Integration

[Weapon XIX]

Here are some thoughts on the new 4" Thundercats.

The good:
The articulation on Lion-O, Tygra and Panthro is better than expected. While a lack of bicep joint or rotating elbow hurts potential poses (ie Lion-O holding the sword in 2 hands) the ankle joints, calf swivel (not on Lion-O for some reason), and thigh swivels are more than I expected, especially considering Bandai America's articulation track record. The range of motion is also good on these 3.

Scale is great, Lion-O is the shortest of the big cats, then Cheetarah, Tygra, and then Panthro - who is bulky and huge and awesome.

The accessories are pretty cool too. Panthro's chucks are cool and have swivels to allow more movement. I would have preferred actual chains and may replace them, but they're better than expected. I also like that we got a second holstered set. And Lion-O's swords and gauntlet are great. The plastic is a little flimsy, but they're still pretty awesome. Tygra's gun is nice though his belt holster is huge. The kittens have heart little accessories but i would have liked it if Wilykit came with her ocarina.

The bad:
Cheetarah and the Kittens' articulation is less than desirable. The kittens have 3 poa - neck and shoulders. I realize they're smaller but ifnyou look at recent Jawas and even Jazwares' Sonic figures put the kittens to shame. But I just couldn't sits the urge to get all the cats and couldn't put them down.

Also, I understand the idea of giving them each big transforming skateboards to make up for their lack of size and articulation, but I w oils have preferred to skip the boards and just package the two of them together, like when Toy Biz put Merry and Pippin in one Two Towers figure box in a later wave. Then they could have fit another Lion-O in the case

Cheetarah...her articulation is problematic. She's got biceps swivels, but no wrist cuts like the other big cats so 2 handed staff poses are awkward. Her hair and the thunderlynx system prevent her from moving her head at all. She's got v-hips. They try to make up for it by giving each leg 2 thigh swivels each. It helps, but I don't see why the couldn't have gone with the ball hips or even something similar the Power Rangers' females of late. So she's got 6 poa in her legs above the knee. Below she's got none. No ankles though the other big cats got 'em, so no running poses. She's got a lot of poa but not where it counts.

So while they're far from perfect, they're still pretty good for the price. If you're not attached to the kittens as I'd skip they're figures, but I couldn't pass them up. The male cats are very cool and much better than expected, but Cheetarah leaves a lot to be desired.

Quick poa count:
Lion-O
16 poa = Neck, waist, shoulders, elbows, forearms, hips, thighs, knees, ankles

Tygra, Panthro
17 poa = Neck, shoulders, elbows, forearms, hips, thighs, knees, calves, ankles

Cheetarah
14 poa (15 if you count the cut neck despite the fact that it can't move) = Unusable neck joint, shoulders, biceps, elbows, v-hips, thighs x2, knees

Wilykit, Wilykat
3 poa = neck, shoulders


Onto 6" Mumm-ra
This guy is awesome. He's more articulated the 4" cats and he's appropriately scaled to them. He comes with two sets of hands, one open and one for clutching his Sword of Plundarr. The sword is massive and can be taken apart, but unfortunately it creates one sword and one spare blade as the handle stays as one piece. Also unfortunate is that the spare blade without the handle is the blade with the eye and hilt, so it's more of a generic big sword unless they're connected. He also has the dagger form and the gauntlet. The gauntlet is big and cool looking but the tendrils that come out of it are a little unwieldy.

He's got a ton of articulation: ball jointed neck, limited by sculpt but there is some up and down movement there, ball shoulders, bicep twists, elbow hinge, forearm cut and wrist cut for the interchangeable hands, waist, ball hips, thigh cut, double hinged knees, and double hinged ankles that allow for side to side movement for better balancing. All in all that's 24 poa!

No wings on the big guy, but he's plenty menacing without.

Overall he's a great figure and fits in very nicely with the 4"ers.