Variant of NA He-man's Powersword?

Hey guys,

a few weeks ago I have been at a friend's and we noticed for the first time that his NA He-man's sword looked different from all other swords we had seen until then. The cylinder above the handle is longer what makes the handle a little shorter. Here is a picture:

http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/x...1-15204415.jpg

http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/x...-15204415a.jpg

For comparison the normal sword:

http://he-man.org/assets/images/coll...ccessories.jpg

Does anyone know if this is a variant of the sword or some kind of production mistake? It would be really cool to know! Thanks :)