Thundercats are on the move! Thundercats are loose! They are finally loose. After all of the 1980s revivals we have seen over the past few years I was beginning to think that the Thundercats were going to be the one property that would remain a part of the past. Well, fortunately that is not the case and Lion-O and crew are back in a big, BIG way thanks to an all new cartoon (didja catch the first episode? Wowee!) and new toys courtesy of Bandai. If you have been following along you know that they are rolling out two new lines in support of the updated property – one in the smaller 1:18 scale and a 1:12 line aimed more toward the collector. I got a chance to see some of these figures at SDCC 2011 and they do a great representation of the new style of the kitty krew. If you are like me though, the big news coming from this long-anticipated revival was the announcement that Bandai would also be supporting the property with a line of figures based on their vintage looks. Yes! While the roll-out of this arm of the product line is going a little slower in terms of release (two figures in the first assortment) they are certainly off to a start that has scratched a 25 year-old itch. Fantastic Fwoosh Sponsor, Enchanted Toy Chest, recently got the inaugural Classic series in and I jumped on an order so I am very glad to bring you some shots and thoughts of our first Lion-O and Tygra toys in decades.
For this action figure hobby, I have to admit that it is a good time to be me. What I mean is that, at this very moment, every single toy line that I was really into (though I had figures here and there from lots of lines) as a kid is either currently back for collecting or will be here in the next year. Yep, I have DCUC for DC Comics toys, Legends for Marvel, Masters of the Universe, Ghostbusters, WWE Legends and now Thundercats with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles coming soon. That is pretty much the story of my childhood in toy detail and now that Voltron is coming too, I think I am just Food Fighters revival away from being 100% complete. The arrival of the Tundercats is big for me though as I have some of the best memories of the 1980s toys. Plus, the first season of the cartoon was high drama for me as kid – I loved my Masters of the Universe, but the early T-cats episodes were EPIC and scary at times. The toys were always the main priority for me though, and that sentiment remains true to this day.
There are always some emotional reservations that pop up when a new toy line based off of an old property is announced. Let’s face it, this is a pretty discriminating hobby and most of the people in it are quite sure about what they like and what they want when it comes to toys. I think the fact that Bandai gained the property caught a lot of people off-guard initially. Really, though the Japanese branch of the company does some insane work with toys, Bandai of America is mostly known for Power Rangers here in the States. That is fine as that is one of, if not the biggest kid toy properties ever, but speculation was that Mattel or Hasbro would be the front-runners. No matter what preconceived notions anyone had about Bandai going into this, good or bad, they would have to prove that they were ready to give collectors what they wanted when it came to the classic line. Good sculpts, clean paint, lots of articulation, accessories, a consistent scale and scope of character selection are all requisite when planning a collector line and since this would be one of Bandai’s first forays into this tough market, a lot of people were on edge, myself included. Well, it is still too early to call success for the character selection requirement, but if Lion-O and Tygra are any indication, Bandai is off to a pretty good start with all of those other categories.
I have to say that I liked the look of Lion-O since I first saw him in promotional imagery several months ago. The sculpt seemed to really capture the character well and the articulation appeared to be there, but, as always, I was going to hold off until I got the actual figure in-hand. Well, fast forward to today and I must at admit, I am brimming with joyful nostalgia. My initial reaction to both of these figures was that they are most certainly “hand candy”. More than anything, Lion-O and Tygra (especially Lion-O) are really fun figures to play with and while they are not quite perfect (what toy is?), I am falling hard for this line already. Let’s see what works well and what can be improved, shall we? With all due respect for Tygra, the Lord of the Thundercats is going first.
Lion-O is up there with He-Man, Batman, Spiderman, Michelangelo, Snake Eyes and Optimus Prime as an icon of toydom. These are the guys that are instantly recognizable to just about anyone, not just comic and toy fans. So, just the idea that he is back in my collection alongside many of them (I am not a Joe or Trans fan) is a comforting thing. But ideology and nostalgia don’t necessarily make for good toys (though they help with some foibles) and in order for Lion-O to really stand in tow with those other guys he needed to be a good figure. You know what? He is a good figure, and he borders on being a great figure. There are many aspects of this figure that really speak to me; things like his articulation, clean lines and lots of accessories are right up my alley. But let’s play show and tell and break down this cub-cat/man-child Lord for further consideration.
To expand upon what I mentioned before about Lion-O being a fun toy, to me that means being able to move and position a figure into an expansive variety of poses. Lion-O gets high marks from me in that regard and his well-conceived articulation scheme is primarily to thank for that. To get the technical aspect out of the way for those keeping score at home, here is the breakdown:
- Ball joint head
- Ball joint neck
- Ball joint shoulders
- Swivel biceps
- Hinge elbows
- Ball joint wrists
- Floating rib cage
- Pivot and twist waist
- Ball joint hips
- Swivel thighs
- Double knees
- Twist Shins
- Hinge and rocker ankles
If you count all the double points as two and the x and y movement of some of the combined joints (like the shoulders) that puts him at right about 34 points of articulation (Tygra falls one short as the rib cage joint is absent from his figure). In these post-Toy Biz Marvel Legends days, that is actually pretty far up there in terms of overall points. Then again though, I own a lot of toys that have a lot of articulation. So what impresses me the most about a figure’s articulation is how it can be practically used for play and display. This is where Lion-O really wins. As you can hopefully see in the pictures, you can get a great variety of poses from this figure, even the very iconic Lion-O poses like the “Hoooooooo!” stance. Ho stance? Inappropriate! The figure is very well balanced and the joints are nice and tight (save for his neck that gives him some bobble unfortunately) so he can do crouches, kicks and action shots without the use of outside support. That is one of the things that is always fun about taking pictures of a new toy: trying to get the most insane poses possible to show off the articulation. For those wondering about articulation points that are NOT there, I do not believe having double elbow joints would have added a ton of movement (he can hold the Sword of Omens with both hands, which is important) and the lack of the now, almost standard abdominal crunch joint is made up for by combining the rib and waist points. Thus, I can’t really think of any points that are glaring omissions. Most all of them are integrated into the sculpt very well, I especially like how the thigh cuts are made to be under the “muscle” to help hide them, so Lion-O is a very clean-looking figure.
Which brings me to the next area of scrutiny, the aesthetics of the figure. Like I said, he is a very clean-looking figure in the vein of DC Universe Classics. This is mostly accomplished by clean paint lines and integrated articulation, but Lion-O is tall and slender, just as he should be. Did I say tall? I mean REALLY tall. One of the choices Bandai announced regarding the scale of this line is that they wanted to keep it on par with the scale from the 1980s. Now, I remember Lion-O being a tall figure as a kid, but these new figures are REALLY tall. They tower over 90% of my mostly six-inch scale collection and I would put them more in line with the DC Retro-Action figures. My wife said that Lion-O and Barbie could totally date. Totally. At first I was bugged by this as any interaction with Batman or He-man was pretty much out the door, then I realized how little I actually display various lines together; which is to say, I NEVER display different lines together. Thundercats are in a scale really all to themselves in my collection, but they are close enough to my beloved 6-inch scale that I am okay with that. Thankfully they are not little 1:18 figures.
The look of his outfit is very accurate to the vintage figure and all of the color cues are on par with what you will remember. The Cats symbol on his belt is very crisp and clean and the red backing has just enough of a metallic look to it to make it stand out. His face is pretty darn good too when it comes to getting the look and feel of Lion-O down. It is unmistakably him and the, even down to the wind-swept hair he is accurate to the original. If I can pick a nit to pick though it is the style in which the eyes are painted. See, I have grown very accustomed to highly-detailed, hand-painted eyes on most of my figures. Several companies and lines have had a lot of success in painting eyes in this fashion and a good number of my figures have a very life-like feel to them because of it. Lion-O and Tygra have an eye pattern that has been done via a tampo print (more like a stamp than a paint brush stroke) so that small detail alone sets a very distinct stage for an overall aesthetic feel to the line.
If anything, these figures feel like toys. I mean that with the positive and negative connotations. See, they are fun to play with and pose but at the same time the proportions (especially on Tygra) and the paint style look very toy-ish. I know it may sound ridiculous to be talking about realism in little plastic men, but if you take some of the work being done by companies like NECA, the Four Horsemen and even Hasbro and Mattel, there is a level of detail in paint and sculpt that really furthers that feeling. Bandai has taken Thundercats in a different direction though and the simplicity of the paint and smoothed details in parts of the sculpt add to it. I know they have been serious about staying faithful to the vintage line so I am sure that is part of it, and I would be okay with most all of it, but I REALLY wish that they paint on the eyes was more detailed. Simply put, when I look in the eyes of the recently-reviewed NECA Gizmo, it almost seems like I am looking at Gizmo. When I look at the eyes of Lion-O, I am very aware that this is a toy of Lion-O. I hope that makes and just as a personal preference, I wish that Bandai would have pushed the envelope a little further in detail with paint and sculpt, but at the same time I think I get where they are going with this. As it stands, I still really like Lion-O as a figure.
He also comes with several accessories in the form of the long and short versions of the Sword of Omens, the Claw Shield, Claw Shield strap and extra hands. Overall, I REALLY dig the accessories, especially the Claw Shield. It looks great both on and at the side of Lion-O and it holds the short sword perfectly on both the belt and the wrist. I also really appreciate that the belt strap is removable so it isn’t just hanging there when Lion-O is wearing the Shield. I also enjoy having extra hands for grips and claws so he does not have to wear the Shield all the time. They all snap into place very easily on the wrist pegs.
I am kind of split on the swords though. On the one hand, both the long and short versions look stunning. They are perfectly styled and capture the look of the Sword of Omens very well. They also have perfectly clean Cats symbols and Eyes of Thundara respectively. What I don’t like is the very soft rubber material used to construct them. Yes, I understand why they are made of this material – safety, I get it. Usually, I can get around that though as if warping happens the old boil and freeze method can straighten up a sword in no time. However, the extended version of Omens is so long (that’s what she said) that it automatically bends under its own weight. Ahhh, that is such a shame because it is sculpted and painted so beautifully that both of them would be pitch perfect if they were just a little more rigid. I would suggest not displaying the sword to the side, as that angle shows the bending the most. Keep the broad side forward and on the shelf it becomes a very small issue.
Overall, I am very glad to have Lion-O back in my toy collection. He has been sorely missed. I think the is a good figure that is close to being great, but he is also a lot of fun to play with and I am pleased that I can get him into a lot of iconic poses. I wish a few things were done a bit better, but overall I am satiated. Now, about Tygra…
As with Masters of the Universe, I was always more of a fan of the bad guys on the Thundercats. Mumm-Ra and the mutants just had cooler designs for me and I was happy to be the bad guy when I played with my brother. However, I have always loved Tygra and Panthro no matter what. They have always been my two favorite Thundercats so when I heard Tygra would be joining Lion-O in the first series I was quite pleased. Having the figure here now I can say that he retains a lot of what makes Lion-O great and keeps much of it at the same level. However, he also has most of the same shortcomings and in his case, they are much more apparent than in Lion-O.
Like Lion-O, Tygra is a very fun toy to play with and you can match the former pose for pose. For some reason Tygra does not have the same rib cage articulation, probably due to the more simple costume, but you really do not lose much, if any, movement because of it. His outfit and and tiger line details throw back to the vintage figure and the colors are nicely matched as well. I appreciate that they got the asymmetry of his costume down with the single shoulder pad and elbow guard. The figure is well balanced so he can hold a good center of balance to achieve dynamic poses – he is ready to kick some mutant butt.
He also has some great accessories that include extra hands as well as his trusty three-tailed whip in the extended and retracted versions. The cool part of the whips are that there is actually a point of articulation in the long whip to add to the various positions it can be held and all parts of both whips are interchangeable. You can mix and match the pieces so you have plenty of options. I always liked Tygra’s weapon and Bandai did a great job realizing it in plastic.
However, I have about three real bugaboos with Tygra and, in the end, I just don’t like him as much as Lion-O. First and foremost is that I think his likeness is pretty soft. It is mostly in the head sculpt as there is just something about the face and how the white fur on the side of his head just don’t feel like the old toy or cartoon look to me. I cannot put my finger on exactly what it is, maybe his head seems a little small to me. The paint on the eyes doesn’t help with the likeness either as they just leave me a bit cold and empty. Tygra always had a sagely and mystical feel about him and I think his eyes were a big part of that, but here they are mostly devoid of color and feeling.
The other nit pick I have is that his body shape, mostly in the torso is just too big. First, he is every bit as tall as Lion-O and that seems off to me as Lion-O should be the tall one. Also, his trunk is very thick, more like I think Panthro should be rather than the athletic Tygra. I don’t know, that just might be my personal vision for him and he might be more vintage-accurate than I remember, but I wish that he was shorter and more slender as that would seem to fit in better with how Bandai was going to approach the scale of this line in the first place.
Don’t get me wrong, I still like the Tygra figure, but I think he could have been better overall. He is fun to play with, but he just doesn’t scream “Tygra” to me. The head sculpt and body type needed more attention to pull him through to be a stronger figure I think and if they ever get around to doing Tygra again, I hope these areas improve. As it stands though, the figure is already growing on me, so who knows?
Overall, between getting these guys on Thursday and watching the premier of the new cartoon last night, I am very glad to have Thundercats back on my TV and back in my toy room. Bandai has made some very fun toys in these initial two offerings – the articulation and variety of accessories are very nice. I hope that, more than anything, as we move further into the line (nothing else has been shown yet) that the paint in the eyes is reconsidered so we can get more personality from them. As the figures themselves go, Lion-O is the winner and I think for most of the fans jonesing for a Thundercats fix, he will scratch that itch with the Claw Shield. Tygra falls a little short of his Lord, but he is still pretty solid.
Now, onto my soapbox: Bandai – let’s get moving with this line. I want to see more and I want to see it now, and if I can have my druthers, I want more than just two figures at a time. Am I getting greedy? Maybe, but that is only because, now that we are rolling, I have a lot of wants that they need to get to. Panthro and Cheetara – NOW! Mumm-Ra and Slllythe? Heck. Yes. I need everybody, and Lion-O and Tygra are going to get bored fast with no one to fight. This is a fun first assortment but now that the Thundercats are truly loose, no time to rest on our laurels!
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