the design for the animated version of Tung Lashor, and there may have been an intermediate Mattel design along the way that was used for the Filmation model sheet below. Compared to Ted’s original design, this character lost his pointed ears and has arms and legs reminiscent of Skeletor (or at least his action figure). The color scheme roughly follows Ted’s drawing.

Image source: He-Man and She-Ra – A Complete Guide to the Animated Adventures

Update: MOTU Joe has discovered a trove of artwork by Mattel designer John Hollis. Among the documents he found are two pieces of concept art depicting a much closer to final version of Tung Lashor. According to Joe, the updated Tung Lashor design below was designed by Martin Arriola and Pat Dunn, with colors by John Hollis. The artwork dates to February 28, 1985. He is called “Tongue Lasher” here, without the “MOTU-isms” that were eventually applied to his name.

Some final presentation artwork was drawn by John Hollis below, and is dated to March 14, 1985:

Hollis did some work developing accessories for Tung Lashor. The accessories include the dragonfly bow as well as a clip of arrows for it he would wear as a belt – the latter didn’t make the cut in the end. The purple Snake Men staff does not appear to be included in his original accessories.

You can see Tung Lashor’s belt of arrows in this illustration of him by John Hollis

He appears in this Powers of Grayskull illustration. Unfortunately there is no date showing, but this version is a bit different from the final one. He has a light brown dragonfly pattern on his back, differently shaped feet, and he holds a short, straight snake staff.

Image Source: The Power and the Honor Foundation/Dark Horse

The final version of the design is slightly different from the Martin Arriola concept art in a couple of ways. Rather than a red tongue, he has a green and yellow tongue. His chest was made orange instead of yellow, and had the Snake Men emblem was added on top. His legs lost the yellow color on the inner thighs. The final design looks quite a lot like a poison dart frog, but with sharp fangs. He has frog like-fingers, covered in black rubber gloves. His feet look like smoother, simplified versions of the type of the feet used for Buzz-Off and Whiplash.

Tung Lashor cross sell artwork

Production Figure

Tung Lashor came with two accessories – a purple repaint of King Hiss’ staff, and a dragonfly crossbow weapon. He reuses He-Man’s trunks, but all of his other parts are newly-sculpted. His thin plastic tongue (which was painted in a rather venomous looking, two-tone green and yellow color) could be made to flick in and out by turning a dial on the figure’s back.

The first release of the figure has a dark purple design painted on its back, while subsequent releases omit the paint on the back. This was a fairly common practice in the MOTU line. Some examples: The first release Skeletor had purple trunks with a painted black belt, while later versions had a plain black belt. The first release Mer-Man had orange trunks and a green belt, while later versions had an unpainted belt.

Tung Lashor in the 1986 JCPenney Catalog. Image courtesy of RM Hart.
Tung Lashor in the 1986 JCPenney Catalog. Image courtesy of RM Hart.
Tung Lashor in the 1986 Mattel Dealer Catalog. Image source: Orange Slime.
Tung Lashor advertising line art for retailers.

Packaging

Tung Lashor was not included in any gift sets or multi-packs. The artwork on the back of his card was, in my opinion, likely illustrated by Dave Stevens, who also worked on the packaging for Moss Man and Stinkor.

Tung Lashor in Action

A photo and a short video of Tung Lashor in action, contributed by Øyvind Meisfjord:

Artwork

Tung Lashor appears in the Eternia poster and packaging art, both painted by William George:

A poster by Earl Norem included with issue 7 of Masters of the Universe Magazine features all of the snake men (including Kobra Khan, who had been retconned into that faction starting in 1986) that existed up to that point:

Tung Lashor was illustrated in several dynamic poses by frequent Mattel contributing artist Errol McCarthy. McCarthy’s art makes the character look a bit more snake-like, and may represent an earlier stage in Tung Lashor’s design evolution.

Characterization

The above illustration is from the 1987 Mattel Style Guide (which depicts the character with three-toed feet, similar to Ted Mayer’s concept), which provides Tung Lashor’s bio and characteristics:

Role: Evil Snake Men creature with the “venomous” tongue

Power: Quick-licking tongue shoots out to reach enemies in battle, inflicting a dose of vile venom.

Character Profile: This unusually mean creature possesses a truly terrible tongue. Tung Lashor is loyal to King Hiss, although he does answer to Skeletor at Times. He is an extremely brutal creature, more openly vicious than Rattlor. He cowers before King Hiss, however, like all the others. He likes to lash his tongue at just about anything, even his comrades to shake them up once in a while.

Note: Like Rattlor, Tung Lashor is a member of The Evil Horde in the Filmation shows. However, he has now become a member of the Snake Men.

There was also a fact file on Tung Lashor in the 1989 UK MOTU Annual:

Comics & Stories

In the Snake Attack minicomic, Tung Lashor takes the active speaking role in his partnership with Rattlor, although his impulsiveness gets him into trouble. Tung Lashor’s tongue in this instance isn’t exactly poisonous – it rather has the ability to paralyze his victims and cover them with some kind of hard coating.

When Rattlor and Tung Lashor are introduced in King of the Snake Men, it’s mentioned that they had been serving Hordak before King Hiss summoned them. This is a reference to their appearances on the She-Ra cartoon series (they came out too late to appear in the original He-Man series, which ended in 1985). King Hiss does not appear in the series, so the snake men are made to serve Hordak.

Tung Lashor appears in issue 7 of the US Masters of the Universe Magazine in “The Armies of King Hiss”:

Both Rattlor and Tung Lashor are wildly off model in the 1987 UK MOTU Magazine story, “Attack of the Snakemen.” Tung Lashor especially looks unrecognizable and bizarre (I first learned about this issue from James Eatock’s excellent He-Man and She-Ra Blog).

In the 1986 Kid Stuff story book/record, Battle Under Snake Mountain, Tung Lashor makes another appearance, again with the three-toed feet design.

Animation

Tung Lashor is inconsistently called Tung and Tung Lash in the Filmation She-Ra series, probably a reflection of early working names for the figure. He has a high voice and a rather adolescent-like personality, and is usually subordinate to Rattlor.

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Super7

My Super7 MOTU Wish List, Part 1


Now that we are starting to see some close to final production samples for the unproduced Eldor and He-Ro figures being sold by Super7 (under license from Mattel), I’d love to share some thoughts I have about some possibilities for more figures like these in the future.

For those not aware, Eldor and He-Ro were planned for release in 1987 as part of the Powers of Grayskull line, a not-quite spinoff of the original MOTU line that included characters from Eternia’s ancient past, such as Tyrantisaurus Rex, Bionatops, Tytus and Megator. A fair number of these POG toys were released in 1987 and 1988, but the two main protagonists, while featured in packaging art and in Mattel’s 1987 catalog, were never released as planned.

Super7’s 5.75″ scale line-up of Masters of the Universe figures has, so far, mostly focused on Filmation style variants. As a fan of the Filmation He-Man and She-Ra cartoons myself, I’m happy that they’re offering these variants. At the same time, I’d love to see Super7 really take off and expand on recreating more lost concepts and prototypes from Masters of the Universe History.

Early Concepts & Prototypes

In my mind, some of the most amazing prototypes and concepts were those created during the early development of the Masters of the Universe line. I would love to see recreations of these figures. Many of them appeared in this way in the early minicomics, so these prototypes would really be killing two birds with one stone.

Skeletor

This early Skeletor is quite different in many ways from the vintage toy, and doubles as a minicomic variant as well. I would suggest making his head removable, and including an Alcala-style alternative head.

Image source: He-Man.org. Designed by Mark Taylor.

He-Man

There are really two prototypes that should be recreated – the early helmeted version and the later one (with blonde hair) that served as a model for the early minicomics. For the first prototype below, my gut suspicion (and I could be wrong) was that they might have been considering outfitting the figure with cloth boots, hence the bare feet. I would also guess that he would have had some version of the iconic harness. That could be wrong, but they would make great accessories.

Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation Catalog. Designed by Mark Taylor.
Image source: Andy Youssi. Designed by Mark Taylor.

Beast Man & Mer-Man

These early prototypes were part of the “Lords of Power” slide show presentation, shared by Andy Youssi. (Lords of Power was an early working name for the line, later replaced with Masters of the Universe.) Mer-Man neatly doubles as a mini-comic style variant. This version of Beast Man was very rarely portrayed in published media, but is nevertheless a fascinating figure.

Teela/Sorceress

There are several Teela/Sorceress concepts that could be produced, and all of them showed up in various early comic stories.

Image source: Super7/The Power and the Honor Foundation. Designed by Mark Taylor.
Image source: Super7/The Power and the Honor Foundation, scan by Axel Giménez. Designed by Mark Taylor.
Designed by Mark Taylor.

Man-At-Arms

This is another prototype design that could double as a minicomic style figure.

Image source: Andy Youssi. Designed by Mark Taylor.

Stratos

This is another early concept that neatly doubles as a minicomic variant:

Image source: Rebecca Salari Taylor. Designed by Mark Taylor.

Castle Grayskull

This wish probably isn’t terribly realistic, but I’d love to see a replica of Mark Taylor’s original Castle Grayskull prototype:

Image source: Andy Youssi. Designed by Mark Taylor.

Battle Ram

The prototype Battle Ram was more detailed than the mass-produced toy, and this design shows up in both box art and comic depictions of the vehicle:

Image Source: Ted Mayer Designed by Ted Mayer.
Another potential vehicle design: the Battle Catapult, by Mark Taylor. Image Source: Power of Grayskull documentary.

Wind Raider

This early Wind Raider is depicted in cross sell art, comic book and storybook illustrations of the vehicle. A nice bonus could be a removable figure head that could cover both early prototypes:

Image source: Ted Mayer. Designed by Ted Mayer.

Battle Chariot

Battle Chariot was a slick concept by Ted Mayer that appeared in the very first He-Man minicomic, never to be seen again.

Ted Mayer: “There were many concepts that I did for this. Here’s one that did not make the cut.”
An earlier “Battle Chariot” design by Mark Taylor. Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation.

Ram Man

This version of Ram Man, while fairly rough-looking, influenced cardback and comic book depictions of the character for years. A cleaned up version of this would make a great figure. Possibly a removable head could be included to transform it into Mark Taylor’s earlier “Jumpin Jack Flash” concept:

Image source: Jukka Issakainen. Designed by Mark Taylor.
Image source: Rebecca Salari Taylor. Designed by Mark Taylor.

Tri-Klops

This prototype isn’t so different from the actual vintage figure, but there are some unique differences in the head, armor and sword. This is also how he was depicted in cross sell artwork.

Image source: Jukka Issakainen. Designed by Roger Sweet.

Man-E-Faces

This prototype Man-E-Faces design can double as a minicomic/cardback variant as well.

Image source: Jukka Issakainen. Designed by Mark Taylor.

Other Prototypes & Concepts

There were plenty of unrealized prototypes and concepts done for the Masters of the Universe line (the same is true for just about any toyline). Here are a few of my favorites:

Brainiac

A creepy crustacean brain creature by Ted Mayer that was never produced:

Image source: Ted Mayer. Designed by Ted Mayer.

Unnamed Skeletor Variant

A wicked looking Skeletor variant figure by Ted Mayer:

Image source: Tomart’s Action Figure Digest. Designed by Ted Mayer.

Demo Man

Although this character was likely not even intended for the He-Man line, it appeared in the Masters of the Universe Classics line and has a great, classic sword and sorcery design:

Image source: The Art of He-Man. Designed by Mark Taylor.

Gygor

This was Roger Sweet’s take on repurposing Mattel’s old Big Jim gorilla figure for the He-Man line. It was never released (outside of the modern Masters of the Universe Classics line).

Designed by Roger Sweet.

Jungle Playset

An early jungle playset later repurposed into Snake Mountain.

Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation

Kobra Khan

This early Kobra Khan concept by Roger Sweet would make for a fun action figure.

Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation. Designed by Roger Sweet.

He-Man and Skeletor Variants

These unnamed He-Man and Skeletor variants by Ted Mayer had spring-loaded pop-out chest weapons, similar to Rio Blast’s action feature.

Image source: Art of He-Man/P&H Foundation. Designed by Ted Mayer.

Horde Mammoth

This is another Ted Mayer design. It’s probably not really a mammoth but it’s become known as such to fans over the years.

Image source: Tomart’s Action Figure Digest

Gyrattacker

The Gyrattacker made it into the 1987 Mattel catalog, but was never produced. The original molds were sold in an eBay auction several years back, so it’s theoretically possible to reproduce this vehicle, assuming Super7 could find the owner. The command module would be launched forward, but it could also launch Rotar or Twistoid.

Turbosaurus/Gigantisaur

Gigantisaur was the only dinosaur shown in the 1987 Mattel catalog that was not produced. Due to demands that it be capable of swallowing a figure whole, it was impractically large. My suggestion would be to instead create an earlier incarnation of the toy, called Turbosaurus, which as a more interesting external design with a more realistic size.

Turbosaurus, by Ed Watts. This would eventually evolve into Gigantisaur. Image source: The Art of He-Man/The Power and the Honor Foundation. July 13, 1984
Turbosaurus revision by David Wolfram. Image courtesy of DW. November 27, 1985
Turbosaurus revision by David Wolfram. December 16, 1985.
Turbosaurus revision by David Wolfram. December 18, 1985.
Gigantisaur Final Concept
Catalogs

JCPenney Catalogs, 1982-1986

He-Man.org poster R.M. Hart has graciously shared some high resolution scans of JCPenney catalogs from 1982 to 1986. Where there is a high resolution scan available, I’ve offered a link so that readers call see these images up close.

1982 JCPenney Christmas Catalog

This page has few rarer images, including the striped tail version of Battle Cat (an early version produced in very low numbers), a hand painted version of Teela with white boot tops and bracers, and an early Castle Grayskull with much finer paint work, also produced in very limited numbers. More discussion on this topic is available here.

There are also some interesting toy descriptions included as well. For instance, Castle Grayskull is described as a “sinister stronghold.” Teela is the “patroness of warriors”. Stratos is a “winged sky baron” and Beast Man is his henchman! Skeletor is the “master death-dealer” and Mer-Man is a “cunning sea lord.” The Wind Raider is described for “air or sea”, which is as it was intended originally, although it was almost always described as an air vehicle after it was released. (Thanks to Jukka Issakainen for pointing some of this out.)

1983 JCPenney Catalog

The tent and sleeping back in this collection feature artwork by Errol McCarthy.

1983 JCPenney Catalog

1983 JCPenney Catalog

1983 JCPenney Catalog

Point Dread and Attak Trak appear to be hand painted. Trap Jaw is missing his chest armor and his attachments.

1983 JCPenney Catalog

This page contains some text describing the images on the previous page. Items 7-9 are describing two-pack giftsets. Interestingly I have never seen an example of a Ram Man/Skeletor giftset or a He-Man/Trap Jaw giftset. Either these existed and just haven’t turned up yet, or the sets were planned but not released, or the catalog copy writers were simply mistaken.

1983 JCPenney Catalog

This page features the Genadier lead model set. The models come unpainted, but in the picture Ram Man features his concept colors, as does Panthor. The Monogram Attak Trak and Talon Fighter kits are also shown.

1984 JCPenney Catalog

He-Man is pictured here along with the Trundaxx Battle Transporter, which looks like a cousin to the Attak Trak, but was not a part of the Masters of the Universe line.

1984 JCPenney Catalog

This page features the JCPenney two-packs, which came packaged in brown boxes with simple line art representing the included characters. Webstor in this image features his blue rifle, a rare accessory included in only the first run of the figure.

1984 JCPenney Catalog

This page contains a selection of new for 1984 toys (Snake Mountain, Whiplash, Battle Armor He-Man and Skeletor, Roton, Stridor, Prince Adam, Buzz-Off, and Dragon Walker) as well as some older favorites.

1985 JCPenney Catalog

Masters of the Universe rain slicker and long-sleeve shirt, perfect for fall weather.

1985 JCPenney Catalog

1985 JCPenney Catalog

1985 JCPenney Catalog

Two different Masters of the Universe toy chests are presented, along with the Battle Cat Spring Ride. A MOTU table and chairs set is also included, something I’ve never seen posted anywhere online before.

1985 JCPenney Catalog

This page again features a number of MOTU JCPenney exclusive two-packs. Webstor again includes his rare blue blaster. Some interesting product descriptions are here as well.  Dragon Blaster Skeletor is “wrapped in treacherous magical metal chains.” Snake Mountain apparently includes a “scalping ladder” (a typo – it’s supposed to be scaling ladder).

1985 JCPenney Catalog

Featuring some of the new for 1985 vehicles, including Night Stalker, Land Shark, Spydor and Bashasaurus.

1985 JCPenney Catalog

This page features the rare, first release “black belt” version of Leech. This page also features the Infaceables, a rather bizarre, short lived action figure line with characters that could change their faces in an unusual way.

1985 JCPenney Catalog

This pages features the Road Ripper Mighty Cycle, which has a handlebar section sculpted and decorated to resemble the Road Ripper vehicle.

1985 JCPenney Catalog

This page features a Kidstuff MOTU story book with cassette or record, as well as a couple of Golden stories with cassette or record.

1986 JCPenney Catalog

1986 JCPenney Catalog

This page features a large selection of new for 1986 toys, most notably Eternia, Monstroid, Mantisaur, Blasterhawk, Fright Fighter, Laserbolt, the Snake Men, the Slime pit, and others.

1986 JCPenney Catalog

Descriptions for the toys shown on the previous page, as well as a closer look at some of the new 1986 figures. Thunder Punch He-Man, Dragon Blasters Skeletor, Flying Fists He-Man, Terror Claws Skeletor and Hurricane Hordak are considered “deluxe” figures and cost a dollar more than other MOTU figures.

1986 JCPenney Catalog

Featuring the amazing Masters of the Universe Pop-Up Alarm Clock, as well as He-Man and She-Ra watches.

Games

MOTU Pop-Up Game (1982)

Masters of the Universe Pop-Up Game is the first board game released during the original run of the He-Man series of toys. The game was advertised in the early minicomics included with the first run of figures:

Western Publishing produced quite a few Masters of the Universe-related items, including coloring and sticker books, as well as the Golden Book series of He-Man stories. The ad describes the Pop-Up Game this way:

Based on the Mattel jungle man. Pop-up sections are two volcanoes and the graphics of He-Man and other characters. Object of play is to cross the treacherous terrain of jungle, climbing the volcanoes which open, causing a man to fall through.

In terms of game play, the MOTU Pop-Up Game is a pretty basic “roll and move” type board game, not too dissimilar to Sorry! or Candyland. A flick of the spinner tells each player how many spaces to move forward. Certain spaces have instructions, like “Go Back 1,” or “Move Beastman 1.” Beast Man and Skeletor function as the “Volcano Keepers.” Their likenesses can spin around the volcano, revealing pits that players can fall into. Falling into a pit is more dramatic than consequential – you’ll only have to move back a few places on the board if it happens to you. The first to reach Castle Grayskull wins the game.

Rules:

The most interesting thing about the MOTU Pop-Up Game isn’t so much the game-play as it is the artwork. The artwork is very closely based on early MOTU prototypes, specifically a set of prototypes shared last year by Andy Youssi. I wrote about that extensively here.

Lots of early MOTU artwork is based on early concepts and prototypes. However this particular game is based specifically on the “Lords of Power” collection (an early working name for the line that was later abandoned). That is evident by some of the specific details in the drawings:

Skeletor:

Skeletor is based on the above prototype. There is another photograph of a version of this prototype, but only this version has the yellow detail on the chest, which is also represented in the game.

Beast Man:

The Beast Man illustration is very explicitly taken from the above prototype design (sculpted by Tony Guerrero). The prototype is somewhat less detailed than the concept art by Mark Taylor, so we can determine that the reference here was in fact the sculpture. It has quite a different costume and overall look compared to the mass-produced toy.

He-Man:

He-Man again seems to be derived from the above prototype (most evident in the boot tops), although it is somewhat more detailed in the coloration of the boots.

Incidentally, the bird here might possibly represent an early Zoar concept. More on that here.

Castle Grayskull:

Castle Grayskull again seems to be derived directly from the above prototype, complete with green over gray/blue color scheme.