Thundercats, HOOOO! This new minimate line brings back the classic TV show in amazing fashion. Bright colors, excellent details; whether you’re a TCats fan or not you have to check out these figures…
Packaging
The packaging is a large size blister card that show off the figures in the foreground. The background has a large ThunderCats logo with the name text at the top. Notice the “Classic” there too, signifying it’s the classic 80’s cartoon and not the recent reboot. There’s also a small insert with Lion-O and the Icon Heroes logo. The back has a group shot of the figures in this set along with paragraph about the show and characters.
The Figures
Lion-O
Lion-O is the true leader of the ThunderCats and holder of the legendary Sword of Omens and Claw Shield. These characters really take me back to my childhood. ThunderCats was on right before my favorite show (Transformers) so I would usually catch a few mins of what Lion-O and the gang were up to; the last five mins were usually them fighting with Mumm-Ra (which is best part of the show).
The paint apps and details are truly amazing for this line. The colors are vibrant bright and perfectly match that of the cartoon. Some of the pics I took are a little darker than I would like and don’t do the colors justice; but I took them later in the day with fading light (I know I need to get a little minimate studio setup, MMDB style).
Lion-O’s hairpiece mane is purrfect cartoon style; it’s really thick plastic too so fits very snug on his head (you may have to freeze it a few mins to swap headpieces). There are two headpieces for him, one with regular calm expression and other with his “Hooooo!” face. But check out the details on those faces; great job. Same for his torso too, colors are perfect and details look great. He has some detailing on his back and front of his legs too.
He’s sporting a belt with the ThunderCats logo on the front and there’s a peg on the side which allows the claw shield to attach. A word of warning on his belt and other figures/accessories that have this logo on it too; because they did use a lot of paint layers, the top black part of the logo does have the tendency to rub off. There are simple solutions for this so you don’t have to run out and get replacements or be overly cautious about playing with these figures. If the logo rubs off, get a black sharpie and draw it back on and to protect it from coming off put a little clear sealer on top of it (clear nail polish works).
For accessories Lion-O comes with his sculpted claw shield that holds the shorter dagger sized version of the Sword of Omens. This fits on his arm with the sword in place or the sword can come out too. The claw fits nicely on the peg on his belt. Also included is the large full size Sword of Omens that is beautifully designed with all the details you’d expect. Another word of warning as tape holds this sword in place right over the logo; so be careful when you remove it from the package so you don’t pull off too much of the paint (again easily fixable if you do).
So much included, great looking and perfect match to the show’s character. I don’t think they could have made a better version of him.
MMC Score – 10 out of 10
Panthro
Panthro is the ThunderCats chief mechanic/engineer and pilot, not to mention one of the strongest/most cunning warriors too.
Unlike other minimate heads we’ve seen before, Panthro’s has sculpted ears directly on the headpiece. They could have easily had them painted directly on but this sculpted design really gives him that authentic look. Again lots of details for his face and torso and the colors are just the right grey and bright blue.
Excellent torso cover with spiked straps and large belt piece with logo (again be careful of rubbing). There’s a little bit of detail on his left arm for blue armband and he has studded bracelet for his right.
For an accessory he comes with his claw fisted blue/red nunchucks with chain to connect them. It’s amazing the amount of detail for such a small accessory.
In conclusion another very well done figure.
MMC Score – 9 out of 10
Jaga
Jaga was once regarded as the greatest of all ThunderCats and used to wield the “Sword of Omens”. He died saving Lion-O and the other nobles but reappeared as a ghost to help guide Lion-O and his team.
I love the frosted translucent plastic for Jaga, it really gives him that ghost look. Now if DST could just pick up that Star Wars license they have ready the color for ghost versions of Obi-Wan, Yoda & Anakin, ahhh to dream… Back to reality, Jaga has his blue and white helmet. There’s a little bit of color bleeding but not too bad. Massive amounts of details on his face, torso and legs (noticing a trend here?!). He has two large bracelets and slightly translucent blue cape with logo on the neck.
No accessories but he’s a ghost so he doesn’t really need any. He makes a great base for anyone trying customize to fill the void of ghost characters (*cough* use the force *cough*).
Another excellent figure and great translation of the character in minimate form.
MMC Score – 9 out of 10
Mumm-Ra
Granted I was more of a casual watcher of the TV show but I always enjoyed watching them battle Mumm-Ra, he was one better cartoon villains of the time. This is him in the weakened mummified form instead of the all-powerful but scared-of-my-own-reflection “Ever-Living” version. The good thing about getting this version in this box set is it means we’ll get the “Ever-Living” version in the later box sets. They can’t have a series of ThunderCats figures without that version of him, can they?
Mumm-Ra has a new sculpted hooded cape. The hood is removable so he can just wear the cape part. The cape on mine has one little paint smudge but other than that the deep red color looks great.
Underneath is just a base minimate body with tons of mummified details all over. This really makes me look forward to seeing the Universal Monsters line with the Mummy this fall. Mumm-Ra has large glowering red eyes with a nicely detailed mouth of sharp teeth. Even on his own as a mummy he looks quite impressive.
And what evil sorcerer would be complete without his staff. Mumm-Ra has an interesting looking one with red horns, eyes and mouth; he and Skeletor must shop at the same evil staff store. This is another good figure for customizing, besides the great base mummy figure the two-piece cape is an excellent piece.
An excellent villain and figure for this box set. Add to that the excitement of what’s to come and overall this is one of the best sets ever released.
MMC Score – 9 out of 10
Snarf
Snarf snarf, what is this? A bonus mini-minimate accessory?! Snarf was protector and caretaker of Lion-O when he was a child and has stayed on to help out the ThunderCats team (snarf, as best he can, snarf).
Although he’s not articulated, he’s still done in minimate style. You can make out the minimated head, arms, hands, legs and feet. Rest of his body is nicely sculpted and good paint job for such a small figure. I really like this concept and hope we see more smaller sized characters as a mini-minimate accessory.
Snarf, bravo DST & Icon Heroes, bravo!!
Review and pictures by Lurch77
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