We’re back in ThunDera with our favorite feline fan ToyBro. This surprise army builder wave hit preorders December 2022. In less than a year Super7 delivered an exciting wave of Reptilians who only ever had the honor of being released in toy form twice, albeit in two different scales and lines. Let’s catch up with Jared Elswick!
WWMTC: Spooky season and Ghost Jaga might be in the rearview mirror, but we’ve got another release from Super7 delivered to us in just under a year since the preorder went up. How does it feel to finally have some army builders in the ThunderCats line up?
TB: Honestly it’s still pretty surprising. I really didn’t think we’d get stuff like this at all considering the release schedule for Ultimates, but I do like the idea of getting army builders like this.
WWMTC: I know I’ve asked Brian Flynn this recently, but would YOU like some other army builders for the other mutants?
TB: I would, but only if it doesn’t get in the way of other named figures. I like the idea of other mutants (among other army builders) but they aren’t even close to a priority for me.
WWMTC: Anything we’re getting at this point in time is gravy, as we’ve covered the A-listers and are only left with a few important LJN villains and some never produced good guys. When these were announced in December last year, were you surprised?
TB: I was, but I suppose I really shouldn’t have been. Slithe is a very unique figure, it’s not THAT surprising they’d try to reuse those parts, and this is about the only chance they have to do that.
WWMTC: It’s no secret that Slithe was a hit. Is it your opinion that these gents follow suit?
TB: Very much so. They’re obviously very similar to Slithe, but they’re all very unique from him and from each other too. Colors, clothing, weapons, there’s a lot of little things outside of parts that are different enough to warrant a purchase.
WWMTC We have three reptilians here, and while they’ve never been given official names, these titles they’ve been awarded are quite fitting. Do they live up to their given names when you hold them in hand?
TB: I’d say so, though I’d also say all the names are pretty interchangeable across all 3. They’re all very generic grunt type names, they work well enough.
WWMTC: They are also in different shades of green as you mentioned, likewise to how they appeared in the toon. While they are slimmer in the toon, do you think that will detract from what Super7 tried to achieve here?
TB: I don’t think so. There was likely zero chance they’d ever give us unique tooling for how they looked in the show. They’re Slithe-esque in the show, but they’re obviously much more like him in toy form. And I get it, Slithe is a unique figure, they can get away with reusing him for these, I think it still works just fine. It’s either this or nothing, I suspect.
WWMTC: Like you mentioned, the base body for Slithe was reused here. Does that bother you and make you think “this is Slithe with an alt head” or would you say this is more a case of looking at Mirror Lion-O and thinking “this is not just a red version of Lion-O, this is from that iconic episode where he battled his mirror version and this is soooo cool!” (I may be exaggerating here ha!)
TB: No, I mean it’s definitely a thought to consider, they ARE very much just Slithes with some changes. But it’s the changes that matter here. Like I said previously a lot of little things are changed here to make them different enough to consider buying. And when you get them next to Slithe it’s even more obvious how much has changed from his original release.
WWMTC: In terms of portraits, each one comes with an alt head, so you can army build at least up to 6 of these guys to get different expressions. Would you have wanted another head, or do you think this is more than enough for the average collector who would end up only getting 1 each?
TB: There’s always the consideration of asking for more, if anything I’d think it would have been better to have it to where none of the figures shared the same heads, and that is the case with a couple of these. Otherwise it’s not that big of a deal, and none of them come with Slithe’s goofy head so he gets to retain that uniqueness.
WWMTC: They have one accessory each, and an extra set of hands. Does the size of this figure compensate for the lesser extras?
TB: In a way, yes. The only thing I sort of wish they had, were guns, but there aren’t any Reptilian hands built for those, so I don’t think that would have happened anyway. I like the idea of each of them having a signature weapon so what they come with really wasn’t a big deal to me. Even Slithe himself didn’t come with the standard “ton” of accessories either.
WWMTC: We have a soft goods version here with the guard. Is it similar to any of the other previous releases? Is it wired at all? Or is it more like Windhammer’s tunic?
TB: It just sort of sits on him, but it fits perfectly so there’s no real concern about posing it. Hangs on the shoulder nicely, for something so basic I think it adds to the figure quite well.
WWMTC: Of the three color schemes, which is your favorite and why?
TB: I really like Brute, mostly because he’s so different from the rest. The other 2 are clearly green, but not the same as Slithe. The Brute is almost a muddy color. It’s not the most exciting color for sure, but it makes him stand out.
WWMTC: Still on the topic of favorites, which face speaks REPTILE to you the most?
TB: The sort of smug head/face that the Guard and Brute have, I’d have to say. It also is the most “Slithe” type of face for them too.
WWMTC: Last question on this topic of favorites, of the three weapons, which one works the best for you with them? And which is just meh? If any, by the way!
TB: Honestly all of them are just sort of ok, I like things about all of them, but none of them are going to blow you away. They’re all very standard grunt type weapons. Though the wire on the flail is a nice touch, I do have concerns of it breaking over time.
WWMTC: Seeing them displayed beside Cats Lair really showed off how far Super7 has come with world building, and despite some favorites we all have and want in the future, we now know that Super7 is already working on Wave 15. That’s still another 24 figures to add to our collections. Has your wish list changed over the past year in terms of whom you’d still like Super7 to make?
TB: Not really, no. I’m still focused on getting Lunataks more than anything else, even though we know they’re coming, they aren’t here yet. And then some of the more prominent lesser characters like Driller or Enflamer.
WWMTC: We’ll leave you here for now, but in a few short week’s we’ve got a glowing lady speeding our way, so we’ll catch up with you again before the end of 2023, and before we start 2024 off with Wave 7’s arrival. See ya!
TB: Speeding her way here just in time for Christmas I hope!
