Interview with a former LJN Employee/Designer

Collecting LJN ThunderCats Toys
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Ok guys I have managed to get the ok from HH in putting together a panel of Q&A for his client whose pieces are coming to the market. We know that a Mad Bubbler has surfaced and there are more surprises to come. So with that being said please post whatever questions you may have.

This is your chance to get some answers straight from an LJN employee who was involved in the toy line. The questions will be submitted one week from now. Depending on the questions some or all may be answered but we will do our very best to have everyone’s questions answered.

So…here’s your chance, post away

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1/How did you come to own these items? Did you work for LJN and if so what was your role?

2/(if yes to above) Do you have any interesting memories about your time at LJN and when Thundercats toys were in stores?

3/Many prototypes appeared in the small catalogues packed in with the toys, does this mean the prototype toys were close to a potential release?

4/Do you know how many of each prototype were made? (if possible please state amount sculpted/painted/working (if applicable) If unsure what would be your best guess?

5/Were there any characters never released or prototype never sculpted, that you would like to have seen?

6/Which of the prototypes never released is your favourite and why?

7/Is there any reason why 2 different Tygra figures were sculpted and released?

8/Were there ever any plans or even discussion about a Castle Plundarr playset?

9/So far we have seen the Mad Bubbler and promised more to come…however is there any particular reason why this collection has been kept under wraps this long?

10/Bandai are to release new toys in 2011 based off the original classic 80’s Thundercats cartoon. After experience of working on the original line for LJN, what single piece of advice would you give Bandai for their take on the original Thundercats series?

I’m sure I can think of more, but wanted to get at least 10 up :wink:

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I have one:

It has been rumored by several fans that they had seen the Mad Bubbler in toy shelves for a brief period of time.

Did the Mad Bubbler ever reach retail stores and if so for how long would you estimate it was in store shelves.

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I’ve got 7 here, mostly general. Will edit and append to this post if I think of more. These are in descending order of desire to be answered (most desired to have answered to least desired to have answered), so please consider if you can’t ask them all:

1. Laser Saber figures of Lion-O, Mumm-Ra, and Bengali have surfaced under Rainbow Toys. Can you confirm if LJN ever produced these as well? While this is a Rainboy Toys questions, do you have any information on if the Captain Shiner laser saber figure was ever produced? (There were 4 laser sabet figures pictured in the last series Rainbow Toys mini catalog: Lion-O, Mumm-Ra, Bengali, and Capt. Shiner). To avoid any confusion, I’m referring to the 4 figures on the right in this link for both of these questions:

http://www.thundercatslair.org/toys/graphics/catalogues/seriesRcatB.jpg

2. Were there any figures planned beyond the produced and unproduced figures shown in the last LJN catalog in 1987 or another way of phrasing it: was there a “Series 4” planned at all? If so can you shed any light on characters/vehicles/playsets being considered and if any early prototypes were ever made?

3. As Bandai owns the master toy license now, I’m interested as to any legality involved as to if they could reproduce the LJN figures for a commemorative re-release down the road. Can you shed any light on the legal aspect as to the scope of the copyrights LJN owned at the time the line was produced? Did they only own their contributions to Thundercats (ex: Battle-Matic action mechanism, any unique weapons or harnasses, etc) or did they own, as it is termed the rights to the ‘derivative’? Meaning the actual figure likenesses themselves as well?

4. There are variations of several figures out there (Jaga with yellow vs caucasian skin, Rataro with eye daggers vs with daggers that don’t have eyes, S-s-slithe with pink eyes vs white eyes, Lion-O with orange hair vs with red hair, several others). Can you give any insight as to why these variations exist and if they were planned or were manufacturing errors?

5. Seems like LJN was starting to explore more than just the standard ‘Battle-Matic’ action in the main line towards the end of the line with Thunderwings Lion-O, Luna-Lasher Mumm-Ra, Driller, etc(by main line I mean the Thundercats, Mutants, Mumm-Ra, etc. Not the Berzerkers which all had unique actions of their own). Can you shed any light as to any other proposed action features that were in the pipelines prior to the end? As a side question, why was Hachiman given a uniquely different Battle-Matic action feature from the rest of the figures in the main line?

6. While most of the figure line makes complete sense, one figure sticks out in my mind as a curious choice to produce: Mongor. Can you give any details as to why some reoccuring show favorites didn’t make it to production (there aren’t many, but Mandora comes to mind), yet Mongor who only appears in a single episode that I recall was chosen to be produced? Along that line, why was Mongor chosen over some other 1 or 2 episode characters like Char-Nin, the Demolisher, or a Crab Man?

7. While all of the figures look amazing and its impossible not to be able to identify which character they are, there seems to be a variations as to figures matching up to the likeness of their show counterparts (in other words, some figures more resemble the Rankin Bass versions than others). What were some of the more challenging figures to sculpt to show likeness, and what made them challenging?

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Here are mine. The previous questions are great and I would have asked a lot of them.

  1. Was Quickpic, Plutar and the Inflamer ever considered for production?

  2. Can you describe the production process. I am curious the steps taken to consider a character or scrap a character for production.

  3. What was the reason the Stinger was produced when he is the only character never to have been in the cartoon and why the flimsy quality of the wings.

  4. Can you describe the molds used create the characters (this is for my piece of mind as I have a set and want to make sure it is legit)

  5. Was there ever a possibility of having a Snowmeow produced that the Snowman could ride?

  6. How come the proportions on the companions figures are off so much compared to the rest of the figures, and was it ever considered to have the Cat’s lair be able to hold the Thundertank?

  7. How many different weapons ideas/designs per figure were there I’m basing this question on the final released accessories and the accessories featured in the catalogs?

8.) What do the numbers on the bottoms of already known prototype pieces mean (ex. my Lynx-o in the prototype section)?

  1. Do you happen to know why Playful was able to stray away so much from the LJN figures in regards to there final products (Ie. shuttle guns, Lynx-o) and what actual figures were produced by Glasslite, Playful and the company in Venezula?

  2. This isn’t a Thundercats question but its close. Did you work on the Tigersharks line and if so was there ever a second wave of figures considered for production, and do you have any prototype pieces or pictures of unreleased figures (ie. Dragonstein, Octavia)

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Hi Matt

Quite sure your molds were legit from what I recall based on other finds, your Lynx-o could be either an Engineering Pilot or a First shot ( Test shot/Bench Shot are other names depending on the figure) I suspect yours has dates and copy right markings. If it’s hand painted versus the usual production paint job then that is quite nice.

I’d have to see more shots (pics) of the feet but over all I would think its an engineering pilot. These are typically first batched figures pulled off the line and examined to durability or some other factors the #1 could be part of a group number or #1 of X for just Lynx-o. Since its cast in production colors that is another factor but who knows, LJN may have used proper colors to do test shots unlike Kenner or some other Toy companies of the time.

Hope this helps a little, I’ve had quite a few Engineering pilots and test shots etc from different lines so have seen some overlap.

cheers
W

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Thanks for the info. I honestly cant recall if he has the copyright dates on him. Glad to know my molds are legit. I had hoped they were but there was a slimmer of doubt cause I can’t remember who sold them to me

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The info should be on his left foot, so far it seems ljn used production colors on test shots with or without dates. If you had a magnifying glass you may be able to tel if it’s hand painted. I forgot about that mold you had, I think it was one I was interested in from James gallo off his website sometime back. That could be it. I have that same problem :smiley:

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With the second release of Tygra, which in my opinion was better than the first, was any thought ever given to making a second Cheetara figure?

Why didn’t LJN ever produce a young Lion-O or Claudus figure?

Why was the Lion-O figure orange as opposed to the skin tone used in the series?

Why wasn’t a Snarfer figure ever released alongside the Bengali, Pumyra and Lynx-O?

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Guys great questions so far…remember that there is only 2 days remaining before I send them out. Hopefully we can get the majority or all of them answered but if not we will go through the list and pick the very best to reflect what most of us have wanted answers for. This ought to be a very good and informative interview

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Here’s my 2-part question:

In the early days of planning the line, was a 3 3/4" scale figure (similar to GI Joe or Star Wars) ever considered for the Thundercats line? What factors lead the decision to go with the size that was released?

I can guess that the answer has to do with number of figures in the line, detail of accessories each figure came with, size of vehicles/playsets, and amount of money the larger size figures would bring in, but maybe our ex-LJN employee has some insight.

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  1. How were characters, vehicles, and locations picked to be made into figures, vehicles, and playsets? Specifically:

A. Why were Lynx-O, Pumyra, and Ben-Gali made, but none of the Luna Taks or Snarfer?

B. Why was the Mutant Fistpounder made, but not the Rat Star or Vultureman’s Flying Machine?

C. What were the origins of the following, which were not in the original cartoon:
Quick-Jaws & Cannon-Blaster (Berzerkers)
ThunderWings, Stilt Runner, & Luna Lasher (Transporters)
The Stinger (Rampagers)
Blue, Orange, Red, & Black Laser Sabers Energy Packs

D. Why were figures made of characters that only made 1-2 appearances, but characters that made multiple appearances not made?

  1. Why were so few figures and vehicles made when there were so many possibilities from the cartoon, and other cartoon/toy lines had so many (He-Man, G I Joe, Transformers, etc)?

  2. Were there any plans to make a Tower of Omens and/or Sky Tomb playset(s) had the toyline continued?

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You guys have covered the hottest issues concerning the LJN Thundercats toys, great points raised. We are looking forward to the answers.

My main question, which is similar to Grune’s 4th question, is does Bandai owns the LJN rights as well to reproduce the Thundercats figures in a commemorative edition, including the special features,(battle mattic, light up functions,accessories) and different versions of each character? Otherwise, i don’t know how classic and faithful to the old toys this release is going to be…

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The LJN toys were not exactly cartoon accurate, so I’d like Bandai to make classic toys as close to the Rankin Bass 80’s series as possible! Top of my list are Willa, Nayda, Lunatacs and Mandora! Get them right and Bandai will make me a pauper! :smiley:

I honestly see little point in re-issues of the exact LJN figures as it will just cheapen the 80’s LJN figures. Plus in this day and age the LJN figures seem a little prehistoric for a new retailing action figure :wink:

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Ok guys thanks much for the great questions I will gather them together and send them out. More to follow soon…

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Id like to ask one question if it’s not too late…

We learn in the script to “the astral prison” that the cartoon design of the Astral Moat Monster was based on a design done by LJN, were there other characters that LJN specifically designed instead of members of Rankin/Bass or Pacific Animation?

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I’m sure your question will be considered :slight_smile: I’m closing this thread now as I expect there will be a new thread created for the response :wink: