2011 Lion-O. Thundercats, WHOOOAAA!

So after learning about the new Thundercats cartoon and watching some episodes, I have decided it is worth watching.  I liked the concept of Thundercats when it came out in the 80s, but never bothered with the cartoon, I remember having a Mumm-Ra toy at the very least.  I have since watched some of the 80s cartoon and have come to the conclusion that it is bad.  Even for an 80s cartoon.  That would be why I didn’t watch it.  Naturally the 2011 cartoon ends up being an advert for the toys, so here I have a little review for the 6” Lion-O toy.

 

 

I got this and the 8” Classic Lion-O as I see the classic version being much like the Transformers Classics and Masters Classics update.  Then I thought I would get the new Lion-O as well.  Sort of like a father-son thing going on.  I have ended up quite liking this 2011 toy quite a lot.

 

The box is fairly standard, interestingly, it has has 3 European Languages on it, which I find most perplexing since all the online toy stores I had been to had stated that Bandai America had told them not to sell outside of North America.  I got mine through eBay and I find the multi-lingual thing odd. 

 

 

Just the normal blister pack with all his stuff.  He comes with his Sword of Omens, both long and short (Dagger of Omens??), two gauntlets, one with fingers and one without and that’s it.

 

There is some tag thing for more information if you scan it with your phone and a bit of story (not much) and other toys in the line on the back.

 

 

What I find interesting is that instead of having a little bit of blurb about Lion-O on the back of the box, it has a little paragraph advertising the cartoon.  Some information on this new Lion-O probably would have added to the character a bit more.

 

Opening the box led to and interesting surprise.  He has plastic tag things, but they are a little bit elastic! Never seen these before.

 

 

Plus he also has a slightly bent dagger.  Nothing a bit of a warm water bath wouldn’t fix, but hey it has a straight spot in the box.  I guess that’s an issue with these soft swords.

 

 

And so out of the box we have a rather fine looking little action figure.

 

 

I was surprised to see quite a few joints on this guy.  The extra elbow and knee joints are what pipped me over the post into getting the 6” size over the 4”.  He looks really close to the cartoon version of him, which I like and the armour is pretty good too.

 

 

The shoulder guard is made of soft plastic and moves well.  Pointing his arm straight up is provides issues, but most other movements are relatively unrestricted by it.  He has a swivel joint where his bicep meets the shoulder and really good joints in the elbows allowing his arms to fold right up.  His waist can bend and swivel and there is a joint above his stomach/ribs which allows for a little bit more movement.  His neck joint is also very sturdy and allows for full range of movement too.  The hands are connected by  a ball joint as you have to unplug them to put the gauntlet on.

 

Notice those big black pegs?  Yeh, they are not well hidden in the joints.  To be honest, they don’t bother me that much, what does bother me are the screws in his back.

 

His face is nicely painted and has details in all the right spots.

 

Nice blue eyes as well.

 

The waist and legs are pretty well done too.  Unlike the original Lion-O, this one has no shoes and hairy legs, which I quite like as it really adds to his cat-qualities.

 

 

He has the two joints in the knees as well and good movement available at his ankles.  the black thing hanging off his belt is how you attach the gauntlet to his waist for holding the sword in dagger mode.  It just plugs into the ball joint bit and the dagger fits quite nicely into it.

 

It actually has a pretty good shine on it too.

 

You can pose him quite well and the pain work on the dagger with the Eye of Thundera is nice and sharp.

 

 

And of course you can stick the holster on his arm as well…

 

Aaaaaaw Whiskers…  How am I going to explain this  to Panthro…

 

Then of course you can put on the proper gauntlet.  It too has a spot for holding the dagger.  It looks good on his hand, but I would have preferred some articulation in the fingers, or at the very least his fingers bent a bit like claws.

 

 

Nice and shiny as well, but just a tad bizarre looking with all the fingers spread out like that.

 

 

Now, grant me Sight beyond Sight!!!!

 

 

The sword looks pretty cool!  The Thundercats logo is nice and sharp and the silver paint is nice and silvery.  The sword is made of very soft plastic though which is a bit of a let down, but I guess it is a kids toy.  The handle is also a bit too thick to make him look through the hilt like the show.

 

With the Sword of Omens in hand, his awesome articulation comes into play

 

BEHOLD!

 

 

 

Lion-O also has pretty good balance as well.

 

 

And just standing around, looking tough for Cheetara…

 

 

I ended up liking this toy a lot more than I thought, I found myself chucking him in my bag and taking him to work so that I could leave him on my desk and just mess about with him during the quiet times.  I think the cartoony look and amount of articulation on this figure make him a very dynamic chap and I now find myself wanting more in the six inch range, which is currently quite small.

 

 

 

Overall I am pretty impressed and despite his black joint pegs and screws he is a fun little toy.  I just hope that when Bandai get these toys out to Australia they retail for a decent price.  $15 would be a good start, but I suspect they will hit the $20 mark quite easily, which would make them not as good value for money, after all they retail in the US for About $12.

 

You can also mess with his hands a bit!!