Thundercats: Mumm-Ra the Ever Living

RIP Bandai Thundercats.  It was a fun ride while it lasted.  Right before the line was axed by Bandai we were treated to some of the best figures in the last wave of 4 inch toys.  In the first wave we got the old, mummified version of Mumm-Ra so it seems fitting that in the last wave we get Mumm-Ra, the Ever Living!

His wave mates were Lion-O with new claw armor, Panthro w/ robotic arms and King Claudus.  You can also see a small picture of his vehicle, the Storm Chaser over on the left.

Not only is this version of a Mumm-Ra pretty hefty for a 4 inch figure, but he has demon like wings attached!  His lone accessory is this curved sword.  The figure features pretty impressive articulation.  Hinge joints are located in the shoulders, elbows and the knees are double hinged.  His lower outfit does hinder some of the leg articulation, but not to the point where it ruins the playability of the figure.  Like with the larger scaled Mumm-Ra figure, his hands are gigantic!  He has no trouble wielding his sword however.

This last wave of figures was hard to find at retail in most places so I feel fortunate that I found him.  In fact, by the time one of area Walmarts got this wave in stock, they had already clearanced the entire line of toys!  Granted the clearance price of $5 wasn't all that discounted, I'm still glad I grabbed this figure as it helped round out my 4 inch Bandai Thundercats collection.

Thundercats: Berzerker Hammerhand

I never had the opportunity to own many of the vintage LJN  Thundercats toys when I was a kid, but I had Hammerhand and most of the pirate themed Berserkers and I loved them all.  Was the pirate or the big honkin' fist that made him so cool?

I love the cybernetics he has been fused with, from his backpack to his large metal boot.  The purple wires you see on his bag plug into two small holes...however due to the short length they can easily be pulled out of the holes.  A minor design flaw, but needs to be pointed out.

Like with most of the vintage Thundercats toys, Hammerhand has his own gimmick as well - that being his fist.  There is a round peg on the back of his elbow that looks like the handle of a pair of scissors.  Pull this back and his fist opens and closes.

" Hammerhand Smash! "

While I love this figure, I do have to admit that he hasn't aged well.  What I mean by that is he looks really goofy.  He looks very much like an 80's era figure.  There are better LJN Thundercats figures to be had, but of the four Berserkers Hammerhand is far the best.

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."

Thundercats: Armor of Omens w/ Lion-O

The modern Thundercats line of toys by Bandai left a lot to be desired by many.  I was super excited when I heard that the 'cats were coming back and I anxiously hit several stores last year waiting to find the new toys.  I ended up buying several figures from both the 4 inch and 6 inch scale.  However I quickly fell behind watching the new cartoon and lost a little of my excitement.  It wasn't long after that I heard rumors the series was coming to a close.  Toys started to disappear from retail shelves and so I wrote the series off.  Lately however I've started to see the toys on deep clearance which is great for my wallet.  The Armor of Omens was one of these clearance purchases I made.

 

Standing in the store I thought "why not?".  Then I started to have buyer's remorse before I got him out of the box.  He looks cool in the packaging, but he also looked like a big golden brick!  I only saw a little bit of the episode where Lion-O first activated the Armor of Omens so I was a little cloudy about this toy.  For those of you that never saw the armor in the new cartoon here is a little clip:

After standing in the aisle long enough I finally convinced myself to go ahead with the purchase.  In hindsight I'm really glad I got off the fence because this surprisingly is a pretty cool figure.

The armor (or figure) stands approximately 12 inches tall.  The figure is cast in gray plastic with the armor bits painted gold.  The feline face on the chest is gold plated.  There is some slight assembly out of the box - you have to snap on the brown "hair" on the back of the head and attach the tail.

When it comes to the Bandai Thundercats toys they seem to be hit and miss.  Seems as if Bandai hit with this release.  There is a good bit of sculpted detail on the armor.  Because of it's play feature there isn't a lot of articulation; which I know will be a major turn off for a lot of collectors.  The head and rotate a full 360 degrees, but you'll have to lift up the arms as the shoulder armor prevents the head from turning as is.  The arms rotate 360 degrees at the shoulders and the elbows are hinge joints.  The forearms surprisingly swivel giving the arms more range of motion than I would've guessed.  Below the waist there isn't any moving parts...bummer.

If you notice on the back of the figure you can see a small on/off switch just above the tail.  When you switch the toy on the toy can make several sword slashing sounds.

The gold chrome lion chest lifts up and the midsection folds down to reveal a cockpit of sorts to insert the included gold Lion-O figure.  Presumably you could use the regular Lion-O figure as well, but I haven't tried it...I'm lazy.  Like many of the other toys in the series, the Thunder Lynx magnet on the back of the figure is what activates the toys gimmick.  Once you place the figure inside and close the panels, the eyes light up and flash red and you hear "Thundercats...Hoooo!".  

The included Lion-O figure is cast entirely in gold plastic and features 8 points of articulation.  No accessories for the figure are included since it's main purpose is to be placed inside the Armor of Omens.

The one accessory included is a huge Sword of Omens.  The sword is cast in a very soft plastic and in some cases can come out of the packaging warped.  I'm sure this could easily be straightened out using a hair dryer or some boiling water.  Thankfully mine came out pretty flat and straight and I hope it stays that way.  My only complaint about the sword is the eye on the sword's hilt isn't painted.

Overall I've enjoyed most of the Thundercats toys Bandai released, but this piece particularly surprised me.  While I loved paying 75% of the MSRP, I kinda hate that I missed out on this toy for so long.  It's really a shame though that Mumm-Ra's suit of armor was never made.  If you have a chance to score this on clearance or for a decent price (check Ross, Marshall's or TJ Maxx) then go ahead.  It's one of the last toys released and have it's own special charm.

Happy Birthday - Thundercats style

Today marks the day that I'm officially old.  Well at least that is what my family is telling me.  Right before I walked out the door for work on my 35th birthday my little girl stopped me w/ a card in hand.  She was smiling ear to ear and couldn't wait for me to open the card.  She was so impatient she took the card out of the envelope and handed it to me.

I was a little bummed about having to work all day, but at least I walked out that door with a smile on my face.  Thanks Livi!

Leaked Images of new Thundercats toys!

**UPDATE**
Official images of new animation released!

It's been awhile now since I first heard the news that one of my favorite properties from my childhood was going to be given a modern update.  I've seen pictures and pre-orders of new Thundercats statues and such, but nothing in the form of action figures yet.  Well that all changed today when I dropped in on the Toyark today.

Click HERE for the pictures courtesy of Toyark.com

Leaked from the 2011 UK Toy Fair are some blurry pictures of the new action figures!  This time around they'll come in two sizes apparently - 3 3/4" and 8".

Towards the bottom of the picture you can see a loose Thundertank along with a few boxed vehicles.  I know many fans will are delighted to see that the Thundercats are getting a 2nd chance.  Hopefully more information and better pictures will be released soon.