Lynx-O Ultimates! First Look with Toy Bro
Another round please! We’re chatting with ToyBro, Jared Elswick, about the fabulous new Wave 4 ThunderCats ULTIMATES! figures and we finally have our next actual ThunderCat to add to our ranks of Third Earth saviours. While that means you all can guess that Pumm-Ra will be the last figure to talk about, Lynx-O is a figure that some collectors have mentioned they missed out on as kids. Now that we all have a chance to own him (again), let’s get down to the deets…
TC.org: We finally have another ThunderCat! The wise yet fierce Lynx-O joins the gang. Are you pleased with him?
TB: I am, he’s giving me similar vibes to Monkian. Both of them FEEL different from the older figures in the line and very much give the impression that Super7 is actively trying to improve them. He has some odd articulation limitations, but all around a solid package.
TC.org: He has a striking and contrasting color scheme – the red and black and touches of yellow. How well did they capture the spirit of the cartoon with this one?
TB: I think they got him down pretty well, especially when it comes to the face and the paint there specifically. He’s not too bulky either, which helps differentiate him from Lion-O or Panthro.
TC.org: Not many people are familiar with the three new ThunderCats, and Lynx-O alongside Pumyra and Bengali were their own little core group of characters in the second season of the show. What would you say to persuade a collector in buying this character when they only remember the original gang from season one?
TB: I’d say that the team is literally not complete without him and the other 2. I love the new ThunderCats, Bengali and Lynx-O in particular, but they bring new designs, color schemes and character types to beef up the Cats, frankly I don’t see how you couldn’t want them.
TC.org: He has a few lovely accessories in here as well, including the obscure “tile from the fountain of healing water”, his braille board (which nearly missed release) and his LJN-inspired light shield. Would you say that the light shield chosen with the character is the better one vs the cartoon accurate smaller shield?
TB: I like the shield as presented here. I’d forgotten that the original protos had the shield with the red inner design that was changed at some point to be more accurate to the gold/yellow color in the show. But I like the design and sizing, it’s not too big thankfully, and it attaches nicely on his wrist.
TC.org: Calling back to the obscure tile accessory. Super7 loves to spoil long time fans of the brand with deep cut items, characters etc. I bet they pay somebody to sit and watch the cartoons for the next accessory. Do you remember the episode where the tile is featured in? Don’t Google it…
TB: It’s hard to forget the last episode in the series, Book of Omens. These are some of the more interesting accessories to get. People more resourceful than myself will likely make great use of them in dioramas and their photography, but it’s definitely one of the more deep cut kind of accessories for sure, along with some of the other treasures and artifacts we’ve already gotten.
TC.org: Let’s talk about his two heads. We have the standard one and the fierce one. Which will be your preferred head to use?
TB: Normally I go with the more expressive, battle style head, but here I’m probably going to stick with the standard one. Both are good for their specific purposes but I think Lynx-O is more often remembered as a more calm and collected character, so it fits him a bit better.
TC.org: The vintage toy had pupils painted onto his eyes in some territories. Would this have been a good opportunity to include that head in here as well?
TB: Maybe, yeah. It’s one of those things that would be weird and fun, but maybe not all that useful. Kind of like the weird Shredder head in the TMNT line that mimics the ‘eyebrow helmet’ paint from the vintage figure. It’s funny, and unique, but probably not something people use a lot. I’d have preferred a head with glowing ears to go along with the Cats that get glowing eyes.
TC.org: Any final thoughts on the figure?
TB: I think he’s a great addition to the team, but more importantly like I mentioned along with Monkian there seems to be a specific quality improvement that’s easily felt here with these 2. The entire wave is really solid but there’s something about these 2 in particular that really give the impression of better figures compared to what we ever would have gotten from Mattel.
Jared “Toy Bro” Elswick is a longtime toy collector and hobbyist. In 2017 he turned his passion for action figures into a YouTube channel in order to have an outlet for expressing his views on the properties he collects. It has since become a huge part of his daily routine to review, discuss and promote action figures on YouTube and across social media.
