I often appreciate it when there is a delay in deliveries. It sounds silly, but when there’s a new wave of ThunderCats ULTIMATES! from Super7 incoming, there’s so much goodness in the wave that sometimes characters get lost when you start ranking them based on what’s in front of you. So when they arrive in smaller quantities I get to spend more quality time with each figure, and the appreciation opportunities multiply.
It’s probably good that Snarfer and Quick Pick arrives a few days after their Wave 10 counterparts, Young Lion-O and Mumm-Ra Dream Master. I found that they have so much to offer that I might have missed otherwise. Everybody knows I’ve been a big advocate for Young Lion-O. So big that I tend to forgot how much I’ve been clamoring for Snarfer. I managed to enjoy ample time with the young lord and his dreamy nemesis, so it was appropriate to have the same type of exposure to the two newcomers from outer space.
Let’s talk Snarfer. We always wanted Snarf to complete the core team from Season 1. But we were already treated to several Season 2 ThunderCats, so from early on the team was being built out beyond the core lot. Snarfer was a given in hindsight, but in the early days I often wondered how far the line would go. Yes Brian Flynn said they’ll go as far as they can while the support is there. So with Lunataks revealed in the previous waves, Snarfer was on everybody’s radar.
His appearance had me overjoyed. He looked the part. He had the coolest accessories. Then the excitement went south for a bit. You all know what I’m talking about. In an interview it was suggested he might use the Snarf buck. But he’ll be made to look smaller. I’m paraphrasing now, but the uproar that followed was flashbacks to the pinned versions, the wrong trunks and unpainted weapons of Wave 1. Now whether this negativity was a direct influence in that, or whether there was some kind of misunderstanding is irrelevant today. When Snarfer made his appearance, he was scaled perfectly. Perhaps Super7’s attempts to make the Snarf buck work did not work. Nonetheless, it worked out great. I have absolutely no complaints here. At all. He is perfect.
I won’t even go down the route of him supposing to cost $25. You know my opinion on that. If you’re a toymaker, and you can make him for $25, go for it. Let us all know how that works out and put it up for sale. Unless you know the ins and outs of the toymaking business, your opinion is moot. We had a perfectly good explanation back in the day regarding Snarf’s price point. That applies here too. Go check out that interview here.
First things first. Snarfer is small. Very small. He is the smallest fully articulated figure in the line. I’m not talking about Ma-Mutt here. Snarfer has all the bells and whistles you’d expect with a regular figure. He is light in hand. He is sturdy. He is precious. While he feels like you should be careful when moving him around, I haven’t had any issues. Some joints are tighter than others, so a space heater should be handy nearby where needed. But he moves very well. If you’re familiar with Snarf, that’s basically it. The big difference here, besides the scale, is that his tail does not have that middle articulation that plugs in/out to become the standing version. It’s a full on tail. His alt tail has that little twirl at the end which is cute. Of course I’d have liked a stand here too.
What else has Snarfer got to offer? Plenty! Different hands, with his iconic pointing finger one, a hand which doubles as a thumbs up, which is used for holding the spray cannister, gripping hands, open hands and a hand-stand hand. Yes, a hand-stand hand. I’d have to go look at his episodes again to see where that happened. It rings a bell. Yep. Yes it does.
The trusty wrench is there to help him with future projects (as soon as Cats Lair arrives), and he also boasts a tiny red (candy) fruit with a bite out of it. There’s also the restraints that Ratar-O used when he captured Snarfer. Those are soft pliable plastic pieces that slides over the tail and wrists. I recommend taking the hands off when putting them on. You don’t want to stretch them too much. They’re nice and shiny too. Like the wrench.
The spray cannister with its attachable water effect is a very nice touch, and my favorite accessory here. It’s straight from the toon. And yes he is posed with it on my shelf. Luckily it fits into the regular gripping hands too, so you’re not stuck using it on one hand specifically.
Something I was looking forward to seeing was how his feet were connected. When Snarf came out, the designer advised that it was put together the other way round, and that the piece connected to his feet should’ve been the other way round. It didn’t look wrong the way it was, so I left mine, even if it was explained. Then when Snarfer showed up, I looked at his feet first. It was indeed that way round as per the designer. Now that I had a sample of how it had to look, it was easy to fix up Snarf. I am always wary when it comes to updating figures, but following his advice, I popped Snarf’s feet in boiling water for a minute, and pulled the feet off the peg. It was as easy as one, two three, and Snarf was the right way round. When I could finally kick out the feet the way it was intended, it all made sense. I’m a bit slow to make these kind of changes because I am scared I’d break it, but this was really easy. Do it, you’ll find it super easy too.
Snarfer’s belt is a loose piece that goes over his body, which makes the opportunity of a reuse probably very easy. Guess we’ll see soon enough if Super7 does offer us a variant. I’m not sure what would work, but perhaps a frozen Snarfer when Chilla got to him? That would be fun.
My overall opinion is that Snarfer is so welcome. His alt heads are welcome portraits. His sad face is similar to Snarf’s sad face, and his happy one captures his look so well, I can hear him!!! Snarfer, snarfer…. The helmeted head is really cool. Would I like his spaceship? Sure! But before we get there, let’s add some other more popular ThunderCats vehicles to the line up first. Or let him ride with Mandora. You’ll have great use for his helmeted head there.
I have a feeling Snarfer will sell out. Now that collectors know his true scale, they might dive back in and add him to their ranks. If you are reading this, you clearly still have an interest in these less popular characters (it sounds terrible, I know, but we’re getting deep here already). Snarfer brings the official ThunderCats to an almost complete group; give me Jagara and the line up from seasons 1 and 2 are complete. I will happily venture outside of the cartoon with new comic book characters like Calica and Apex, and old ones, like Lynxana, afterwards.
When you think of the first time Mandora graced our screens, Quick Pick will always come to mind. One of the three escapees that Lion-O and Snarf set loose, his two appearances in the show have stood the test of time. I never ever thought we’d see him in toy form. Of course I wanted him. Of all three prisoners, his design stood out the most. Green is my favorite color, so I’m already drawn to that. Plus he is a robot with a parrot beak, insect antlers and a stylish coat and scarf. What’s not to like about his shiny boots and pincer-like hands. Green, orange and brown never went so good together with silver.
I’ll start with the accessories. Snarf’s purse was stolen by Quick Pick in that first episode he appeared in. I could for the life of me not remember if it was blue. Even during the filmed review of the figure, it wasn’t something I remembered as blue. But I went back and checked. Yes, it was blue indeed. What’s great is that they even captured the darker string in the right shade as per the toon. Clever to the point of perfection. The prison key that helped save Lion-O and Mandora in his final appearance is also here. It’s nice and sturdy. Like Snarfer’s wrench, I’m glad that the plastic isn’t as soft and pliable as some other accessories we’ve gotten in the past. It just feels better in hand like this.
Talking about hands, his hands are a point of debate. You have four sets. One set is closed, one set is semi open (and with these I’d recommend you have him hold his hat, the key and the purse with, then there is a set that is more relaxed and a bit wider, and then there’s option 4: the hinged hands. A collector made a valid point that with these hinged hands, the other three sets are not necessary, seeing as you can create all these poses with them. I agree that it does. Perhaps the only reason these “stoic” sets are there, is because the hinged hands do not hold that well onto items. They will fall out as the hinge is not tight enough to stay put. For that reason alone, I welcome the others. Could we have gotten something else instead as a bonus accessory? Perhaps.
The scarf is fabric with bendy wire. That makes for fabulous posing, especially if you want him to be in flight mode with Mandora on the Electro Charger. He fits really easy onto it. His coat is soft and that helps with the articulation. So you can easily plonk him onto the back seat and drape the coat over the back of the chair. It will hold him in place even better. It is removable though, so you can have your robot bare it all.
His alt heads are really nice. The talking / open mouthed version is my favorite. It gives a lot more character to his face. Nothing wrong with the stoic version, I have to add. The third head that shows off his insect like antlers is really neat. He looks less than a thief with his hat off. The loose hat won’t fit with this head on, so don’t even try it.
His heads change easily. There’s no concern with his or Snarfer’s necks on my end. I have heard that some collectors had broken pegs. Mine were both right. Quick Pick’s neck does look like it had some strain on it, but nothing is broken and fortunately that little mark is not visible when the head is on it.
I’m really happy we got Quick Pick. Would I like the other two prisoners? Yeah maybe, but they’re on the lower end of my wish list. Having Quick Pick makes Mandora and her Electro Charger cooler. It took us 5 waves to get them paired, and the fact that Quick Pick went into production is proof that there is a market out there for deep cut figures. Bring on the next one. Or two. Or seven!
The Super Pack for Wave 10 is still inbound, and I’m excited to show these off in the coming weeks. Until then, make sure you preorder Wave 12 from Super7 to get the bonus Super Pack, available for a limited time only.
For more information and future ThunderCats releases, click here.