Old Tygra variants.

Collecting LJN ThunderCats Toys
1

Here’s a couple of old Tygra variants. The first three pictures are of one MOC yellow nose, one loose yellow nose and one loose orange nose:
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/1955/ctygra3009yb.jpg
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/8833/tigracomp6bs.jpg
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/1981/tygraadultlooseinc1a2ez.jpg

These two pictures are from my own collection. The first pic is the orange nose vs the yellow nose and the second are of three Tygra’s where the left one has the straps paintjob under the feet and that one also has the orange nose.
http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/1146/tygra0010ez.jpg
http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/3506/tygra0023ev.jpg

Anyone?

2

Man I would love to get my hands on that Childbro Tygra. But seriously I think that the paint jobs just results from where the figure originated (countrywise)

3

[QUOTE=matt]
Man I would love to get my hands on that Childbro Tygra. But seriously I think that the paint jobs just results from where the figure originated (countrywise)
[/QUOTE]

I’d have to double check, but I think that the Childbro Tygra is the exact same as the Toy Options Tygra. The Bolo Whip certainly looks the same with that black handle.

4

I think that the Childbro version is the same as Toy Options

5

I didn’t notice or even knew that the Childbro had a black handle. Does that mean that the yellow nose Tygra was the Childbro and Toy Options version? And in what countries were they released in?

6

[QUOTE=centurn]
I didn’t notice or even knew that the Childbro had a black handle. Does that mean that the yellow nose Tygra was the Childbro and Toy Options version? And in what countries were they released in?
[/QUOTE]

Childbro were based in Hong Kong I believe and together with Otto Simon, they imported them to a number of places such as Germany and Belgium. They might have been sold in parts of scandanavia too.

Toy Options didn’t really release Thundercats officially themselves. I just call it a Toy Options card because it has their address on the back of the card with no other company logo whatsoever. The reason why it has the Toy Options address is because Rainbow Toys rented mill space from Toy Options (now known as Character Options or just ‘Character’)

So basically Rainbow Toys released them, but it was right at the end of toylines production run. I’m guessing this is why you find oddities with them. The Bolo Whip is much shorter (and frankly if I were a child receiving this version of Tygra I’d be quite dispointed with the length of the whip)

Then of course the whip handle is black, instead of the regular orange/brown colour. So like I said, I’m guessing this was the last produced pieces of the toys and they just stuck what they had left onto cards.

But to answer your question the Toy Options cards originate from the UK. They were possibly sold in some European countries as well. I doubt any were sold in the USA or Canada.

7

Alright, what the crap is this?:
http://cgi.ebay.com/tygra-thundercats-loose-rare-paint-variant-x2-1985-ljn_W0QQitemZ140007650018QQihZ004QQcategoryZ16476QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Is it really a variant? Anyone?

8

I’d say its been left out in the sun a little too long

9

Im no expert myself on variants…but from a common sense perspective, Manny C is correct. That looks like its faded via sun exposure…not a variant in my book

10

What I thought too, but does the body size/shape look different also?

11

If you notice theyre laying down not standing up.

12

The greenish tint on the unpainted plastic is from a chemical reaction in the plastic. The painted area may be faded from the sun but green area is not from the sun. This can happen with figures along with molding. There are carded examples of figures where there is a furry look that is mold which is also caused from the plastic.

13

[QUOTE=matt]
Man I would love to get my hands on that Childbro Tygra. But seriously I think that the paint jobs just results from where the figure originated (countrywise)
[/QUOTE]

Just got around to taking this pic from my Toy Options Tygra. I’m fairly sure it’s the same weapon and figure as the one released by Childbro/Otto Simon. I’ll try and get close ups of the Tygra figure itself taken soon.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/blackiecats/toyoptionstygrawhip.jpg

14

Thanks alot, will be looking forward to that!
Does anyone own a carded Tygra with the straps under his feet painted? It would be great to know if that variant was exclusive to US, UK, Euorope, Canada or if it can be found on all cards. If anyone else own a loose one, is the nose orange like mine. It’s this version I’m using on display because it’s the most mint of my Tygra figures. I’m guessing the “regular” figure is the one with orange nose and NO starps painted under his feet?

15

As I was going through all my extra loose figs I came across the Tygra with the straps under his feet. This one is the same as the one in that ebay auction that was being offered as a variant. I dont think it is, I also don’t think that the sun had anything to do with it as it is not faded but still vibrant. I think that Jaga was the closest certain plastics do different things after being in storage. I say this because the part that is the light green color on the front of the fig is only on the front, so I believe its from how it was stored. Mine does have the orange nose like yours centurn but so does my regular one. Well heres a pic.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/discoman800/IMG_1412.jpg

16

Thanks Matt!
I also noticed that the feet are shaped differently or I’m I wrong?

17

Sorry guys for not posting this stuff sooner. I have so many carded figures sometimes I overlook these cool, strange variations. I’m also busy working on site content as well so not much time for putting images together to post on the forums. However let me try and clear up both the painted/unpainted nose Tygra and the straps on Tygra’s feet variations in the same post.

Painted Nose

The orange painted nose version of Tygra would be the most common version and can be found on just about all North American cards as well as cards intended for sale in North America:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/blackiecats/tygra-paintednoses.jpg

Unpainted Nose

The unpainted nose version of Tygra would have been released nearer the end of the toyline and it was released on the Euro LJN, UK Toy Options and Childbro cards:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/blackiecats/unpaintednoses.jpg

Apologies for the image and text quality. I put these together very quickly and don’t know what happened with the text :frowning: When these are eventually put on the site they will look much better :slight_smile:

So you can pretty much sum up that the unpainted nose is a European variation on series 3 Tygra’s as these were released between 1988-89

Now for the Tygra with painted straps on his feet…

…This was again, a Tygra released nearer the end of the toyline I’m guessing. The one I have with the painted straps is on the LJN headed UK ?Stretcher imported cards. Those cards were imported into the UK by ?Stretcher and sold for just ?1.99 each in 1998!

A close up of the feet:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/blackiecats/tygraUKpaintedfeetMOC-marked.jpg

Visit the link below for a scan of this card back. Here you can see that the bottom has the One AAA alkaline battery required text meaning it is the UK imported card. Also if you look closely someone (probably at ?Stretcher) wrote a SKU number of 133 955 and the price of ?1.99 in pen on it.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/blackiecats/tygrapaintedfeet-cardback-marked1.jpg

18

Great run-down Blackiecats!
A few more questions; Is ?Stretcher Rainbow Toys and/or is Euro card Rainbow Toys or dutch/french card or are they all separate distributors? In that case how do I recognize a Euro card?
And about painted straps Tygra, his feet are shaped differently from the regular right?
I also noticed another thing about my Tygra w/o orange nose; the back of his head that is normally painted creamy yellow like his face is all orange. You can see from your pics that this is both the Childsbro and Toy Options release but not the Euro card w/o orange nose. So yet another small variant.
One final thing; you wrote Blackicats “imported into the UK by ?Stretcher and sold for just ?1.99 each in 1998!” - 1998? Did you mean 1988?

19

[QUOTE=centurn]
Great run-down Blackiecats!
A few more questions; Is £Stretcher Rainbow Toys and/or is Euro card Rainbow Toys or dutch/french card or are they all separate distributors? In that case how do I recognize a Euro card?
[/QUOTE]

£Stretcher is a UK store that sells things at cut prices. They have a habit of importing leftovers from toylines and selling them at half the regular price. They are still in business today, actually last year they sold the 200x line of MOTU toys at half price. I picked up a Teela for just £3 from them! :slight_smile: Their website is www.poundstretcher.co.uk

Be sure to check out the US v.s. UK page in the Toy section of this site, once the site is back up. That will tell you how to spot one of the cards that were sold in £Stretcher stores. Also, within the next couple of months, look out for another page entitled Thundercats at UK Retail which will also go up in the Toy Section as that should be an interesting read as well.

Euro cards are easy to recognize as they will only have German and French text on them, with no English. I’m not sure if they were under the same production arm as Rainbow Toys, but they also had some odd variations. For example, check out this pic of Tygra’s Bolo whip from the Euro card:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/blackiecats/EUROtygrawhip-marked.jpg

[QUOTE=centurn]
And about painted straps Tygra, his feet are shaped differently from the regular right?
[/QUOTE]

I’m not sure about that. With my Tygra (with painted straps) being carded, it’s too hard to tell.

[QUOTE=centurn]
I also noticed another thing about my Tygra w/o orange nose; the back of his head that is normally painted creamy yellow like his face is all orange. You can see from your pics that this is both the Childsbro and Toy Options release but not the Euro card w/o orange nose. So yet another small variant.
[/QUOTE]

Yep, while the Toy Options and Childbro Tygras are the exact same figure, the Euro version is slightly different.

[QUOTE=centurn]
One final thing; you wrote Blackicats “imported into the UK by ?Stretcher and sold for just £1.99 each in 1998!” - 1998? Did you mean 1988?
[/QUOTE]

That actually isn’t a typo on this occasion. UK £Stretcher stores did sell Thundercats figures in 1998 for just £1.99 :eyepopping: I’m guessing this was at the time when LJN went out of business and that’s why £Stretcher got the figures dirt cheap from them. They MUST have gotten them cheap to be able to sell them for just £1.99.

So far I know that the following figures listed below were sold at £Stretcher stores because they either have the One AAA alkaline battery required text and/or the age range sticker. For an explanation with pics about the One AAA alkaline battery required text and/or the age range sticker, again check out the US v.s. UK page in the Toy section. The list below is based on mine and other peoples collections I’ve come across, as well as the odd auction on Ebay where the seller has had a pic of the card back displayed on the auction page.

Tygra (old with Wilykat pvc)
Lion-o (22-back Thunder Warrior offer card)
Cheetara (22-back Thunder Warrior offer card)
Panthro
Tuska Warrior
Hachiman
Bengali
Lynx-o
Pumyra
Jaga
Captain Shiner
Safari Joe
Captain Cracker

20

Your knowledge is greatly appreciated, thanks! You gotta love those variants ey?