It Came from the Toy Chest: The Anime Hyperdetail has been doubled!

Dammit! Looks like I'll have to praise Ruben Martinez**... IIRC he did design one of the figures in this two pack. Yes, I'm talking about Snake Armor He-Man vs 200X King Hsssss!
This, for me is a HUGE Victory. To be Honest, I expected the Vintage Hairdo on this figure. Instead I FINALLY GOT THE 200X Head I've been clamoring for ever since I got Reissue He-Man all the way back in November 2009.  (Way back before I seriously considered reviewing toys)

So, who are Snake Armor He-Man and 200X King Hssss?
200X Hsss is the easiest to define. That's the redesign used on the 200X series and toyline for King Hssss. Instead of looking like a Penis Helmeted Hamburglar, he looks more Egyptian Pharaoh Snake dude.

Now, Snake Armor He-Man was the "main look" for He-Man during the second half of the 200X Show when it focused on the Snakemen. The Armor has a more Gladiator-inspired look (Probably because 2 years before there was a popular movie about Gladiators... Not the American kind. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was also released in 2000 and it heavily inspired the first season...

So, this more armored look seemingly to appease some parents groups that disapproved of He-Man's little amount of clothing...(Probably because they were afraid of the stupid notion that a scantily clad strong man would infect children with "teh gays" or some BS Excuse...)  So we got this new cool look... Also VARIANTS OF THE MAIN GUY MAKE MONEY mentality was what screwed us in 200X...


Now we have ALL Main Eras of He-Man represented... (well, we will next month with Mini comic He-Man in Oo-Larr)

Let's get down to business.

I'm starting with He-Man because, He-Man:
Before I get into the review part itself, I'm going to rant... more.
The Armors: Snake Armor He-Man has NON-REMOVABLE ARMOR, but KING HSSSS DOES!?
What the HELL!?
The excuse is most likely because SA He-Man has a partially painted body.
So, freaking what, so does Strongarm (Strong-Or) Fisto, King He-Man, Sir Laser Lot, etc.
The Non-Removable Armor killed my chance at making  More SA variants:
-Lightning Claw He-Man (Basically the TP Harness and shield on SA Buck.
-Space Snake Armor He-Man (NA full Armor and Helmet head)
-SnakeBattle Armor He-Man (BA Armor)
-Viper Strike He-Man (SA buck with FF Armor)
-NA Snake Armor
-Preternia disguise SA He-Man

Right out of the bat, Mattel killed the dream I dreamed.


Articulation:
Standard MOTUC Articulation, minus the boot cut. The new Snake Hunter boots lack boot cut. While the pauldron doesn't hinder the articulation TOO MUCH, it can be a bit bothersome.
3.5

Paint and Sculpt:
The new head's sculpt is based on the toy with the male version of the Farrah Fawcett hairdo. It's no 200X Mullet (as seen on the toon) but it looks different than the Prince Valiant do that Filmation and MOTUC He-Man have.

The body reuses some King Hsss parts on the right side and some new parts to faithfully recreate the Snake Armor look while staying close to the MOTUC aesthetic. (200X haters will cry Anime Hyperdetail and other BS)5.0

Accessories:
Removable Snake pincer, 200X sword... The end. Mentioning a Shield on the bio and NOT GIVING HIM SAID SHIELD is stupid! 2.0


Now unto King Hsssss, whose body is compatible with the Previous King Hsss Disappointing Snake body.

Articulation:
Standard Articulation for the king of the Snakemen He loses the boot cut as well.
4.0
Paint and Sculpt:
I'm surprised that he got new feet. I half expected the Demo-Feet returning. Love the attention to detail on the greaves and belt. The reuse of Draego-Man's forearms was smart. Even the angular head looks good. It makes him look Humanoid, but at the same time that something about him is off. The plastic-like properties of his light minty green flesh help create a somewhat undead appearance on King Hssss.
There is very little slop on mine.
5.0 
Accessories:
Snake staff in a more 200X Colors and Snake shield... No Snake Form. We were warned about this for a while, but it still sucks ass!
3.0*

Overall score:

Before I rate the complete package here's the score for Snake Armor He-Man. 3.5 is what he got. Why? I blame the lack of accessories, the inability to remove the armor and the slightly hindered articulation.
The positive side is that head. I popped it off the Snake Buck as you can see on a previous pic and swapped the Prince Adam angry head from my Custom 200X He-Man and now he is complete! (the snake armor buck went to sleep on the box where variants wait their turn to be displayed.)

For King Hssss the final score is 4.0*, which is good!
He quickly replaced my slightly 200X-ized Vintage Hssss on my shelf.

Now this gives the 2 Pack an overall score of 3.75*
This is a decent score for a surprise two-pack from the "second most hated era in MOTU that had a cartoon and toyline."

notes:
*= Scores may change WHEN we get the Snake Body for King Hssss.
**=The Character design of Snake Armor He-Man (not the engineering of the MOTUC Figure) is attributed to Ruben Martinez back when he worked on the 200X toyline. based on some of the extra features from the 200X series DVDs.  IIRC most of the character designs for the snakemen  season had little to no input from the FourHorsemen)