Wave 12 ThunderCats ULTIMATES! Review

The only time I hate the holidays is when it interferes with my deliveries. And my Top 10…. I’m sure that would’ve looked a little bit different, but it’s ok, I’ve started 2026 with three really great figures. Wave 12, consisting of the Berserker Cruncher, the Warrior Maiden Nayda, and the big game hunter Safari Joe, and his robot helper Mule, arrived on the very last day of 2025, delayed for over two weeks. Quite understandable when you consider it hit the Christmas rush of flights and deliveries. What a great day it was.

It took just under a year for this wave to be produced and shipped out to collectors. Not a bad feat. It coincided with Wave 14’s presale too, so before you know it that will be discussed in detail too. But for now, this wave of 3 figures (4 if you count Mule), was the first of the new norm. Now if you haven’t heard yet, Wave 14, which consists of 2 figures, was intended to be 3, and Wizz-Ra was moved on to Wave 15, which itself will be 4 figures. Come Wave 16, and we’ll be back to 3 figure waves. Let’s dive right in so long while we wait impatiently for the next Lunatak and king of the Cats to arrive.

Safari Joe does it again! I bet man of you will be familiar with this phrase. He has been a long overdue character for many collectors who want to see the original LJN line completed in ULTIMATES! – and before you start counting how many we’re still short, I’ll make it easy: figure wise we only need the Tongue-A-Saurus, Astral Moat Monster (yeah, both monsters, but still characters, so I’m including them here), Berbil Belle, Berbil Bert, Stinger, Driller, Ram-Bam, Top Spinner and the Tuska Warrior. That’s it. Of these, only 7 are regular figures. That’s quite a feat, ey? So having Safari Joe finally joining the ranks is exciting. It ticks another box. And we get to check it with a smaller box called Mule.

Mule is my favorite part of the release. I like the little guys. And he is represented so brilliantly here. His arms move at two places, he has an ab crunch, his “mouth” moves, his head rotates, and the “M” for Mule opens up to reveal his computer. The colors is great, and he feels sturdy, even with his tiny forearms that have surprisingly good movement. I wish he had rubber treads though and that they could move, but I’d take this version of him any day rather than having to pay extra for it.

Safari Joe is VERY limited in terms of accessories. Which is odd, but I think that Mule took the budget here. And frankly, that’s just fine by me. Safari Joe comes with his blaster, and a fire blasting affect (that also fits into the tank!), and the knife that slides into the back of the figure. He does not have several sets of extra hands, and you know what? That’s just fine. I don’t need any other hands for him anyway. He has one gripping hand that holds the blaster, and the other open hand actually supports the blaster. What more do you need?

Articulation for Safari Joe is standard. I like the way his knees’ bend is hidden. He also has a boot cut! Nice!!! He does not have an ab crunch, but that is because of the uniform. He does have a ball joint at the waist which gives him ample movement there. His jacket’s lower half does prohibit him from kicking out all the way, but I mean come on, he is not an acrobat. He is a big game hunter…. Another nifty thing about this guy is that his neck actually moves too! He has two portraits (and they’re fine, I just wish we had the head thrown back laughing look like in the art), and with this neck moving itself too, it gives a lot of depth to the character which I truly like.

There’s been some unhappiness about his arms being a different color than his torso. And yes, I can see why it is a problem when you look through a screen. But mine is just fine in normal light. He doesn’t have any differences in hand, but the moment he makes a turn in front of the camera, something changes. And I bet it is because the torso is glossier than the more matt / muted arms. Something shines differently. Some photos pick it up, others don’t. My advise is to switch off your phone and just play with him in normal day light. You’ll see it’s not really just the shading or a different color plastic.

The art on the back, which I’ve mentioned before, is brilliantly done. I do believe that this might be the final wave where we’re getting the art that is by an artist vs the art that we’ll be getting, which is just a copy of the digital render. His box, I am surprised to say, is standard size. I was expecting him to be in a bigger box! When I got the parcel I was wondering why it was so small. Surely he would need more space coming with Mule? But no, there was no need.

Personally, and this is going to sound negative, but it is not meant that way, he is the least impressive figure of the lot. And he was one most people looked forward to. It’s not because there’s anything wrong with him. Perhaps his head looks a bit small when compared to his body. But he is a great figure to have. And I bet a lot of people will be happy with him to satisfy those distant memories of playing with this Jumanji-look-alike character.

I am pleased and satisfied by this figure. I don’t really need anything else to go with him. The problem is, the other two offer something that ticks a box he never had a chance against.

I never expected Cruncher to even own that box I just referred to. Man oh man, does he surprise and deliver. I’ll be honest, I was not looking forward to him. Yeah fine, he is another step closer to completing the Berserkers, and of the three serving Hammerhand, he was the most boring in terms of what he could do. Squeeze something till they pass out? Sure, nice. It’s no spinning feature or, uhm, a tyre in your belly, but sure, brute strength is just fine…. There’s nothing wrong with the character selection. It was high time we had another Berserker. I mean it took quite a few waves to get here. But Safari Joe was already the most hyped figure, and Nayda was, well, I’ll get to her below.

So it was therefore surprising that Cruncher shocked me right from the get go. Like with Safari Joe, I was expecting his box to be bigger. So when I opened the package, there were three identically sized boxes. Weird, I thought. Cruncher was advertised as a big figure. Doesn’t he need more space the way Slithe did? I picked them up, one by one, and when it was Cruncher’s turn, I thought something was severely off – in a good way. WHY WAS THIS BOX SO DAMN HEAVY???? Good heavens, he weighs like a brick. Guys this figure is heavy. So damn heavy. I don’t know why, he is just one big hunk of plastic. So that got me immediately excited. Something is different where.

I opened him up and immediately started giggling. He is limited in terms of accessories too, and while he has 4 extra hands, two gold purses and a growling head, he doesn’t need anything else. Or rather come with much else anyways. But good heavens, what a beaut of a figure!

The engineering here is top notch. And you need to have this in hand to enjoy what I’m about to describe. The shoulder pads – soft plastic. The shorts aka Superman pants – soft plastic. The knee and feet coverings – soft plastic. Why is this so great? Well you’d have to look at it to see that what could’ve been part of the sculp, was added as soft pieces of plastic which now allows for perfect movement all round. This guy can move. He can kick out, do the samba, salsa, and the macarena, all because of these design choices. Shout out to the guy or gal who constructed him. I am so impressed with this. Truly I am. This is what got me to appreciate a character I considered just a filler.

The two heads are two different sides of the coin. His dumbfounded look and his aggressive attack face. Both work superbly. The shading on the back of his hair is just spot on. It adds depth. The many hands can change his whole look. From a chokehold to a finger in your face. There’s nothing wrong with his fists either. Man this looks good, and they feel so sturdy. I have mine displayed with the gold bags in his open hand, demanding more gold. Hey, the Berserkers always want more gold!

While his silly feet are iconic of its 80s design, the team at Super7 managed to pull it off. He looked goofy on the screen, but heck this figure gave new life to the character itself, and I suddenly have a lot of appreciation for him. What a winner. And yes, he is my favorite of the wave. I never expected him to be.

I’m so pleased that we have the Berserkers going again. We only need one more Lunatak. I was always more fond of them, but Cruncher really changed the Berserkers, and now I want more. Not just the core four, but the ones from the first season would be welcome additions, and how about those unproduced prototypes? Anyone else have the same feeling?

That brings me to Nayda. She was the one I was most looking forward to in the wave. She had that box that read “never been made in toy form before”. Plus, she was Willa’s sister. She’s always been an important character to me, because of the Panini sticker book. Years after the story ended, that was my go to place to experience ThunderCats; well, until I got the DVDs. But she was there and I enjoyed the stories with her in them. I was hoping we’d get her, but thought chances would be slim. When Willa appeared, she was such a big wish. We can’t have the one without the other, right?

Right! So here we go, the second Warrior Maiden completes another core team. I won’t mind if we don’t get other Warrior Maidens, more generic ones, but they are down the list somewhere at the bottom. So if we only get these two I’ll be satisfied. Nayda’s art is impressive. Very much like Pumyra’s. Classy. Elegant. Desirable. She’s one hot mama in that picture! Still, although she has two portraits, one smiling, and one not, it is the stoic look that is my Nayda; very much like Willa. Yeah I know they laughed, but this was more how I remembered them. The smiling face is good, despite the orange shading between the eyes that detract somewhat from the overall look. But both faces’ paint is crisp and clean.

Articulation wise, she has what you’d expect with the female form. The boob cut is good here, although I think she could’ve benefitted with a ball-joint at the waist. Still, she’s got great movement and you can have her do all kinds of poses. One thing I do love about her design is that whoever did the hair took into account that she would be wearing the quiver and that her ponytail might be in the way. So it has a natural wave in it that fits over it snug and still allow her head to be upright. 10 out of 10 to you designer!!!

Accessory wise, she has plenty. Several hands, bow string hands included, the bow, two arrows (same as with Willa), and her knife. Now she has nowhere to store it, so mine is displayed with it in hand. Talking about in hand – her bracelet is really perfect, and what I picked up immediately when I took her out was that they had cut a hole in the blister pack to accommodate it, so that it wouldn’t break or get hurt during transportation. Brilliant thinking I tell ya!

Hachiman’s little sister is a nice addition to my shelf. I’m really happy with how she turned out. Now I need a treetop kingdom playset and some generic warriors. Maybe I’ll look for something Ewok-ish that would fit in… Wasn’t there a playset back in the day? What I know about those toys are dangerously little, so I could be remembering something else.

Wave 12 is a sold wave that delivered surprises and delights. I missed the chance to buy it from Super7 directly, so will be on the hunt for the Super Pack soon. I need that Mumm-Ra head for Nayda. And another Nayda. But it’s really good to see how deep we’ve come, and I get even more and more excited with every wave. If you haven’t gotten it yet, you can still buy it from Super7 in stock here.