11/03/2011

ThunderCats... HOOO!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I like ThunderCats. Having watched the show growing up in the 80s, ThunderCats has to be one of my favorite animated shows, right up there with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the 90s X-Men cartoon. So when I heard about the new cartoon showing on Cartoon Network, I was all over it.

OK. I understand that the new ThunderCats is old news by now, having been on the air for a couple of months right now. But honestly, I can’t get over how good it is. This past Friday, the show featured the Berbils, the robot-bear race of creatures from the ThunderCats, and the episode was fantastic. Though it did nothing to add to the characterization of the main cast, and probably only marginally added to the overall plot of the story (though I wouldn’t put it past the writers to make the Berbils a major plot-point in the resolution of the season) the episode was just downright fun to watch.

It also gets to me every time I walk into a Toys R Us, or saunter down the toy aisle at Wal-Mart. I already had a Lion-O, but I was lucky enough to snag a Panthro and Cheetara for my collection wall, being completely shocked to see more than Lion-O, Mumm-Ra, and Tygra on the pegs. (They also had Wilykit and Wilykat, but I didn’t have enough cash on hand to pick them up. Hopefully, I’ll see them again eventually so that I don’t wind up regretting not getting them when I have the chance.)
Panthro
Lion-O
Cheetara

What I really want, though, is the Sword of Omens. Being comprised on multiple gimmicks popularized by a variety of toys, the Sword of Omens features a telescoping blade, a la the Star Wars lightsabers, to recreate the blade enhancing feature of the cartoon. The sword and has flip-up blades on the side and a light-up feature in the center jewel, mimicking Lion-O’s “sight beyond sight”. Add to the mix sword-clashing sound effects and you got the makings of a great child’s toy (shut up, don’t judge me).

I’m really hoping that Bandai doesn’t miss the boat and not make a Snarf plush toy. Having been the worst part of the ThunderCats from the 80s, Snarf’s updated personality as a cognizant pet makes the character much more enjoyable. He tends to do some adorable things in the show, so a plush toy would certainly be a draw. I don’t personally know if I’d buy a plushie, but I’ve no doubt that it would be a cash-cow for Bandai. (I did search for one online before typing this up, but this was all I could find. At $150, I doubt it’s officially licensed, though.) I mean, come on. You can’t look at this Snarf plush and tell me a new one wouldn’t be a good idea.

As I was looking for information concerning a plush Snarf (to guarantee I wasn’t hoping for something that wasn’t already a reality. I did find this, but at $150, I doubt it's officially licensed.), I came across these awesome character spec sheets. These images show the ThunderCats in a variety of poses and are used by the animators to work out different details of the characters. While these have probably been posted all over the place already, they’re still pretty cool.
Image source - IGN; ThunderCats © Warner Bros

Image source - IGN; ThunderCats © Warner Bros
Image source - IGN; ThunderCats © Warner Bros

Image source - IGN; ThunderCats © Warner Bros

Image source - IGN; ThunderCats © Warner Bros

Image source - IGN; ThunderCats © Warner Bros

Image source - IGN; ThunderCats © Warner Bros

Image source - IGN; ThunderCats © Warner Bros

Image source - IGN; ThunderCats © Warner Bros

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