Wave 3 ThunderCats DELUXE Review
It’s odd that people are still discovering ThunderCats. Forty years later, “new” collectors are happening upon this vintage cartoon’s newest iteration of toys in Target stores throughout the US. As a fan that’s been very vocal about the Super7 toy line, it’s therefore heartwarming to find old fans rediscovering the line. I can already hear them uttering in delight how these DELUXE cardbacks switched on a light of nostalgia the moment it was spotted in the isles of your neighborhood Target.
The DELUXE figures are therefore scratching that itch that some people never even realized was there to begin with. And with Wave 3’s release, Super7 once again blew me away with a selection of characters I did not expect to see. Toy versions of Lion-O and Snarf debuted earlier this year as Target exclusives, and has since made their way over to super7.com and other online toy stores across the globe. And what a selection. I’ll be honest, this wave was a shocker, but in a good way.
The ninth (yes 9th! not counting the Version 2 release of Wave 1) Lion-O in their 7″ scale line is a homerun. I will say outright – this was a surprise. Why another Lion-O? Well, the pictures online do not do him any justice. There are several things in his favor, and you will do well to take note of these.
First up, he boasts the new buck we got with the Wave 1 DX Lion-O (and also the LED and now King variants). That already makes him different from the ULTIMATES! release. Another thing, and this is a big one – his belt. Yes – we finally have that vintage logo replicated here on the belt. Marvelous. Just marvelous. Big nostalgia tick right there. You can’t go wrong with the vintage inspired Sword of Omens and claw shield either. But this is my biggest praise of this figure: his hair / claw shield / sword are all ORANGE!!!! Ok, not 100% orange, considering how his skin tone is very orange. But when you compare him to the ULT! release, you can clearly see it. And this is what makes him my favorite version so far. That vintage orange variant was my preferred version anyway, despite the red being more correct, and the maroon also being a nice option back then. So with that, Super7 really nailed it. And I was just about to ask Brian about color variants.
The only down side is that his knees don’t bend very well. I could not for the life of me bend either, so I need to heat them up. Fair warning then – be careful when you do try to bend them. It may be too tight / stiff / stuck. Other than that, the articulation is just right. It’s a pity the claw shield doesn’t clip onto his belt. But come on, will you rather display it with the claw shield on or off?
Packaging is nothing new here. It’s still the vintage spotted black and white backdrop and the iconic artwork on the back. It works for me and I can see it becoming a stand out on the toy store shelves. Did we really think we’d see ThunderCats in stores again after 40 years? The mere fact that this is the toy version on this blister packaging is a home run. I made a mock up in December last year when I got the first DX Lion-O, putting the ULT! toy version in it just for the fun of it. And hey, here we have him today. What a fun full circle moment. With people finding the toy versions in store on this type of packaging, the allure to own the Lord of the ThunderCats has never been stronger.
I find it very clever therefore that Super7 paired this toy version of Lion-O with a toy version of Snarf. That was an even bigger surprise. We’re getting a new figure in DX first? That didn’t make sense! Or did it? But it works so brilliantly. Sure, they reused the cartoon version’s buck. The only thing new here is the head sculpt. Oh, and of course, the short Sword of Omens. Brand new – never been done before in toy style. Really cool!!! But a toy variant Snarf as DX and not ULT!????
I think this is where I realized that the DX style works fantastically for toy variants. Why? Well for starters, I don’t recall the LJN toy line have shading, or excessive shading / more naturalistic shading. It didn’t matter back then I guess. And with this setup it does not matter now either. In fact, it gives me the feels of an updated toy sculp with modern articulation. I love it and I love that Snarf broke the rule that a figure must be released in ULT! first. I don’t think we really even need an ULT! toy variant of Snarf. I don’t need anything else with him anyway. With his orange bag and sword, all is well on my LJN toy variant shelf. And he goes soooo well with Lion-O.
Yes, his parts are interchangeable with the ULT! version. You can put that tail on with the stand. It fits, but the colors are way too different to look right. Unless you want to repaint it, then I wouldn’t even bother. But he looks good like this. Perfect actually. It does look like the vintage Snarf with that iconic head. Just more modern.
This Snarf carries over the same “issue” from the previous version. His lower legs are backwards. That is as per the original designer. I already heated up and turned the parts around on the toon version. So it can be done. But I’m not going to even try it. It’s really not that much of an issue and it doesn’t look wrong.
Will we get other toy variants in DX going forward? I sure hope so. It would be a clever way to pull people back into ThunderCats in stores by spotting them on the shelf on this iconic cardback.
Look there is already a toy version of Lion-O available, so you don’t need to buy this Lion-O. But he is really aesthetically beautiful. So it is worth it for the orange hair alone. But Snarf is the clear winner here. The flood of nostalgia is just overpowering. What a magnificent figure. And it’s so plain, that’s the irony. But this ticks all the boxes. Plus I’m sure my gran would’ve loved to see this version of Snarf. She owned the vintage one till the day she died. I remember our last photo together was with her holding that Snarf. She would’ve given this one her stamp of approval. And I do too.
Thank you to Super7 for providing these samples for reviewing purposes. For more information and future ThunderCats releases, click here.
