I thought I would bring this to the attention of everyone on team since I think this is pretty big news.
As MannyR and Neil are aware of, a fellow TCL visitor and ThunderCats collector sent me photos of what is to be believed as prototype art from the boxes of the LJN Tcats line. He loved our site so much he generously offered to take photos of them so we could display them on the site. (TCL RULES!)
Just to be sure that these were legitimate, Neil suggested I ask for authenticity of the photos, which was a good idea.
This was the response I received:
[INDENT]Hey Manny, [/INDENT][INDENT]No offense taken. It just makes me respect your site that much more! I purchased these from a company called Hollywood Heroes. Their address is 82 Fairview Ave Suite #5 Westwood, NJ 07675. Phone is 201-664-5795. [/INDENT][INDENT]These were purchased directly by Jordan Hembrough from a VP at the former LJN. I do have an letter of authenticy (just need to find it). Additionally, it is my understanding that this art was shown to Tom Tombusch of Tomart Publications (Action Figure Digest) for authenticity. He hadn’t at that time seen any LJN artwork ever surface until these. This was approximetly 7 years ago when I purchased them.[/INDENT][INDENT]If I find the letter or other info I will let you know ASAP. Also let me know if you have more questions…[/INDENT]Anyhow, I’ll leave it up to our GREAT toy experts to decide whether we should use them on the site. If I could offer my opinion, I think they are authentic. I’m not a toy expert (which why I asked a question in the other thread), but I think this would be an amazing addition to the BEST ThunderCats toy guide on the web!
Hollywood heros is indeed a well known site. They sell all sorts of different protos and preproduction materials from different lines. I have seen them have a lot of Kenner stuff. Just that this guy dealt with them means these were not cheap as they certainly are an expensive company. I would like to see the cert of auth also. Well heres my take on them. Some of them look real and others I’m not so sure on. There are a few that the actual drawings of the characters are not that detailed and going by say the fistpounder box the figures on that are super detailed An example of this is img4743 Lion-o and Panthro look like they were drawn in at the last min, but then there are awesome pics of lynx-o and capt shiner in there vechiles that look just like the box art on which they appear. I say they are legit although I wonder why some pics were rushed in finishing (im4788 Tyrgras outfit is all wrong and the rest of the characters dont look right. I also am concerned about the pic with quicksilver, Lion-o, and Mako. Granted RankinBass produced all three and all three were very similar programs, Ljn only made toys for Tigersharks and Thundercats. Kenner made toys for Silverhawks. I dont see how there was a poster made advertising some kind of alliance between all three made by LJN (unless rankin bass said so or if it was made by rankin bass to advertise in the toy stores).
Well that’s all I have to say on those. I think they are legit, but still have some questions/concerns about them. Anway I think they should get put up on the site maybe in the prototype section (as I dont think a new section should be devoted just to box art since these are the only ones we have come across). Thanks for sharing Manny
These pieces are amazing, and to me they do look (predominantly) legitimate - I agree with some of Matt’s observations, but on the whole I would believe these to be on the money.
Another personal observation is that it’s great to see an illustration of the action feature for Cannon Blaster (the unproduced Berserker) - is this the first time his “dwarf mode” has ever been seen?
“The Thunderstrike”…One thing to note regarding the process LJN used; each part of the piece was draw separately (possibly by different artists) so mountains, terrain, vehicles, and characters were then all pasted together to form the final work. You can see up close the different paper of each up close. A cool technique that you wouldn’t see in box art nowadays!
Please find attached photos of “prototype photo art” for the “Thunderwings” box. Note: this is and the following two of the “Luna Lasher” and “Cannon Blaster” are photo art. This was one step closer in the process of creating the card or box art prior to placing the words and text, and package design that would go into each figure or vehicle-Cool! Also note, this artwork wasn’t used in the final version of the “Thunderwings” or "Luna Lasher"since LJN decided to go with a card instead of a box for these additions-since you can’t see the figures behind the card version with the actual toy taking up the space, it looks as if they went with a standard landscape background for each.
Prototype art card… OK…The attached is a prototype card art from the early LJN days…Note Tigra and Panthro’s different colored outfit and Mumra’s cape! Also you can see some “immaturity” in the way the faces are drawn. The art is all pen and watercolor and quite small measuring about 6 x 6 inches. And again, the old style of actually affixing the “Thundercats” and LJN logos to the art itself!
OK bet you haven’t heard of the “Thunderforce” until now! Well, again another prototype from LJN’s latter days…I don’t know what the goal was with this one…Other than to promote all these pictured toy lines, The Silverhawks, The Thundercats, and The Tigersharks.
That all certainly sounds legit to me and very cool at the same time. Sure we can definately put these up on the site, but would it be ok to have our logo on them as well, perhaps in a corner and in small writing?
I agree with your thinking Matt about them being at home in the Prototypes section, but for something this fantastic I’d be a bit weary of burying it in there. I think it being placed as a ‘Feature’ would make more sense as it would give it more exposure.
Eventually I wouldn’t mind re-doing the Toy section Index page to make it more tidy and easier to navigate. But that is something to think about later on as new content is more important right now.
Manny: Thanks for posting the comments the guy made about the pieces! They will come in very useful when we put the pages together that these pieces will be displayed on!
Ok here’s my take on this. I totally think they are legit. As Matt mentioned, Hollywood Heroes is widely known for the unique things they sell. Jordan Hembrough however is a different story, my inquiries with him were troublesome at best. He was the one that answered some questions about the Mad Bubbler. In fact he even sent me an email stating that he personally sold 2 prototype Mad Bubblers one red and one orange and that the red one sold for about 4 grand compared to about 3 grand for the orange one. He IS a reputable dealer and Im inclined to say that these are legit…Maybe I can inquire him about the Mad Bubbler again and see what kind of info he can give me however I would need assistance in writing a letter to him…Chris(hint,hint) I may need your help with that one. Perhaps if we send him a formal letter he would be more inclined to give any further info on any prototype Mad Bubblers or any prototypes in general. I believe too that he sold 1 Feliner as well
By all means, sir, just LMK what you want to say (maybe compose a letter the way you would naturally write it) and then I’ll happily help out as soon as I can!
May be I can ask Matt (the guy who sent me those photos) if he knows any information on the Mad Bubbler stuff as well. I can do that for you if you want Manny. Just let me know.
Sure Manny you can inquire about it who knows maybe he knows something. Im very inclined though to send a formal letter to Jordan Hembrough to see if he can give us some info.
