(You can peruse my Thundercats gallery here.)

On Sunday, I had the pleasure of being given a tour of Bandai’s showroom, which included their much-anticipated Thundercats product line. My tour was conducted by Katie O’Neill of Weber Shandwick, although Bandai marketing director Brehan Maul was the one who personally guided me through their Thundercats world.

Bandai has not one, not two, but three lines planned for Thundercats this fall: a 4″ line featuring vehicles and playsets, based on the upcoming new cartoon; a super-articulated 6″ line also based on the new cartoon; and an 8″ super-articulated line based on the original 1980s cartoon.

As you’d expect, the 4″ line features a bit less detail and articulation, but makes up for it with vehicles and playsets. All the 4″ figures (SRP $7.99 each) include magnets that can set off special electronic features like lights and sounds; for example, when Lion-O is stood on his base and a button is pressed, he raises his sword and yells the familiar “Thundercats – ho!” line. The figure can also interact with certain vehicles, setting off specific sounds and lights when placed inside. Articulation on the 4″ figures is a bit of a mixed bag; Cheetara has mostly cut joints to preserve her sculpt, while other figures like Lion-O appear to have ball jointed hips.

The 4″ line will also feature the huge ThunderTank (with exclusive Snarf figure) and the even huger ThunderLynx playset, which features a vehicle whose design hearkens back to the original cartoon’s Cat’s Lair.

Next up is the 6″ line, again based on the new cartoon. These are well-detailed and super-articulated. The first wave features Lion-O, Panthro, and Mumm-Ra. The figures are a bit more smooth and toyish than Marvel Legends or DC Universe Classics, which seems to be a common feature of Bandai figures (except for their vinyl stuff). But I think these figures look great. Whether or not you like the new designs, let’s face it–this is what most of us wish 200X He-Man had been. It’s got both the sculpting and the articulation. I have a hunch a good number of adult collectors will be picking these up in addition to…

…the 8″ collector’s line. I never even watched Thundercats as a kid and I want these things. While they do have that aforementioned glossiness of most Bandai America toys, they still looked fantastic, and I will be getting them.

Finally, there was this: the Sword of Omens. It opens up, it extends, and yes, it even has sounds such as “Give me sight beyond sight.” It’s awesome. There are also a couple more child-oriented roleplay items there as well.

I was given a brief glimpse of the new cartoon, though the sizzle reel was mostly devoted to the iconic weapons and vehicles that the show would feature (which makes sense for a toy presentation). It looks like it has potential, though.

Overall I was very impressed with Bandai’s plans for Thundercats. They’re basically giving us the ‘Cats equivalent of a 200X He-Man line, a MOTU Classics line, and a bonus 4″ line–all at the same time! There’s something for everyone.

The only question is how successful the cartoon show turns out to be. Like 200X MOTU, it’s on the Cartoon Network, but when you consider the articulation on the 6″ line and the retail availability of the 8″ line, I’d say Bandai has been watching Mattel’s handling of MOTU very closely, and has learned from their growing pains.

On a side note, Bandai was also, by far, the most courteous, professional, and engaged of all the presentations I saw at Toy Fair. Though I was just a journalist from a random collectors’ website, they treated me seriously, gave me the full tour, and even took notes when I mentioned my readers would be most interested in Thundercats. I can’t predict how successful the new cartoon will be, and that will probably determine the how well the toyline does; but if the care Bandai has put into the line is any indication, the cartoon might well be great, and a new generation of kids may be shouting “Thundercats — ho!”

I realize that last paragraph may seem like serious brown-nosing David Manning-style theatrics, but I mean it–Bandai’s Thundercats stuff looks great, and I hope it’s successful, because it might convince a certain El Segundo-based toy company that they’re squandering a gold mine.