Thanks to their omnipresence in TV, movies, cartoons, museums, and schools, it makes sense that Fisher-Price would sell Mummy Guards. The public domain is jam-packed with monsters, ghouls, and religious figures that can be turned into kid-friendly toys without a licensing program. In this set, Fisher-Price mixes and matches a couple of figure sculpts to give you two unique mummy figures and a very Masters of the Universe King Hiss-looking snake guard.
The figures are notable in how much they're similar to and different from other releases. The two mummies in this set are mostly new parts, with each having uniquely painted facial details and different leg molds. The one with snake legs shares that leg mold with the Snake Guard in this very set - allowing Fisher-Price to mix and match parts to give you something different, even though you might not notice.
The 3-inch mummy figures are quite similar to one another, and completely different from the Series 1 Mystery Figures Mummy [FOTD #830] for some reason. Why not just reuse the parts? I have no idea. These new mummies have different colors of green from one to the next - neither glows in the dark, I checked - and different legs. The torso, arms, and other parts are all the same except minor deco changes. They can stand and sit, and stare at you slack-jawed. It's what you want from your undead preserved Egyptian minions. Neither have specific accessories, but the heads turn and the wrists move and all that good stuff. Not content to have tattered rags alone, you can see rotting pock marks in their backs and patches of hair left from decay on their heads. I'm quite surprised the mouths and eyes are painted differently, with unique tooth configurations on each. These are pretty cool, to say the least.
I bought this for fake King Hiss. His head and hands would later be reused for Series 11 Triple Threat Snake [FOTD #2,024], which would use Goldar's legs and unknown-to-me-now arms. The original 2016 release would have better paint with extra eye deco giving it a little more life, although the snake head hands would be left with their eyes sadly unpainted. Detailing is clearly inspired from Mattel's old King Hiss toy, with green costuming, red shorts, a silver plate around the neck with a green symbol - now an Imaginext "i" rather than snakes - this would be the perfect toy to menace an Imaginext He-Man, were one to exist. For whatever reason Fisher-Price and Mattel kept the MOTU references sly rather than overt, with figures vaguely resembling Skeletor and Whiplash along with vehicles and playsets nodding to Castle Grayskull, the Roton, Spydor, and other vintage toys. I'd love to see them take the subtext up to the text level, but for now this is a pretty good figure for the price and I like my monster toys quite a bit. I don't care for the accessory, but I bought it for the snake man. I'm a sucker for animal figures.
I skipped the rest of this segment, but that could change as a big playset clearly inspired by Snake Mountain is on clearance around town. The 3-pack is simple and fun, price right, and arguably worth its retail asking price from 2016. It costs more now - and if you got another mummy or the not-quite-Battle-Beasts figure, you don't necessarily need this one too. I like it, though, so I'm happy with it. I hope we get more things like this!
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