The 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated series really focused on the evil SnakeMen factions on Eternia. They were a favorite among fans of the vintage cartoon and toys, but they were criminally underused. The 2002 series really fleshed out their mythology and even titled the entire second season "Masters of the Universe vs The SnakeMen." The later waves of action figures featured lots of repainted figures, with snake-themed accessories, and green SnakeMen packaging. But this ToyFare Exclusive Snake Teela figure is special. She is the only repainted figure with reptilian skin as seen in the episode Second Skin. In the episode, King Hssss found the ancient Serpent Ring artifact that could transform anyone into SnakeMen. Only a handful of heroes were changed: Man-at-Arms, Mekaneck, King Carnivus, and Teela. But only Teela's transformation got the toy treatment. The great thing about this is the big nod to Teela's association to the vintage Snake Goddess character. Let's check her out!
Snake Teela comes with a Snake Staff, a Shield, and a Sword. The color of these accessories originally threw me off. The green does not match any of her body armor or even the tone of her skin. But when she's all geared-up it somehow works.
The Green Goddess character got a second life in the 2013 He-Man comic series from DC.
In the original vintage minicomics, the Sorceress character was a green-skinned snake-themed woman known as the Goddess. When the toy line was being planned, Mattel decided to give us two characters in one and have Teela and Goddess share the same figure (with removable snake armor being the differentiating feature). But with the Goddess replaced by the falcon-themed Sorceress in the cartoon, the origin of Teela's mysterious snake armor was lost. Ever since, the armor was just assumed to belong to Teela. That's one of the reason this exclusive Teela repaint is such a great easter egg for fans.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here is Snake Teela with her regular version.
Cheers!
A very cool version of Teela. Glad they made it.
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