Thundercats: Lion-O (6 inch)

When Bandai resurrected the Thundercats line of toys they opted to released (most of) the main cast in two different scales for the modern series - 4 inch and 6 inch.  Growing up a fan of G.I. Joe I initially gravitated towards the 4 inch figures.  They were smaller so they took up less space.  Cheaper so they were more friendly towards my wallet.  They also interacted with several of the vehicles that later came.  The 6 inch figures sported more articulation, but since I suck at posing action figures I only picked up a few.

With the series being officially dead you can find both scales heavily discounted.  While it's sad to see the line die, I'm glad I can finally pick up a few of the figures I never got around to now for a deal.  Lion-O in the 6 inch scale was one of those I originally passed on.

Not all of the 6 inch figures came with accessories, but Lion-O comes with a fair amount of gear.  Of course you get the Sword of Omens, but it comes in two sizes!  You also get to different claw shields.  The silver piece of shoulder armor actually comes attached to the figure in the package, but it's removable.

 

The smaller claw shield can attach to his side via a thin plastic piece.  Just like in the show (and in the old days) it also acts as an holster for the Sword of Omens.  Once attached it's rather bulky and prevents Lion-O from standing with his arms down by his side.

The larger Sword of Omens is made of a soft plastic, but thankfully it came out of the package without being warped.  The Thundercats logo on the eye of Thundera is nicely painted.  The other claw shield can be wielded by popping off the hand just below the elbow.  The arms feature a ball like peg that allow the pieces to be interchangeable, but man are they hard to pop back on.  I don't know if you have to line it up perfectly, hold your mouth in a certain fashion or just pray really hard to get the hand/claw shield to pop on snuggly.  I'm sure this would probably get easier with continuous use, but I had a very hard time with this.

The quality on these figures has been hit and miss, but overall Lion-O seems pretty solid.  The head sculpt looks great and the paint applications are nicely done.

Like most modern action figures, Lion-O sports a great amount of articulation.  Most of the joints used in the construction of the figure are of the hinge variety, but if you are skill at posing figures then I'm sure you will be able to strike some better poses than me!

The only common complaint about Lion-O is that Bandai opted not to color the black pins used in the various joints.  While the shoulder and wrist pins may blatantly stand out, the others seem to blend in better.  For me this is a non-issue as once I had the figure in hand my eyes quickly glossed over the black pins.

Outside of finding a 6 inch Tygra and Mumm-Ra I'm done with this scale.  Now that everything is said and done I really wished that Bandai had picked one scale and focused all their attention to it rather than spreading things out as they did.  The 6 inch figures are superior to the 4 inch figures in every way so it's a shame that all of the characters didn't get this treatment.  Make sure to keep your eyes open at discount stores such as Marshall's, Ross or TJ Maxx for this and other discounted Thundercats figures.

"Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight."