Yeah, I gotta say I wishs he had pants. But it does look closer to the classic Lion-O. I suppose if they make both versions there will be one with pants.
Good to see that you guys like the more classic look. We are still tweaking the design as it goes along. We will reveal more designs and the diorama concept soon ![]()
Thatâs great, you guys!
I like this design a lot more as it resembles the original a lot more. But I still think trying to market your own design on the character is going to be a tough sell to fans.
From our front page story http://thundercats.org/2015/07/kinetiquettes-liono-statue/
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1c/e9/eb/1ce9eb155b0f3b7231b3c972f17c83a1.jpg
This 3D rendering of Lion-O looks so real.
He looks older than I thought he would based on the concept art.
I think he looks good. I think the added details on the outfit are a nice touch, though I prefer the classic look. The armor is removable, so thats fine. The metal claw shield is quite cool, looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Iâd like his face sculpt more if he looked less like Sabretooth.
Not my favorite interpretation but not bad. That being said I wonât be investing in this line.
Thereâs something about his body that doesnât quite gel with me. He appears to have the physique of a middle aged man.
Looks okay, good luck with the line.
Agree, good luck with the line!
I donât get that they canât just stick to the look we all came to love in the 80âs!
Anyway .. not my cup of tea
There has already been several failed statue lines based on the original look.
Maybe there is no market for ThunderCats statues then. Seeing they all fail âŚ
Maybe fail isnât the exact correct word, but lets just say they never completed the line or made more than four characters.
Maybe there is no market for ThunderCats statues then. Seeing they all fail âŚ
I have some thoughts on this. I believe there is a market there, though it is limited. The most successful statue line was probably Hard Heroes who produced four characters. They were the first out of the gate and so had the sole license to produce statues for a stretch of time. By the time they got to their third character, two additional statue companies were producing figures too. There was also the Mezco mega scale line and Bandai in full swing too.
ThunderCats collectors had a flooded market and so the share of wallet for the producers was affected. Competition for the collectors dollars impacted all of the lines. One after another they dwindled. I chalk a lot of this up to poor decisions made on the licensing front by WB who allowed multiple licensees to cannibalize each otherâs chances of succeeding. The fee structure to secure a license is also worth looking at. WB gives a time restricted license and demand certain minimum production targets are hit for each figure that is produced. Once you go past your license expiry you have to buy the license again. For most of the manufacturers this served as a hard stop to their production as the cost to re-acquire made it unprofitable to continue, especially given that the tent-pole characters (Lion-O and Mumm-Ra) had already been released.
Pop Culture Shock had a very viable product and differentiated themselves from other lines by being such a huge format. Jerry Macaluso said a couple years after cancelling his ThunderCats line that were he to do ThunderCats again today, he could have gone way deeper into the character line up because he wouldnât be working through distributors like Sideshow Collectibles and his profit model would have worked out. He would have been able to go ahead with Tygra based on the level of pre-orders received at the time, for example.
Now again we have multiple lines in play at the same time (Mattel, Mezco, Kinetiquettes, and the very quiet PrototypeZ Studios). I worry that the Mattel line will dissuade Mezco from entering their premium license for ThunderCats (ONE:12 collective - similar scale to Mattel).
It remains to be seen whether the Mattel license will spark renewed ThunderCats fever amongst more casual fans and colllectors. I tend to think it will and I am hoping it will lead to more interest in Kinetiquetteâs unique offering. Unfortunately what we saw from 2010 - 2012 was that multiple concurrent licenses made it difficult for producers to be profitable with what seems to be an expensive license.
Very well put Grizzlor!
I am planning on spending my money on the Mattel line and Mezco Tygra as well as still picking up the vintage toys and Bandai test shots/variants. If money were no object I would support them all but you gotta draw the line somewhere.
If Mattelâs forthcoming âThunderCatsâ line werenât a MattyCollector.com exclusive, Iâd buy each figure but keep them boxed, so that I can sell them and earn some money.
Why canât you do that with a matty line ?
This makes a lot of sense if you put it like that ⌠letâs hope the mattel line get the TC fever up high!!