Official ThunderCats 2011 Toys Discussion Thread

[Shadow-Ra]

I live in the UK and I've been on ALOT of different webstores such as CMD, BBTS, Brian's Toys, ToyWiz etc etc

And none of them ship to anywhere other than North America. Here in London, I've seen the 6" Lion-O, Mumm-Ra and Panthro on the shelf, but no signs of Cheetara (I know Tygra is very hard to find anyway), but the internet is my only option.

Why has Bandai put a stop for all Thundercats items to be shipped anywhere else?

It's very frustrating.

[TheDeviot]

Did ThunderCats officially flop at retail? The only guys who carried Wave 2 of anything was Walmart.

I was wondering this today. I was in Expect Discounts (A kind of budget grocery store that also carries a ton of closeout items here in CT, and a few other states)
earlier, and they had a ton of them for like $2.75 each. I like to peruse there every once in awhile because I'll find under the radar films or games every so often.
Anyway I bought my bag of super cheap Kit Kat bars, and was on my way. But for anyone way into this new line (If it's done or not) in my area, swing on by.

[JonWes]

Yeah, that's how it's been since the beginning. I think it's to protect the eventual distribution deals over there. But, from what you said, it doesn't sound like they've done a great job of securing those.

[Shadow-Ra]

Unless they are doing it in the Waves, so once America has had wave 2 of the 6" line for a certain amount of time, we'll then get them over here.

[blackiecats]

I think Bandai said the UK will get wave 2 in the autumn. Other than waiting, eBay is your only other option.

[Shadow-Ra]

Oh ok, thanks.

[Mr. Shokoti]

I don't think Cartoon Network is to blame for this line's failure anymore than they were in anyway responsible for 2002 MOTU's failure. Kids, for the most part, just don't care for toys these days. Popular movies like Star Trek, Avatar, & Thor didn't sell many toys either. Unless kids jump on the bandwagon, you're only going to have 20-30 somethings buying them. Since most people that age don't buy toys, it's not enough to keep a line going without kids. Franchises with hardcore followings(Transformers, Star Wars, Marvel Comis) are able to sustain themselves, but most aren't.

[Pixel Dan]

Things are looking even worse now that Cartoon Network released their lsit of new and returning shows for next season, with ThunderCats nowhere to be seen...

This may be the reason so many stores are clearancing the toys.

[Thatman]

Oh ok, thanks.

Since the question in particular was addressed, I'm going to merge this with the existing Thundercats thread.

[Dr Kain]

Things are looking even worse now that Cartoon Network released their lsit of new and returning shows for next season, with ThunderCats nowhere to be seen...

I'm pretty sure this is because Thundercats was already stated to be a 52 episode series. I could be wrong though, but I thought they had ordered at least 39 episodes.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Things are looking even worse now that Cartoon Network released their lsit of new and returning shows for next season, with ThunderCats nowhere to be seen...

This may be the reason so many stores are clearancing the toys.

That's not good news. If everything is going to come to a quick end (the toys, cartoon, and everything), it almost makes me regret buying the figures at all in the first place. At this point I at least hope that the other 2nd wave figures actually come out. Not only have I not seen them in stores at all, but I'm not even seeing anyone selling them on ebay at any price. So, that's not looking good.

[Lord Anubis]

Yeah.........

[markatisu]

I'm pretty sure this is because Thundercats was already stated to be a 52 episode series. I could be wrong though, but I thought they had ordered at least 39 episodes.

Yeah Dan Norton (the art director of the show) said WB greenlit 52 episodes around Oct/Nov on Twitter

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, I am going to enjoy the episodes as they air and just pretend I don't know anything.

The internet has killed so much in the way of surprises and just enjoyment of things since we know when things are coming, how the business works....oh to be a child again

[Lord Anubis]

....oh to be a child again

I really do miss going to the bathroom in my pants and not being judged. :/

[byinfernoslight]

I think Bandai said the UK will get wave 2 in the autumn. Other than waiting, eBay is your only other option.

No new figures between December last year and the Autumn? That's nuts.

The ThunderCats comic launches here today With the way the rest of the franchise is going, I don't have high hopes that it'll last for very long.

[Pixel Dan]

Went to my Toys R Us tonight, and saw exactly what's been reported. Everything ThunderCats is on clearance. The figures (all scales), vehicles, playsets....everything is clearanced.

[Mr. Shokoti]

Does anyone know how it could go from Bandai making press releases that they will be making more TC toys to keep up wih demands to the entire line being put on clearance? Was it just scalpers making the demand seem bigger than it was?

[markatisu]

Does anyone know how it could go from Bandai making press releases that they will bemaking more TC toys to keep up wih demands to the entire line being put on clearance? Was it just scalpers making the demand seem bigger than it was?

Scalpers were never really an issue for Thundercats, Bandai rectified the case ratio problem fairly quickly that was making Kit/Kat/Cheetara hard to find but they were never to the point of being sought after

Wave 2 is probably scalper friendly but stores had to get Wave 2 for that to happen first and apparently I am the only person on earth who has regular access to that Wave

Like I said earlier to someone, its just weird all the way around. People keep trying to draw parallels to MYP 200x but seriously that thing had a TON of waves that lasted more than the 7 months Thundercats has. The way this line is going is NOTHING like MYP 200x.

Went to my Toys R Us tonight, and saw exactly what's been reported. Everything ThunderCats is on clearance. The figures (all scales), vehicles, playsets....everything is clearanced.

The sadder thing is even at TRU clearance its only like $1 cheaper then Walmart's current prices

I think the 4" is what $5.97 at TRU now, that is a whole $1 cheaper than the $6.97 WM charges. I would buy duplicates if it was really on clearance down to $2 or $3

[Mr. Shokoti]

Wave 2 is probably scalper friendly but stores had to get Wave 2 for that to happen first and apparently I am the only person on earth who has regular access to that Wave

I haven't seen Claudius or the "mummy mobile", but I've seen everything else from 2012.

It almost seems like Bandai just lost interest in the line then if people aren't able to find it at all. I wonder what would have happened if Bandai got the Voltron franchise while Mattel got Thundercats?

[markatisu]

I haven't seen Claudius or the "mummy mobile", but I've seen everything else from 2012.

It almost seems like Bandai just lost interest in the line then if people aren't able to find it at all. I wonder what would have happened if Bandai got the Voltron franchise while Mattel got Thundercats?

I doubt Bandai lost interest, I mean this is a company that has spent the better part of 2 decades putting out the Power Rangers which really never changes much.

If the line died it was something that happened behind the scenes we did not know about, WB either ended the deal or there was some issues with moving foward. Bandai's experience with Ben 10 clearly shows that they know how the system works.

You just don't lose interest with a license which is most likely in the millions

Having Mattel get it probably would have been a great thing, case ratios and distribution issues aside the classics most likely would have been similar to the MOTUC and sculpted by the 4H. Just look at Voltron to get a inkling of how Thundercats would have been.

Ironically the design choices of Voltron Force fit more in line with what Bandai is used to making with Gundam and Power Rangers.

[JonWes]

Yeah the Voltron and Thundercats thing was odd, like they should have switched companies. Although as a Voltron fan I'm glad Mattel got Voltron... well, sort of... if they'd give me Voltron Force toys.

Part of me kind of wonders if Bandai got overly excited from the initial sales at TRU. At the time of the statement about great toy sales, the toys hadn't gone into wide distribution at Wal-Mart, Target, etc. I will have to say other than that first initial wave that older fans snapped up, I haven't seen much movement on Thundercats stuff. It sells okay, but you could get pretty much any character (including Cheetara and the kids) very readily for a long time. So I wonder if they got excited after the initial rush, but it just wasn't enough to sustain the line.

It's really hard to say. And who knows if the nails are fully in the coffin at this point, even. We're all still just speculating, even if it doesn't look good.

[Mr. Shokoti]

I like Thundercats more than Voltron(at least I did as a kid), but I'm kinda happy things worked out the way they did. Even if it only lasts this year, I love the Voltron sub from Matty. I also thought one of you posted word from Twitter that Voltron Force toys still looked like a go? Hell, Voltron has 3 comics series coming out while we don't even have 1 for TC(at least in America).

[markatisu]

I like Thundercats more than Voltron(at least I did as a kid), but I'm kinda happy things worked out the way they did. Even if it only lasts this year, I love the Voltron sub from Matty. I also thought one of you posted word from Twitter that Voltron Force toys still looked like a go? Hell, Voltron has 3 comics series coming out while we don't even have 1 for TC(at least in America).

It was over at WEP, the Producer of Voltron Force said at the end of Feb that toys were very much still in the works and he would let us know when they were coming. JonWes I think is a member over there and I thought I saw him post thanking the guy after. It was in reply to people mentioning Scott telling Pixel Dan that there was no toyline to announce right now and maybe in the future.

But yeah they have 3 comics and just signed a new deal with Viz to make more graphic novels based on Voltron Force so the merchandising for as niche a reach as Nicktoons has vs CN is like night and day

[Pixel Dan]

It was over at WEP, the Producer of Voltron Force said at the end of Feb that toys were very much still in the works and he would let us know when they were coming. JonWes I think is a member over there and I thought I saw him post thanking the guy after. It was in reply to people mentioning Scott telling Pixel Dan that there was no toyline to announce right now and maybe in the future.

But yeah they have 3 comics and just signed a new deal with Viz to make more graphic novels based on Voltron Force so the merchandising for as niche a reach as Nicktoons has vs CN is like night and day

Yeah, and let me clarify that Scott didn't say they weren't doing Voltron Force toys. He said they were still looking into it and just didn't have anything to announce right now.

I know that Mattel tried to get the ThunderCats license, and that the Four Horsemen definitely would have been sculpting them. But Bandai apparently won the bid, which is why Mattel got Voltron.

As-is, I'm also glad Mattel got Voltron. But holy crap, ThunderCats figures done by the Horsemen would have blown away what Bandai is giving us...

[Dr_SLUMP]

Dan, do you believe that there's any chance of Mattel taking over at least the TC classics?

Cause if the show is indeed about to end early, I clearly don't see Bandai bothering with such a continuation.

There's a perpetual, big market for them that Warner and Bandai never took seriously.