The first complete wave we receive as collectors in 2023 is the magical reincarnation of our LJN childhood, aka Wave 6 from Super7. This wave of ThunderCats ULTIMATES! is the first foray into toy variant versions of our favorite characters. At the time when these were solicited, Wave 6 was met with aggressive negativity. Understandably so, if you think about the momentum that we had built up at that time. By that time we had gotten Pumm-Ra, the first previously unmade character in toy form, Mirror Lion-O and then Mandora and her Electro-Charger. We were three “new” characters in plastic deep. We all wanted more.
Wave 6 had a terrible false start. It appeared and disappeared the same day. Out of courtesy to Super7, we took our posts down. There must have been a reason why this was suddenly unavailable. Less than a year later, we still don’t know why it was taken down, but in all honestly, it really doesn’t matter today. We got Wave 6 back up for preorder a few short weeks later, and while nothing had changed since the first solicitation (trust me, I saved those photos the moment they appeared online to gawk over them in privacy and they were still the same when they reappeared later on), the final product blew me away.
This toy inspired wave was originally met with a backlash that trumped the delays and issues of Wave 2 (if you don’t know what that was, Google it folks!). A few weeks after the wave was finally revealed, I spoke with Brian Flynn again. I had a lot of questions about this “sub-line” of ThunderCats ULTIMATES! and regrettably viewers did not agree with the “bombardment” of LJN-related questions. In hindsight, it’s quite ironic that it was met with such negativity. And I’m thrilled that collectors have gone back on what their original thoughts were of this wave of 19-who-cares-when toy inspired ThunderCats.
What a lot of collectors didn’t count on at the time was that the biggest drawcard of all, aptly called NOSTALGIA, was frankly far more cunning than the excessive-unasked-for negativity we got back in the day. Esteemed reviewers like ToyBro and TheFwoosh confirmed that at the time, the wave felt underwhelming. But their acknowledgement that these figure are a home-run today adds so much more weight to the fact that it actually is just this: A MASSIVE HOME-RUN.
Believe me when I tell you this, the moment you hold these figures in hand, you will be transported back in time. Who needs a DeLorean for time travel when you can simply pick up one, two or all of the Wave 6 assortment today, and be taken back to that very first time you held one (or all) of these figures in your hands. Allow me some time to share my personal experiences with you. It takes place over a couple of decades, so pull up a chair and enjoy.
I was 6 years old. Probably not even 6 yet, as I remember it was hot back in the day, and I have a Winter birthday. (For clarity, winter in the country that I live is NOT the same as winter in the USA or Europe, so this was likely between December 1985 and April 1986). We were visiting my cousin in another part of the country, and went to a store called CNA. They sold toys (and other stuff) back in the day. I’m not sure why we went there, but I recall this extremely vividly: we walked through the shelves and I happened onto a row of LJN ThunderCats toys. I was in awe!!! I had been watching the cartoon for a while, and seeing these action figures pulled at the heart-string.
Ok so I am not like the normal boy from back in the day. I spotted Cheetara (with WilyKit) on the shelf and I wanted that 2-pack SOOOOOO badly. Now picture this, I was there with my whole family (my poor brother was just a few months old back then!) and my cousin and his brother of a few months old were part of the entourage of family-members in that shop. I begged my dad to please get me Cheetara and WilyKit. He flat out refused. I was heart-broken. How could he? Especially since my mother was the one who introduced ThunderCats to me and my sister. It was a new show on the telly back in ’85, and we still had a black and white TV back then. (For some insight, most TVs in my county in the early 80’s were black and white; only the rich had color TVs then….).
After such a refusal, what does a very unhappy 6-year-old do? He cries. Like a baby. And I put up such a scene (I should’ve gotten an Oscar for it back in the day hahaha!), that eventually my dad’s embarrassment (and my uncle’s reaction that he would buy his son Lion-O with Snarf just to shut me up), resulted in me getting what I really wanted. Like I said, I wasn’t one of the normal boys back in the day, as I badly wanted Cheetara and WilyKit. I’m honestly not sure why I wanted this duo. It doesn’t matter, I eventually got Lion-O and several other LJN characters. But it was seeing them together that really spoke to me. I had to have them. And till this day I am so grateful that I did.
I learned years later that female action figures was limited for a reason. Boys didn’t want them. But Cheetara was a character that presented my mother to me. Of course she was (and is) important to me. Cheetara was the motherly character in the show. WilyKit was risky, just like me. Between her and her twin brother, she took charge of situations, and I responded to that as a go-getter that took chances. As a kid I honestly never saw a character’s sex as a disability or an opportunity to talk about equality. I treated everyone as equal. I looked to their personalities and their traits and decided based upon that who they were.
So I had a handful of toys then. Mumm-Ra and Ma-Mutt joined the gang shortly after Lion-O and Snarf. Of course my little family needed Tygra and WilyKat. I never owned Panthro. I won’t tell you how I lost Cheetara and WilyKit, it is way too embarrassing, but suffice to say that I eventually moved on to other toy lines like TMNT and Bionic 6. Roughly 6 years later, a boy in High School stopped me on the side of the road with a bag over his shoulder and asked if I were interested in buying his toys? I was intrigued. He opened the bag and there was a big collection of ThunderCats. I was back the next day with a full on R50 note. It was a lot of money back then for a kid. I took home my prized possessions and played with them until they eventually went to cousins and to the lost world of toys. My attraction to these toys remained, and as an adult I collected them again. I had a near complete set but before I got Stinger and Driller, I sold the lot. Circumstances change, and I was very down because of it. Luck changed a year later when Mattel announced they were producing ThunderCats. And ever since I’ve been on board. So why the long story? Well that urge for the vintage toys remained, despite the big love I have for the main line, I never realized that I really still wanted that look. And Super7 found that sweet spot I never knew I had.
This brings me back to 2023. I have been extremely on-the-fence when it came to Cheetara. As you’ve just read, I have a pre-disposition when it comes to her. My expectations are very high. So I ignored almost all reviews, refused to read social media comments and posts on her, and just played stupid to what was going on around me. I have seen photos, and talked to ToyBro about her, but that was the extent of my involvement with her toy form. I wanted to wait until I got her (and the gang) in hand. It was worth the wait.
I was worried I would be disappointed because I had Cheetara on this pedestal since 1986. I have seen the other three in many galleries online for the last few weeks. None of them disappointed. In fact, they all blew me away. Super7 had done it again. Look Wave 5 and Wave 5.5 was knock-out home runs, but geeze, Wave 6 was something else entirely.
I opened the boxes in a specific order. Cheetara was left till last. Lion-O and Mumm-Ra was up first. I have been pleased with what I’ve seen online, but nothing prepared me to see them in hand. I bet you who may have already received this would agree. This wave truly is amazing. It is strange because we have already received the cartoon versions of these characters. They are VERY different. These are not the same figures you have received between Wave 1 and Wave 5. These are toy variants and if you ever owned these as a kid, you will be taken back to that day you got these. I have read many-a-story confirming this.
If you are one of the lucky ones (and I do mean lucky), you would know that opening any of these Wave 6 figures means something special, especially if you had these as a kid. Seeing Lion-O and Mumm-Ra really tickled those vintage snares. I never owned Monkian as a kid, but back in 2011 I actually did manage to get him, so it was still a trip back in time. I have never seen him (apart from the marketing material back in the day we used to daydream to), but it still took me back to the 80’s. That meant that no matter when you got your LJN figures, Super7 would be able to transport you back to the days when toys and cartoons were one and the same.
I was very impressed with the way that Super7 presented this wave of figures. There were lots of differences in the presentation. Now I am fortunate enough to own every release from Super7 to date. So I am able to compare everything from Wave 1 to Wave 6, and everything in between. Here is where things are different. There is no glossy foil on the packaging this time round. I am not sure why. It may be that Super7 wishes to have this stand out separately. It has already been confirmed that the wave number is really irrelevant. It may be a sub line, but the numbers is just a way of identifying the position in the release time line.
This is the first wave that introduces something very different in terms of the blister packaging. Look at the photos above. There is indeed something new and I am so happy that Super7 did this. It is not something I ever asked for, or expected, but they knew how to improve their product. I am personally hoping that Wave 7 and beyond will follow this trend. The trays are different in the sense that many accessories now come with another layer of plastic that plugs into the main body of the tray. What this means is that extra hands no longer need to be pushed into a tray, it can now simply lie between to layers of plastic and be secured in place. Mumm-Ra’s weaponry and extra head is the prime example of this. Hats off to Super7 for introducing this. It may mean that future accessories won’t be troubled by the cramped space of the tray and possible paint chipping by the plastic home surroundings.
I have heard some complaints / concerns about the figures being limited in terms of accessories. I counter these arguments with this: what did you actually get back in the day when you (or your parents) purchased these characters? I do understand it though. At $55 a figure you would expect the same as a standard release. These are fairly limited in the accessory department. Honestly, that is quite ok. We are getting an alternate head sculpt for each character. That in itself is already exciting. We are also getting a variety of hand options here. I don’t know what else we could have wanted. I personally might have asked for WilyKit, Snarf and Ma-Mutt here, but those were PVC versions of the characters which we eventually got in articulated form.
Do I still want those in ULTIMATES! form? You bet. WilyKit (and her brother) offer different expressions that the newly revealed Wave 8 do not present. And sure, WilyKit is similar to her cartoon version, she has two versions to draw off for future releases. Please Super7, do not skimp on WilyKit in the LJN side of the line. She is a unique character that really needs her own LJN-inspired figure. Please?????
I will not deny it, like WilyKit I really felt that both Mumm-Ra and Lion-O would have benefitted from the inclusion of their PVC companions. Would you have liked a “pvc” Snarf or Ma-Mutt? Or would you have preferred a more articulated version of these characters? I truly do not mind, but as a kid I recall taking a PVC WilyKit and cutting off her legs and arms and placing needles in between to allow for articulation. It didn’t work then, it won’t work now. But the idea was there. I still want the other half of these 2-packs today.
So what do I think about the “limited” accessories”? I am not upset at all that this feels limited! I feel that what we get here matches what we got in 1985/86. I do understand however that collectors wanted more. We’ve gotten these characters at the same price with more accessories in the past. I hear you. I do believe though that what we got here really matches the offering. Sure, these are basic repaints of the what we got these last few years. And yes, we saw alternate versions in the Super7 video solicitations a while back. But Brian Flynn quickly rectified that in that we would be getting the ULTIMATES!-sculpts at the end, and not the vintage toy-version. There was a video that showed LJN logos and LJN belts/boots back in the day. It makes sense, even if it would have been a better offering. I won’t complain too much. These still feel like 1985/6 to me. My biggest wish is probably that we got alt heads for Lion-O and Mumm-Ra that mimicked their glowing eyes. And a power ring. Just to have one. Not one to work, because we know electronics in toys opens up a whole other can of worms. Maybe I miss the levers at the back? Turn any of these figures around and you’ll sure expect to see one there. I also wish we had the vintage packaging. Lots of mock ups are out there to enjoy, but I am just happy we got the LJN-inspired backdrop as we always do.
These figures, to me personally, are a perfect example of nostalgia. I never expected to get this feeling back when Super7 announced their TMNT ULTIMATES! line. I, to be honest, never associated with the MOTUC craze back in the day. I was born too late to know the toys. I was used to the cartoon and could not understand why the toys were different then. With ThunderCats, fortunately that was a bit closer. But there is still that distinctive difference. These are NOT the same as the cartoon versions. So if you are expecting to get cartoon versions, you may be disappointed. But if you, like me, remember the toys from the 80’s, you won’t be. These capture that moment in time perfectly. I have to thank Super7 for that magical time-travel moment. I haven’t felt it so sincere since TMNT, and even then, it wasn’t the same.
In all honestly, this wave surprised even the most-die-hard collector. I don’t think Super7 would’ve expected this. And I am writing this review hot off seeing the new fantastic Wave 8 assortment. I am secretly hoping for more of the LJN side of things. Ok I do want more Luntaks, but this wave really struct a chord. Am I upset that these are basically repaints of what we got before. Not at all. I am elated that we got LJN-inspired versions. They may be repaints, but the toy-inspired heads, accessories and more really added to the nostalgia. Super7, you hit the nail on the head here. And I would honestly recommend this wave to ANYBODY who wants to relive their childhood. Or even just add one of these four characters to their collections. They may be different, but they fit so well together. Can I please get the number of the person who suggested this back in the day? They deserve a raise. I want more. And I am hoping that we get more. Much more. At least, can we get the core ThunderCats (including those of season 2) and the mutants. They are so different. They really need toy variants. And surely, Stinger would be the ideal fit for this side of the line. Thank you very much.
Provided for review by Super7.