After everything we have been through as a collective community, being bombarded by three consecutive waves of ThunderCats ULTIMATES! is a dream come true for the die hard collector. If you haven’t paid attention to all the delays and other troubles that rocked this boat these past two years, you must have been living on some island out at sea.
One of our new friends has, as a matter of fact, history with island living. Another of our new friends ventured to that very island to catch him. The other two also played a role in this tale, albeit indirectly, or in Mirror Lion-O’s case, as his original self. Sounds like some crazy 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon story, right?
Well, the tale of Wave 5 from Super7 started somewhat delayed. Perhaps very delayed. Waves 2 through 4 were pushing things back a bit in the years 2020 and 2021. When Wave 5 was announced, it had another hiccup, and stayed in limbo for a while, until finally makings its grand debut at the tail end of 2021.
What we didn’t know running up to this reveal, was that plans changed, and the cards had been reshuffled, forcing a line up change. Let’s take even a few more steps back, and start the speculation that Mirror Lion-O was meant to be the SDCC exclusive for 2021. We know that didn’t happen. It may have even been the holiday figure for 2020, but that old factory even messed that up.
While this was all going down, the mighty Super7 took a leap of faith, and began tooling on Wave 5. There was no hint of a reveal date in sight when they began this. The world was upside down then. They started this despite the delays, to give us figures we didn’t have to wait for that long. Brian Flynn confirmed it in a later interview, saying that they had already begun work on the wave long before it came out for preorder. And now, 7 months since the preorder closed, the wave has started shipping out to collectors. That, in my opinion, was a bold move that has paid off. In many ways, of course.
A week or two before the original planned preorder date, an interview with TheFwoosh said that there would be a fifth figure added to the Wave. And that figure wouldn’t be a “must have” for some, which was absolutely fine. It sounded like a variant. (We’ll get to that word later!) Then the preorder date arrived, and passed, without any reveals. If you remember, there was an empty promo still of a space-like background. Space equalled Mandora, right?
When it came out, fur-real, only 4 figures made their debut. It felt off balance. There was nothing that had anything to do with that spacey backdrop. There were three bad guys and one goodie. One of the three was considered a variant. Some said they would jump ship. Others said the variant was a waste of space. Like I said, it was a confusing time. Vultureman was too big, Hammerhand’s pants were wrong, was that Cats Lair in the background a hint at something coming??? So many questions, so many complaints.
For some, Cats Lair’s tease was a good sign. It wasn’t intended as a tease, fyi. It’s part of the story, so of course it would show up. It only took 5 waves to make its appearance in the marketing material. There is still hope for some kind of LJN-inspired Cats Lair in ULTIMATES! but until we get the ThunderTank, we’ll dream of it and put it out there that we want it one day.
We were told that there had been a small issue with one tiny thing. Hence the delay. The preorder came and went with the usual “where is Wave 2” and so on. A few months later, that missing figure was revealed to be Mandora, and we got her bike too for good measure. It stands to reason then that Mirror Lion-O must have been the fifth figure, and that the Electro Charger could have been another item added on. But it sounds very expensive for so much all at once. It turned out better in the end, agreed?
Now 2022 has been dubbed the year of catching up, and we’re suddenly sitting with 20 figures from Super7 (not counting the exclusives or Mattel ones!). Wave 5 is probably the last new figures we’ll receive this year, with Mandora only scheduled for January 2023. We do still have a tank coming up though, and that will end the year with a bang for sure. But while Wave 5 rings some sadness into the last half of the year, the sheer joy these figures bring to your display will last well beyond the arrival of the Evil Chaser.
Bengali has been on everybody’s lips since he debuted in hand somewhere on US soil. Rightly so. This figure is a smash hit. Our friend Toy Bro said that everything is just right with this figure. His whites and blue hues are such a match made in heaven, that he pops on your shelf. He is crisp, clear and articulates perfectly. What’s tight is tight, the way it’s meant to be. Hats off to Super7 for this achievement. He may be a simple figure, but everything is just perfect here. His alt head, although not having glow in the dark eyes, still works brilliantly in achieving that episode specific look.
Bengali’s extra hands, his hammer, the anvil, ore, base and red-hot Sword of Omens, gives charm and life to the figure. There was truly nothing missing from this release. And he looks even better than that first photo we saw of him in front of the lair. Tygra has his brother back home. He is, like a certain 80s Roxette song belts: “walking like a man, hitting like a hammer….” Yes, he has got the look!
While our blue friend doesn’t leave you feeling blue, his sunflower yellow enemy won’t allow you to feel under the weather either. The second captain to join our collections is the leader of the newest faction we’re about to start building: Hammerhand of the Berserkers. Now there was a reveal back in the day of Hammerhand who portrayed him as having his season 1 and season 2 looks. The yellow base from the vintage toy would remain, but the heads and arms would swop out to give you both versions. That was a very clever suggestion, but with something as small as the “wrong” shade of orange causing more drama than Will Smith’s Oscar slap, it was inevitable that it would be passed on and not used. Can you just imagine the hate mail if that was the case? That fortunately then leaves us with the option of hopefully one day having a season 1 take of the old robotic pirate.
Hammerhand’s yellow is very yellow. It’s catchy like April O’ Neil’s jumper suit. But don’t get caught in his surprise cybernetic grip!!!! Super7 delivered a twist here – his fingers on the one “hammer” hand can actually move!!! You can portray them any way you want, grab onto your favorite unicorn’s tail, or hold on to the delightful coin bags that comes with him. He is not top heavy, has an “aargh” second head that you can hear holler at the others, and even has his cartoon gun! The extra hands make for great posing possibilities. The clenched “hammer” hand does too. Choose your look and let him run amok on your shelf. Do take some time to enjoy the complexities of his cybernetic arm though. The Four Horsemen really worked their magic there with the way it articulates.
Vultureman also makes his appearance in this wave, and for those who waited to get him to complete the quartet of mutants, you won’t be disappointed either. They did wonderful things with this figure. He is tall, yes, but bend his knees and give him a hunch and he fits right in. He is scrawny too, which does help in his posture. How they managed to get him to stand on the two toes I don’t know. Yet he stands proudly amongst his brethren. With his Super Power Potion in hand! Those four-fingered claws with the sharp nails are genius. His many tools, the mutant gun, shifter, voice imitator and even his goggles for his flying machine are spot on. Vultureman does not disappoint. His silver vintage weapon doesn’t either. That begs to ask the question – will we get an LJN version of him now that we have that weapon? Mmmm…. There’s one tiny question that we’d like answered one day – the claw / toe on the back of his leg should’ve been on his ankle. Some reason it ended up higher up on his calf. It’s an odd proportion, but there must be a reason why. We’ll find out when we next talk to Super7 about all things ThunderCats. Don’t misunderstand, that doesn’t detract from the figure at all. When posed you don’t see it, unless turned around.
Now for the touchy subject. I could argue we’re all correct if we call Mirror Lion-O a variant, considering he is a repaint of Lion-O. I could argue as per the story he is one of Mumm-Ra’s many guises (I’m looking at you Pumm-Ra!). Perhaps he is both. Whether he was meant to be an exclusive or the fifth figure, Mirror Lion-O adds a certain spiciness to the group. His red, which isn’t blood red, but hints of deep orange, is an unintentional throwback to that old first look at Lion-O before the cartoon was created. Did you even know that they were all wearing red? Google it, you’ll be surprised to see Panthro in red too! That extended claw shooting from the claw shield brings back vivid memories of “Fond Memories”. (Can we also get a job to sit and watch ThunderCats all day long and point out ‘that will be a cool accessory’???)
Mumm-Ra took on some great disguises, and while we still hope the Diamond Fly comes as an accessory somewhere, this is probably one of his most memorable ones. And we have a pinless Lion-O at last too, which gives us an indication as to what a future reissue / variant of a normal colored Lion-O could look like. This is indeed making good use of the tooling for this character. The success of the frozen Lion-O from Hook Mountain just proves it. We still want a coronation version of him down the line, please.
One thing that stood out from many of the accessories, is the bright silver paint they used this time round. There isn’t a dull colored Sword of Omens here. It shines silvery white, so you can always exchange it with your old Lion-O’s sword if you so preferred. Old “reddie” doesn’t come with the textured claw shield here, which is a good call. He does come with the fisted version of it, so if you missed out on Pumm-Ra, it is here too.
Wave 5 has really delivered in quality. There is a world of difference when you compare Wave 2 and Wave 5. Super7’s factory has hit their stride and if this is what they’re turning out now, that ThunderTank is going to rock our worlds. Radios from 1991 will be blasting “come and join the joyride everybody….” Until then, we have 20 figures to pose just right until that beast comes. And these four new additions to an ever growing list of figures are most welcome. Wave 6 has just dropped, and to those who wish to skip it until the toon characters return with Wave 7 later this year, these Wave 5 figures will hold you over and keep you company until then. The risk team Super7 took in starting these before the preorder went live has paid off. This is their best wave of figures yet!
This product was provided by Super7 for review purposes.