For a character that is known for her speed, it sure felt like she took forever to reach this side of the world! I’ve realized that lately, the moment a shipping notice reaches me, or even the first indication that a new release is finding its way into the hands of collectors, the waiting game is really unpleasant! I feel like that Mr Bean meme who is looking at his watch in the field… you know the one! Held up by the massive international hauls of gifts and purchases going here and there across the globe, she finally arrived in the middle of January, and forgotten were the weeks that felt like months. For those of you who are also international collectors, you may understand the difficult decision in having to sometimes group ship some of your purchases, especially when you buy with a friend. I had to make that tough call here to save a tad, but it was surely worth the wait. She’s here now.
There’s one thing that I learnt from this line that Cheetara’s Super-speed Glow version finally brought home: three iterations of Cheetara later and I have eventually grasped the WHY behind the variants. Not that I have disliked any previous variant releases. Each one has been justified, each one captured a moment in the toon that I could place. After glancing over at my display it all made sense to me. Super7 has tapped into something that not only hits the memory nerve, but they’ve made it fun too. And this version of Cheetara is that “ahaa” moment for me. I get it!! And I’m beginning to think that those round table sessions in Super7 HQ must take a lot longer when they’re planning future waves; there are several key points that must be met it seems.
This was the second direct Super7 exclusive for ThunderCats. As with Ghost Jaga, Cheetara went on preorder in May 2023!!!! In just under 7 months, Super7 delivered their fastest figure yet! No pun intended. That is most impressive. And here I am complaining about how long it took for her to get here. Granted, the sculpt existed, but when you take into account that there are several other factors that also play a role in the production cycle, it is still quite grand in the great scheme of things. She was here in a flash….
I’ll start with what is has become a hot topic amongst some collectors; even after this was addressed back in October by Brian Flynn. Glowtara, as I call her, does not come with mailer box or a slip cover. The omission of the slip cover is probably my least favorite part of her offering and the irony is, it’s about something that isn’t there! Don’t get me wrong, apart from showing off the packaging when it arrives in my reviews, the packaging does go into the cupboard afterwards and I rarely ever look at it again. I’m still too attached to the beautiful art on the back to throw my boxes away. Maybe one day. But when it has come to Super7 exclusives so far, be it via BBTS or something else, the packaging has always been glossy and shiny and reflective and all things fancy. Just look at Ghost Jaga’s box. So even though I do get the reason for cutting costs with that here, that has always been one of the aspects of an exclusive that I liked the most and perhaps I was just expecting that here. Like I said, for that 10 minutes or so that I spend with the packaging, it’s really not worth another $5 on top of the figure, so I’m good with it. If you are worried though about how it ships, don’t: the packaging comes in a plastic sleeve that adds a layer of protection. And when Super7 ships these from their warehouse, they ensure it still has a proper box to protect the precious cargo.
The back of the box again features the lovely art of Cheetara that we’ve seen before. This time it is fitting to the release and the fun element this figure brings home. There’s an added GITD emblem that I’ve also spotted on the GITD ReAction Mumm-Ra. I still think that having it foiled would’ve been a bit more impressive, and the art with its updated yellowish speed vibes would’ve popped a bit more. That’s just a personal preference like I said. I’m still loving this art and I do hope we get to see a GITD ReAction version of her in the future boasting this art once more.
Before you ask if the figure is worth its $10 increase over the standard release, the answer is yes. For the play / wow factor you get from this figure, I’ll happily pay that. Even if you really only get extra hands and two versions of her bo staff, alongside an alt head, I don’t see what else you’d need here (apart from perhaps attachable lightning streaks!). The figure is straight to the point. What you get is what you see. Now for those who do not know why this figure costs $10 more, the answer is simple. Whatever plastic is used here, or rather, the GITD side of it, costs more. A lot more. If you remember a while back there were four turtles who had an oozy glow to them at $65 each as well. But what do you expect? This is a fun element that justifies it. Have you even switched the light off yet on this gal? She glows!!
And by glows I mean, she REALLY glows. Glow-Ra (aka Mumm-Ra Evil Glow) has his cape that covers most of his body, so even though he does have a nice green shine to him in the dark, this yellow is bright as day light. Move her around as if she’s running in the dark, and that yellow trail of light mimics her beautifully from the toon. Another point for Super7 here – we finally have a version of her that resembles a characteristic we probably wouldn’t have gotten any other way. Sure, like I said, some energy sparks to attach to her feet and arms and body would’ve been groovy for a deluxe version of Glowtara, but this is her in her element. Don’t worry though, she can also mirror that spinning version of her when she was in a trance trying to figure out what happened to Pumyra, Bengali and Lynx-O at the start of the ThunderCats Ho! movie.
Cheetara has the exact same articulation here you’d expect from her. So there’s nothing different to report and I personally never expected anything else from her. What I may do is swop out her staff with the regular version as this one has some golden highlights on her boots, her hair, forearm and bangles, and that could match nicely. (I’m still wishing the original one had come with a proper yellow staff like with the LJN version!) The short bo staff fits nicely into her forearm as it had done previously. The bangles are still loose fitting, so be careful when you change hands.
The heads once again offer the same standard and running poses. I don’t know if I would’ve wanted another head here with her more aggressive a-la-LJN-version, but now that I have this Glowtara I will finally pose her with the hair in the wind. This is definitely the go-to head for this figure. The paint on here is good too. But if it appears a bit strange to you in the daylight, it’s probably because of what it was meant to look like in the dark, so take a closer look at her at night. Her face then really shines. I personally wouldn’t have been unhappy if her hair had glowed as well. It doesn’t make the figure any less awesome though.
Now that she’s on my shelf, I’m going to pose her in a running pose next to my ThunderTank. And I’m confident that at night both she and the eyes of the tank will be glowing in all their splendor. This is a superb variant and a worthy figure to add to your shelf.
She also made her appearance on Big Bad Toy Store just like Ghost Jaga did. Twice! She was priced at almost $90 – a bit more than the original $65 price tag from Super7. She sold out super fast. Then a week or so later, she appeared again. The lesson here is: make sure that when Super7 offers an exclusive that you purchase it direct. It’s always up for a month, sometimes even longer, and that window should suffice. Get yours, I’m sure glad I did. That little bit extra you pay for it elsewhere is money you can spend on the next wave…
I’m still wondering what type of variant we’ll see of Panthro. Maybe he will be a GITD blue? That’s the only version I can see of him, apart from an LJN counterpart. Or perhaps we’ll see his Spitting Image version. Which is basically the same, but he could be presented with an alt head and perhaps some battle damage. That then would give us variants of the core four adults. And hopefully we’ll see Thunderian versions of Lynx-O, Pumyra and Bengali too. I doubt there are those who would want a “naked” Cheetara! LOL. She would look good though!
Now to press publish on this review so that I can move on over to Wave 7, featuring that little rascal Snarf to complete the toon’s season 1 A-listers…. but in all seriousness, the verdict out there seems to be one of a satisfied community when it comes to Glowtara, and I’m in agreement too.
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