Bandai, Bandai, Bandai... I've never been too fond of the American side of Bandai's Toy division... but they have the Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats! TOOOOOOOYYYYYYS!!!
They have the toys for the new Thundercats and the classic Thundercats... As much as I like the new show, I'm a sucker for Classic Thundercats... So, I got myself a Classics Lion-O... Yes, as seen on my other ICFtTC you can guess where this is going... the inevitable Lion-O vs He-Man comparisons... Mattel went with a 7-inch scale for some unknown reason... They're not in the 1:12 scale... Otherwise they'd be 6 inches... Your Spector mind tricks won't work here Toyguru! Well, since the most popular non-hasbro 80s toyline went in a 7-inch scale, what's Bandai's reaction? Let's Make Thundercats Classics in the 8-Inch scale, so they can't fit with MOTUC... Just like we remember! Apparently the 8-inchers didn't do so good and only Lion-O and Tygra were released... Rumors say that Cheetara will be the final 8-incher figure... Bandai reduced their size to six inches... Now they fit perfectly with Marvel Legends or DCUC, but NOT MOTUC!! WTF! Bandai... Seriously!
Well, the Lion-O I got is the six-incher and he looks pretty good... He looks like the same Lion-O from My childhood... Pantless!
Now moving on to the ratings part where the inevitable comparisons to MOTUC shall surface very often. As always 1 sucks as much as Bengali and 5 is as awesome as Panthro!
Aticulation:
Lion-O is MORE Poseable than MOTUC He-Man... Heck! The Lord of the Thundercats can hold a sword aloft better than the Most Powerful Man in the Universe. He even has Double Jointed knees! The Torso Articulation is a tad awkward but it has a decent range of movement. He lacks an "ab crunch" joint but his waist joint allows some slight bending. There's a PoA underneath his ribcage that allows him to lean to the sides that helps him in some poses.
Sadly he can't hold his sword with both hands above his head for the "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Pose.
4.5
Paint and Sculpt:
The sculpt is pretty good perhaps a bit underdetailed. He almost looks like a 3D cartoon... This effect is emphasized by the very simple paintjobs without shading. Careful, the paint on the swords is not sealed and you could scrape off something important by accident... (This is why they should have sculpted the "eye" on the "dagger" and the Insignia on the "Sword"...)
The only negatives in the sculpt department are:
-His Screaming face looks more like he crapped his pants or is making a bad Hank Hill impression than screaming Thundercats! HOOOOOOO!
-The Thunderclaw has 3 fingers instead of 4... What does Lion-O do with his pinky?
-SCREWS!! This is the main reason why I HATE most of Bandai America's toys... The figures are often screwed together and you can see the screwholes on the back... Lion-O has 8! 8 Screws on his back! Ah! ah! ah!
Then there's also the ankle joints being a different color than his boots...
3.5
Accessories:
Now this is where the good stuff is!
Lion-O comes with:
-Sword of Omens (Dagger mode) The Eye of Thundera in it looks like it's warning Lion-O about danger... (as seen normaly before the Sight Beyond Sight sequence!)
-Sword of Omens (Sword Mode)
-Thunderclaw: TheSword of Omens (Dagger mode) fits inside of it!
-2 extra hands! (Hands can be swapped from gripping hands to open palm hands. The left hand has to be removed to use the Thunderclaw)
-A piece of blue plastic to attach the thunder claw to Lion-O's hip just like in the cartoon!
Honestly, all they needed to add was a Sword of Omens in Dagger Mode but with the handguard in the full sword mode to simulate the Sight beyond sight mode to be 20% cooler!
4.5
Overall:
Lion-O gets a 4.17, which is not bad for a Bandai America figure... It's funny, the 8-inchers lack these awful screws... Other than that he's a pretty cool figure!
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