First up is Mumm-Ra and while he’s well sculpted and has accessories, I don’t count him as a worthwhile action figure. His articulation is weak, even by Bandai’s standards (Not that their articulation is bad, there’s just other companies that can take a 4 inch figure and articulate them up the wazoo for the same price point. Not Mattel, Mattel’s 4 inch figures suck a fat sack of–
Discussing Mumm-Ra again for a moment and you’ll see that his accessories are next to useless, barely being held. Overall, he’s just a rubbish figure and I feel bad for whoever bought this at full-price. In fact, I don’t even want to see it anymore, get it out of here!

Next up is Lion-O and Panthro, and these guys are actually more worth the money you’ll be paying out for them. Lion-O has some fantastic accessories including the claw gauntlet and dagger of omens and a sword of omens proper. His sculpted detail and paint, with a metallic sheen to his armour and a well-translated appearance from screen to toy but if there’s a downside, it’s that his head is restricted by his shoulder armour and the black plastic used for all the joints which breaks up the colour scheme.

Now Panthro is a hefty chunk of cartoonish proportions and huge fists. He’s only a little taller than Lion-O despite being a good foot or so taller in the show. His sculpting and paint is damn good, highlighting his scars and showing how battle-hardened he is. He’s got the standard Bandai articulation and–OH! I didn’t realise Lion-O had a thigh swivel too. That’s odd hehe But Panthro is a solid figure and my definite favourite.

Now we get into the ludicrous waste of money. Mumm-Ra got the shaft because his design didn’t allow for all that much in the way of articulation or playability, this thing just sucks. All of the 4 inch Thundercats toys have a unifying gimmick “Thunder Lynx” which uses magnets in the back of figures to trigger lights and sounds in vehicles and playsets. Pretty sure this is the reason why they’re a little more expensive than others of it’s ilk. And I wouldn’t mind so much but this toy is either broken or the instructions are lying, neither option gives me hope. The lights and sounds deal works fine (Only repeating the same phrase, no matter which figure you put in there) but the disappointment comes in the execution. You put Lion-O on the base, push the column forward and his sword won’t raise properly. This fails on many levels: Firstly – No button mechanism, why doesn’t this column has some spring loaded feature? In 2012, I really think this sort of thing should be handled by a spring loaded mechanism. Secondly, the figure itself, it only has articulation along the points to allow it to raise the sword in conjunction with the magnet but it doesn’t work, the joints are too stiff and that’s a damn weird thing to complain about. Overall, this particular deluxe kit is not worth your time or your money but I think the Grune set would probably see you right.

Because the Thundercats show is out of production with no sign of coming back, I have no doubt that so are the toys so if you were a fan of the show, it’s well worth looking around for these because you should be able to pick them up for at least half price. Let me know what you think of this line and the unfortunate demise of the TV show in the comments below!

Images from ThundercatsNow

I’ll kick off with the Classic Collector Figures since there’s less of them. As the name implies, this line focuses on the classic 80’s designs but with today’s modern engineering and the result is the 8” Lion-O and Tygra. The 8 inch scale is one that’s not often utilised  but it differentiates these figures from a lot of others which is a good thing. The figures come with a multitude of accessories, from extra hands, Tygra’s signature bolo-whip and the Sword of Omens in both its long and short forms. The sculpting and paint are very good but the old designs were very basic, but the paint apps are crisp, clean and iconic, making these perfect for fans of the show or 80’s nostalgia.

This action figures based on the 2011 cartoon come in two sizes (so far) 6 and 4 inches respectively. The 6” figures are more collector focused and the 4” figures come in both basic and deluxe, the latter having some form of action feature. All the basic characters are represented and interact with vehicles and playsets utilising an embedded magnet system called “Thunder Lynx” that activates special features. It kind of reminds me of the old STARCOM toys. Lots of articulation provide a greater range of motion than I‘ve seen in other figures of this scale.

Roleplay items are also available, the highlight being the Deluxe Sword of Omens. With an extendable blade, lights and sounds, this is hot tipped to be this years best-seller. A smaller Sword of Omens and Claw Shield will also be available.

The vehicles that utilise the Thunder Lynx feature are the Lizard Cannon with Slithe, ThunderRacers with either Lion-O or Tygra and the daddy of them all, the mighty ThunderTank! With Snarf. Hehehe I love me some Snarf so getting a ThunderTank and a Snarf is great. Snarf also uses Thunder Lynx to activate sound effects and lights while the ThunderTank itself fits most 4” figures. It’s a great design and I can’t wait to see it released.

Bandai is doing a decent job of catering to fans of both new and old with this brand. Their lines are diverse, seemingly well made and offer a lot of value for money. I’ve seen some of their newer Power Rangers products (Namely the 4” figures) and they’re finally matching the articulation and sculpting that some of their competitors have been doing for years. I hope to see more of thisin the future and will be checking out some of the figures once they get released (Hope the paint holds up to the images we’ve seen).

The prices for the figures, playsets, vehicles and roleplay items will run from between £7.99 to £39.99 but I expect that there’ll be a couple places putting them on offer for the Christmas rush. You can feel the magic and hear the roar this coming December!