Wave 14 ThunderCats ULTIMATES! Review

Wave 14 is here. It felt much longer for it to arrive from the US than what it felt since I had purchased it on November last year. This was our first presale, which means that the items are already made, and made in limited quantity I need to add. What’s more, these will usually ship within a month or so. With the festive season arriving just a few weeks after the presale went up, it was understandable that there might be some delays. Not much, but early January the wave started shipping out. I’m so glad they didn’t wait for Wizz-Ra to get fixed.

Say what? If you haven’t heard that story yet – Wizz-Ra (which was leaked alongside these two some time ago) was pulled from the wave because of factory issues. Not sure what these were, but instead of holding back the wave’s delivery, Super7 went full steam ahead with finishing the two figures that were nearly done, and put them up for preorder by themselves. Fret not, Wizz-Ra will be in Wave 15, alongside the other 3 figures planned for that wave. Get ready for a big 4-figure wave next, then things to back to normal with the standard of 3 figures per wave.

But first – all hail the king! King Lion-O has made it home after his trials to defeat not only his companions, but also the vile Mumm-Ra. He was crowned the rightful ruler of the ThunderCats at a crowded coronation ceremony. Cheetara placed the crown upon his head, while everybody cheered him on. That is, except for Mumm-Ra. Who cackled in an epilogue saying he will be back. Or something like that. Great episode, go watch it!

So we might only have a minute or so screentime of Lion-O looking like this, but dang!!! They got his likeness spot on. Like in 100% perfect. From the way his hair tufts, to the belt sporting all the insignias, and of course, the cape with its red shoulder bands. What’s more – his skin tone is just right. I’ve already heard the murmurs that people want him released in his skin tone. I don’t blame them. This is THE ultimate version of him in terms of likeness. Soooo good!!!

So what’s different here? Well, the sculpt is the new one, which presents beautifully. Watch out for his knees, they are a bit tight, so heat them up. But otherwise the articulation is smashing. The addition of the cape means that they had to make a different plan on how it would fit with the existing sculpt. Now I’m not sure if they cut back on the shoulder area, but it does seem that way because he can hold the Sword of Omens much better in front of him. The pads themselves are loose pieces that plug into the sculpt through the cape. The cape is a lovely glossy and royal-looking fabric. It is also complimented with its bendy-wire. So you can pose him Superman style too.

His accessories may be few, but what more do you need? He has the small Sword of Omens. Check. He has the big one. Check. It glows in the dark, like the LED version. Check, check! Besides the gripping hands, he also has two expressive hands. I don’t see the need for many other options here, as you’ll either have him wear the shiny clawshield, which also holds the Sword of Omens, and then have the staff in his hand.

Now I have to add, the staff is not his actual staff, it belongs to the boatman who carried him across the river in Mumm-Ra’s pyramid. Lion-O would use the staff to battle other monstrosities moments later, so it’s really nice to have that here. Will we have the boatman as a figure later on? I doubt it, but it would be cool.

Lion-O has two portraits. The stoic one, and the smiling one. Both are superb. I can’t really choose which is my favorite. But both capture his essence really well.

The topic that had a lot of attention was the belt. Now in the show, he collected the insignias from the ThunderCats once he beat them in their trial. When the presale went live, these were missing. However, Brian Flynn shared an exclusive update of the final product with me, showing that the belt was indeed correct. The wrong file had been sent to the team dealing with the solicitations, but this was soon rectified. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. That was, besides the crown and the cape, the most important and iconic part of his look. Unfortunately, mine came with a pain blotch on one of the insignias, but I managed to scrape it off, so no harm done. The look is complete and Lion-O is finally the true king.

Packaging for the figure is standard. This is however the first wave where the art of the figure is not an actual painting, but an image generated of the 3D rendering. It is however still made to look like it belongs to the same style, so that’s not a real bummer. It looks great nonetheless. The bio is somewhat generic, and that’s really the only “disappointment”. There is no mention as to how he became king, what the insignias are for, and why he has the staff. I think references to that might have made the packaging more attractive. Instead it mentions Jaga’s mentoring (which could’ve been countered because he told Jaga off in that very same episode!) as well as New Thundera. This was looong before they even ventured there, so it’s kinda pointless. But it is not a bad bio. It just feels like it belongs to the wrong version of Lion-O from the start of the second sentence. But that’s really nitpicking.

I really want to say that Red Eye is the clear winner of this wave. But he is not. These are both brilliant figures. I am very impressed with them both, and each has its own highlights. Well, truth be told, both are highlights within themselves. I can’t fault them at all. But while Lion-O is a variant I’ve wanted for a long time, Red Eye is a character I never thought we’d see coming. So when Super7 started selling the Lunataks, it was just a matter of time before we got to him.

So his name really should’ve hinted at his eyes being LED. I never expected this, not even with the leak from before. This was the biggest surprise, and I’m thrilled that they did this. He has two excellent portraits, and both eyes light up. It works the same as the previous LED figures. This elevates the figure and makes it stand out even more than what it did before. The little art piece on the side of the packaging is also really nice. I love that throwback to the vintage Lion-O and Mumm-Ra (and more recently, the SDCC exclusives from 2024). This is our third LED figure. And I wonder if we’ll see any more like this. I’m happy for more if you ask me.

Red Eye is a beast of a figure. Very close in stature to Cruncher, the Berserker, as well as Amok, the Lunatak. But Super7 does chunky characters really well, and when you think it shouldn’t work, it actually does. I’m very pleased with how it turned out. His articulation is easy and you can pose him any way you like.

He doesn’t need much in terms of accessories, so the gripping and more open hand is just what he needs. The gripping hand holds the pacifier beautifully. If you don’t know where that weapon is from, check out the episode Side Swipe. It’s a nifty weapon that Mandora eventually uses against him and Vultureman. But she and Lynx-O get caught again in a spinning rocket. For more on that, watch the cartoon…. The pacifier has two versions in the show, one closed, and one open, like what we’ve got here. I prefer the open one. It looks better.

While not technically the weapon he is known for, the one he is famous for comes hidden in his chest. The discus plugs into the raised knob on his chest behind the cover that lifts off with the flick of a nail. The cover plugs back in too, so you can have him hold the discus in his open hand. Whallah! Perfection.

A nice touch is the detail on his feet. Did you know he has hooves for toes? That’s brilliantly captured here. Just shows you how much Super7 pays attention to the little things.

Now my next wish is of course that Super7 makes his unproduced toy variant one day. That’s a welcome prototype I’d love to own and add to my LJN display. I don’t mind if he has light up eyes or not. But it would be cool to finally own that colorscheme.

His packaging is the same as Lion-O, albeit a bit wider in girth to accommodate him. But that’s it really. His bio is spot on, and it reminded me that he was more than just brute force, but also a very clever foe. The bio does a wonderful job of making him sound even deadlier than what I initially thought from the toon. But in hindsight, the writer is correct. Red Eye was dangerous. And having in on my shelf in this forms makes me not only realize it more, but appreciate how much trouble these Lunataks were for the ThunderCats, and why Mumm-Ra despised them.

Wave 14 is a blast! I loved both figures equally. There’s no favorite here. Get them both! That’s my recommendation anyway.