Monday, February 6, 2012

Lion-Hooooo!

Hello friends, its been a while since my last post but here I am about to share something else from my humble collection. Today I decided to feature my Thundercats figures. They're not much, I actually only have three figures and all of them of a single character. But he's not just any character, he's the Lord of the Thundercats himself, Lion-O!



Now for people like me who grew up in the 80's, Lion-O was probably one of the most well-known cartoon characters of the time. He is the leader of a group of cat-like alien beings called the Thundercats who've escaped the destruction of their home planet, Thundera. Pursued by a fleet of evil mutants from Plundarr, they eventually crash land on a planet called Third-Earth and soon make it their new home. But unknown to them, Third-Earth was also home to an evil warlord mummy named Mummra. So to make the story short, they fight battles on Third-Earth against Mummra and a bunch of different evil beings every episode and always win. Thanks to the Sword of Omens and the Eye of Thundera. I loved this show when I was a kid and never missed an episode. And like any awesome show that era, it came with an awesome toyline. But, unfortunately, I never got to own any of the Thundercats action figures. My parents thought they were too expensive which I thought was funny because they bought me stuff from other toy lines like Silverhawks and He-man which were pretty much the same price. I guess they just didn't want any more clutter in the house. Well so basically, Thundercats figs have become one of my most sought after toys. Even when I grew up. I always told myself that I would have one of those toys someday. No matter how long it took. And finally I did manage to get some. Took me a couple decades but its all good. And here they are. They're not much but I think they're the greatest pieces in my collection.

A red-haired battle-matic Lion-O


and an Orange-haired variant



I'm telling you, Lion-O didn't come easy. I lost quite a lot of money just trying to get a decent one. At first I wanted a mint-on-card one but looking around, I saw that they did not come cheap. They practically cost a fortune. The cheapest moc vintage Lion-O I saw cost around $300 and the most expensive ones range from $1-2000. So I lowered my standard a bit and opted for a loose but complete with accessories vintage Lion-O. They also weren't cheap. But because I really wanted one so bad I decided to buy one from ebay from a guy in Belgium. It cost about P3000 (shipping included) but I thought it was worth it. I was so wrong. What I thought was a dream come true became a nightmare. I never received that figure which I paid for. The seller said he already sent it and even gave proof. But I guess somewhere along the line and the allegedly thieving postal service, my Lion-O fell in a crack and was lost forever. I almost gave up on having a vintage Lion-O after that. I almost gave up on toy collecting completely. But I guess I really couldn't erase that childhood dream and so I kept looking again. And finally while sifting through a listing of figs on ebay I found a cheap but decent one. It was kinda roughed up a little, I envy the kid who played with it. He must've had an awesome time. Then after a couple days I found another one and bought it as well. And they were both from local sellers so I had better insurance that they'd get to me with no problem.

But my obsession with Lion-O didn't stop with the vintage line. I also managed to score a modern version of him. Bandai acquired the rights to the Thundercats line and released these 8" Classic Lion-O. More true to the way he looked in the 80's cartoon and with great details and articulation.


But this Classic Lion-O still cannot outweigh my two vintage Lion-O's in my heart. That show and toy line was a wonderful part of my childhood and it will continue to bring me joy and pride till the day I may have to pass it on to my children.

That's all for today. Hoped you enjoyed it. Tune in next post!

Cheers!

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