Snake Mountain - Vintage Masters of the Universe Toy Review! 

This toy is still talked about in my family to this day. My brother, sister and I woke up around 3am Christmas morning to find Snake Mountain already assembled and sitting there next to the tree. I quickly figure out the mic, battery already installed, and blare out "MOM AND DAD GET UP! SANTA CAME!" Considering we had gotten home from my grandparents close to midnight, my parents had probably been asleep for 1 or 2 hours tops and were not pleased. Serves them right for giving their kids who or who were super eager to open presents access to a microphone. After that we were strictly forbidden from waking our parents up before 6am on Christmas morning.

My friend has literally ALL the Masters of The Universe toys made! He got 'em from his dad, but he just keeps them shoved in his closet!

The biggest issue with Snake Mountain IMO is the fact it perfectly captures the creepy feeling you'd expect from Skeletor's lair yet it's out of scale size and the fact they left out Skeletor's throne lets it down.

I still think it’s awesome! 💜

I completely agree with your point of view on this play set. With all it's let downs, it is still worth owning. I have been meaning to add one to my collection for sometime now.

All I can think of is that _Robot Chicken_ sketch where Skeletor rents out parts of his lair to college students. 😂

I was a huge He-man kid, never had Snake Mountain or Castle Greyskull. I did get the Fright Zone, and Slime Pit and loved the hell out of them. One of the vehicles I had was the Blasterhawk which I never see reviewed on YT.

The Masters Of The Universe line was a huge seller. Yet , Mattel released a recast and repaint playset that was designed for 3.75 scale figures instead of a proper playset.

Great review. And thanks for the mention!

My brother had this and we played with it all the time. It never once occurred to us that the bridge was too narrow or the gated door went no where. Kids use their imagination unlike adults who are analytical. The front of this is so much more detailed and awesome than the Castle Grayskull playset. The mic was definitely the coolest feature!

I remember as a kid in Australia, I got Castle Grayskull first, around 85 and Snake Mountain a year or two later. I for some reason don't ever remember having them both at the same time or interacting with them both together. I do have only one photo of me playing with Castle Grayskull, but no photo of playing with Snake Mountain. I have since bought both in loose box since. Grayskull 10 years ago from the US when it was still affordable, and Snake Mountain 6 years ago, decent box, and with the "Spirit" logo. It seems like in my childhood, the only one that I ever saw at carnivals and never owned "Fright Zone" has always been out of my reach for one reason or another. Almost got it unopened from Italy 5 years ago for 130 Euro, but was out of work then and never got it and lost a bidding war for 10 Euro the other guy spent. Some day I will have all three side by side.

I received Snake Mountain as a child. I’m very attached to it and love it but, yeah, it’s far from being on the level of Castle Grayskull.

I got both play sets as a child and I must admit that Snake Mountain never got my attention as I grew tired quickly of the mic gimmick. There wasn’t too much to it after that.

This Snake Mountain may not be a faithful representation of the animated tv series but it represents a part of my childhood.

I always wondered why Snake Mountain on Filmation"s cartoon is different from the playset. Now I know!

I didn't have any of the MOTU playsets. Had to make my own Castle Grayskull or Snake Mountain before I'd start playing. Despite its faults I'd put Snake Mountain above the Fright Zone.

Way back when, I was lucky enough to have nearly all the major MOTU playsets, with the exception of Eternia (the minor ones I only got The Slime Pit). The Snake Mountain playset most certainly is a flawed piece, nevertheless I still managed to have fun with it back in the day.

Snake Mountain probably would have been cool if it had a working dungeon like the Terrordrome or even a few gun turrets would have helped; granted if the scale allowed for such fun.

2:59 Give that kid an A' for effort lol.

The chains and railings on the bridge all snapped off of mine too. I enjoyed the playset but always felt disappointed that it didn't look as cool as in the cartoon and everything felt too small on the outside of the playset and empty on the inside. The Super7 classics version coming out this year looks amazing though.

I'm 40 years old, but I remember Christmas morning when I was 4 years old. We opened our presents, dad was working. Suddenly the front door to our house in Brooklyn opens up and there was dad, holding a giant gift box. It was snake mountain.

Yo, thumbs up for giving Toy-Polloi a shout out!

When i was a kid Snake Mountain was Cobra Commanders summer home.......

I got them both for Christmas in 1985 or 85... I wish I had them both now! My Castle Grey Skull got ran over when I left it in the drive way... And I traded Snake Mountain for a sack full of micro machines years later. I never knew the shortcomings of Snake Mountain... The microphone was more than enough to make up for the narrow stairs... That I never even noticed till just now. 😂

Great video! Many great points you've made about the shortcomings of the playset but I feel they're all due.

You should see the new Snake mountain they’re making for the origins line. It includes a few pegs to place the figures, adds to the acid pit by adding pegs and monster figures to inhabit it, and even replaces the net with a cell that the figures can drop into. There’s no microphone feature for the wolf and demon heads, but in its place they redesigned the snake to be a more dynamic trap with more articulation. It even includes Skeletor’s throne!

Great review. Spot on👍👍👍

I never had the play sets, but a great video none the less.👍

Wow that microphone still works. Awesome set :)

Such a underrated channel...great review

Excellent review! Obviously well researched and great presentation!

I loved my Snake Mountain as a kid regardless of it's flaws. Now that I'm older,I still appreciate it but it still pales when compared to Castle Greyskull or The Fright Zone.

Super 7 Snake Mountain is what we wanted

Masters of the Universe is now re-released and updated, and am so glad for it. Now, they need to do the same for my favourite tv show as a kid: The Six Million Dollar Man! In the meantime, I bought some MOTU re-issues, and they're great! Battlecat looks better than ever. More detail and points of articulation.

I had this playset and like 2 MOTU figures. Was never really that big into these toys. I was, however, huge into G.I. Joe, and , since I had the Joe’s base, I used Snake Mountain as the Cobras base. Worked perfectly with their scale.

So true. I remember getting Snake Mountain on Christmas and being very bored with it after a day or two.

I loved this thing. I didn't collect MotU so I used it as a Cobra base. Worked well.

I actually had snake mountain (well I still do, however I had my grandad paint it and add parts of a Fisher price tree house to it and it became my custom version of the forest moon of Endor, I'm going up to the loft to get it down and tidy it up and display it I think.

I had this as a kid along with that skeleton figure carrier. Great video! I actually played with this playset with my Star Wars figures. They worked well with this playset.

I think the main draw for this one, was the mic and the ability to hide behind it and make a scary voice. I mean, which kid doesn't want to sound like a monster and have a toy mic? As a kid, I always thought this was as cool, if not cooler than Castle Greyskull.

Never owned it myself but always viewed it as basically an empty shell. The Super7 version planned (is it out?) is scaled up. It has a break-away wall secret entrance, Skeletor’s table and bone throne and dungeon.

Love it! A few of my friends had it and I thought it was awesome.

Somebody was playing snakes and ladders when they were thinking about this playset

I thought this was a fair review of Snake Mountain. And I can see why Mattel has not released a SM for their Origins line. Hopefully they are making something on in-line with scale of their figures.

Gray Skull was just so much more well thought out

I think it looks like a secret rear entrance to the larger mountain. Instead of all these re-releases, a modern add on designed to connect to and compliment the og piece could be very cool.

I rate Eternia as the best playset for Masters. I agree with your assessment of this one though. It was ok but not great.

Very good~ I really enjoyed it.

Great review

i know I'm late to this but i had this when i was a kid in 86. i remember getting it for christmas and my first reaction was "what is this?" Being a huge He-Man fan at the time i knew it didn't look anything like it did on the show. my parents had to explain to me what it was and i could tell they were irritated but i didn't understand why. lol as an adult i understand. BTW all the short comings you noticed were also noticed by 5 year old me.. just facts lol

I remember that i get snake mountain for christsmas in my childhood and i remember that i never like to play with it, because there was no place for the figures in the inside.... after that christmas it went's on the top of my closet and never touched again for 10 years or so :-D

Love your high quality videos and excellent reviews! Who else is as cool as you? (Besides Retroblasting and Toy Polloi).

Snake Mountain is a brilliant design if you think about it. The narrow stairways and bridge make it a perilous exercise to try and enter it and make it so the heroes have trouble fighting because they can fall so easily and have to walk sideways. And only someone smaller like Teela can get through that tunnel, so He-Man and others have to find another way which only leads to more traps. It is one giant trap and there are probably hidden methods for the villains to enter and places for them to fight from. Genius, I tell you! Genius...! LOL

I never had Snake Mountain as a kid only Castle Grayskull. Unfortunately, I no longer have it. I did pick up a vintage Snake Mountain recently and do enjoy it. Tony's criticisms are spot on, but it is that nostalgia that gets me. The new Snake Mountain from Super 7 is definitely an improvement but looks like it suffers from the same fate of stars being too narrow. Also, I don't have $600 laying around :(

Yeah, this playset was a mess. Would have been much better as a jungle set.

I never had Snake Mountain but wanted it badly. But I had the Fright Zone which was awesome.

Excellent review Tony! I think that bridge was about the right size for Teela and Evil-Lynn to cross since they were so slim. Probably could get Star Wars figures to cross it as well,but looks like maybe that bridge could snap apart before anyone could cross it. Yep it seems Mattel was just recycling a playset from a cancelled line and were being cheap. The microphone was cool and the trapdoor was cool since the net and pit under it made it scary! :)

I had snake mountain as a kid... way to small for MOTU, but worked perfect for my G.I. Joes. (also looked a lot better after a light dusting of gray spraypaint)

Yeah fully agree. There was nothing on the inside to play with, and on the outside, all the platforms were too small. You try to display a figure on the bridge and it sags.

When you look at it, it does seem perfect for Super7 MOTU figures scale-wise.

I had this playset to as a kid but as i can remember there was a rubberish snake handpuppet with my set it fitted in te hole Edit never mind it was de hordak playset :)

Thanks, from Spain....

Dude by 1984 Castle Grayskull and and Regular heman were impossible to find. Only Battle He-Man With the flipable impact chest thing. I was lucky to have him, regular Skeletor, Orko, Beast-Man, Panther and Cringer. Skull Mountian I got for Christmas of 1984. Envied the kid down the block who had grayskull. Skull MOuntian was cool though. It had that microphone and the Snake would rotate. Always wanted that Battle Track thing that He-Man and Ram-Man used.

I have still have both, snake mountain and castle grey skull

Informative video as always, Mr. Tony. Hope you can do similar features for Hordak's Fright Zone & the Eternia playset. Odd that the Point Dread record didn't use the voices of John Erwin (He - Man) & Allan Oppenheimer (Skeletor)* Just as the Castle Greyskull playset lacked the Sorceress, Snake Mountain came minus Skeletor. 😟 * John Erwin in the 1960s-70s voiced Reggie in Filmation's Archie cartoons; Allan Oppenheimer played Dr. Rudy Wells in the early episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man.

I had the Castle Greyskull play set as a kid, I loved He-Man. My neighbor had the Snake Mountain playset and though I did like the look of it and microphone, there wasn’t much to it, even he stopped playing with it after awhile when he got his own Castle Greyskull. I thought it could’ve been a lot better than what is what it was, Hasbro should’ve designed something that was equal or better than Greyskull.

Great vid Tony! Well, looking at the proportions of both Snake Mountain and Castle Greyskull, the ReAction MOTU figs would be in perfect scale with both, at least for the outside of Greyskull. If you have at least one of the ReAction figs, check it out. Stairs and bridge would work, cave would work, ledge would work, just not the chains. Then the inside of SM would be perfect, if only there was a 1:18 Skeletor throne...

It drove me insane as a kid trying to play with this due to the size issue. It felt more like they never thought this through or rushed it out.

You’re 100% right. Nothing that I disagree with.

Will you take a look at The Fright Zone? It's the playset designed for The Horde and It feel like it nails the creepy vibe and has good playability too.

They better improve the Origins release! I guess we'll find out soon enough - Powercon 2021 is just around the corner now!

The Demon face looks like something out of Jim Henson.

i saldy wasnt born when the original he man was on tv, a few months ago i saw the greyskull castle here in brazil , but the price. Sheeshe

Hello, good video I have a question, what is the best method to dust removal my snake mountain?

The snake mountain I remember in the 80s had a Mr frostie sort of slush puppy drink didn't it with it? Or I've massively miss remembered it

This actually made a much better playset for the dungeons and dragons action figures when I was a kid. The scale worked better.

The Snake Mountain is a great toy set, the new one from Super7 looks to be even bigger than Castle Greyskull. I loved Snake Mountain. It’s a great toy, it’s nowhere near as great as Castle Greyskull and I used it more as a glorified ‘action figure carry case.’ I did love those ideas in the comics. If memory serves they based Snake Mountain on a redundant playset. Ah yes, just saw it. *2:14* ☺︎

The scale might have been off for MOTU figures but was perfect for GI Joes.

What scale would those stairs be? For M.A.S.K. or Eagle Force?

I so agree with you! Never owned the set as a kid, I found it quite a letdown when I started collecting the toys two years ago. It makes a nice showpiece but hardly has any playing value. BTW, there are repro shackles available.

I had this as a kid and I don't remember it being so lame. I really wish I could find the voice box though, I'm pretty sure the wolf head contained a spring reverb. I remember shaking the microphone and it sounded like chains hitting the floor.

Where do you get your t shirts?

Fright zone next?

I ised my dungeons and dragons action figures with castle grayskull and snake mountain. I thiught same thing as a kid that they didnt make the sets to match the scale of He-man figures. I mean look how damn thin those ladders were

I still remember trashing that snake first lol then the rest

Did Matty Collector made a new one some years ago?

Hi I’m just curious as to the actual value of these sets, as I have a complete snake mountain and castle gray skull collecting dust in my parents attic

You forgot to mention that it's the ultimate jump-ramp

Great video buddy

The play set looks like it was scaled for 1:18 figures. Have you tried posing any of your G.I. Joes, Action Force, or A-Team figures on it?

i loved the microphone but i found snake mountain lacking for similar reasons.

Found one today at goodwill cib for 3.99$ vintage

Tony do you have the Eternia playset?

Better use the 1:18 scale MOTU reaction figures by Funko with that.

If I had snake mountain I'd renamed it to cobra mountain. Because it looks great but it seems like its made for 3.75 figures like the g.i joe toyline

Lord Skeletor inherited Snake Mountain from The Snake Men ruled by King Hiss.

I had to repaint it. Couldnt stand that purple roots or whenever they are. I Painted them Orange and red as lava as well as those scary sculpted faces

i buy orifinal chains for my SM , and then i buy perfect reproduction and when i display SM i display it with repro chains my i buy are great looks same as original, and original na keep on side :) best way to save original chains

I think Snake Mountain could have worked better if the figures were 3.75" scale, that way the figures would have fit everywhere as well as making the playset appear much larger.

Hello excellent review, it is a pity that this set is so badly designed, of course the idea is excellent, but it does not compare with the Grayskull castle. Hopefully if they get the Snake Mountain out for the MOTU Origins line they will improve a lot on the details. Greetings.