Hall of Omens: Thunder-Verse! Buddha’s 850-Page Collectors Guide

If you have ever tried to track down a Glasslite deluxe Lion-O variant, or wondered which version of the LJN Tygra shipped in 1987, you already know the problem. A single-volume, properly catalogued reference for the Rankin/Bass-era merchandise and toy lines did not exist. Pieces of it lived on a dozen forum threads, in three or four print magazines from the late ’90s, and in collectors’ heads.

It exists now. Hall of Omens: Thunder-Verse! The Unofficial Ultimate Collector’s Guide to ThunderCats, SilverHawks, and TigerSharks is 850 pages of hardcover catalogue, more than 4,500 photographs, and the first proper attempt to document all three properties under one roof.

Every vintage figure. US and international variants. Rare prototypes with reference photography. Global merchandise from the US, UK, Europe and South America. Exclusive new interviews with Larry Kenney, Maggie Wheeler and Pete Cannarozzi. Behind-the-scenes material from the writers and artists who built the franchises in the first place.

Buddha is one of our own

This matters because reference books in this category live or die on accuracy. Variants get attributed to the wrong region. Prototype provenance gets muddled. Production sequences get reversed. Buddha has been quietly correcting that record on the podcast and in the community for years. His book is the culmination of all of it.

Two printings, two covers

The first printing of Thunder-Verse! sold out shortly after release. The second printing is open for pre-order now in two cover variants, both shipping direct from the publisher at $70 USD each.

The variant cover is by Kyle Lambert, the artist behind the original ThunderCatsLair.org encyclopedia illustrations and, more recently, the iconic poster art for all five seasons of Stranger Things. Buddha and Peter Lawrence’s interview with him on Beyond Thundera earlier this year sheds light on how the cover design came to be.

What’s actually inside

We have flipped through an early copy. Some specifics worth highlighting:

• The prototype documentation for both produced and unproduced LJN figures is the most thorough coverage of the toy line’s conception and development we’ve ever seen.
• The foreign releases section sorts cleanly by region: Playful, Glasslite, Unitoys. The minis section also breaks down each figure’s many regional variants with helpful side-by-side photos.
• The interviews are not retreads. Larry Kenney talks about reprising Claudus in the 2011 reboot, Maggie Wheeler recalls Lee Dannacher cold calling her for an audition, and Pete Cannarozzi walks through the music and effects pipeline at Rankin/Bass.
• The TigerSharks chapter is the most surprising. The line had a single 1987 wave from LJN and almost nothing has been written about it in the decades since. Buddha gives it the same treatment as the bigger lines.

Where to read more

The full catalogue entry with direct pre-order links are also available on our Collectors Guides page:

View the full Hall of Omens: Thunder-Verse! entry →

For more from Buddha, Beyond Thundera is on YouTube and all major podcast platforms.