Upon listening to the podcast episode 3, i heard the guys mentioning about Tuska being the ugliest worse looking of the thundercats toyline which by the way made me laugh when Manny said this was his first figure he bought lol. Anyway i actually thought the worse looking toy or should i say playset was infact the thundercats lair. The lair itself looked nothing like the actual thundercats lair from the cartoon, i think the minituare version is actually better looking just due to the fact that theres more resemblance to the lair from the cartoon. Its strange because the rest of the toys where very replicabable from the characters of the cartoon, but that cats lair was the worse looking playset or toy of the whole thundercats toy lines. Bad electrics which broke easily as well is not uncommon with the cats lair as mentioned by many listings on ebay of the item. Id just like to get some other peoples opinions on this and see what yous think. I actually think the cats lair infact upon listening to it now on the podcast they say it was 80-90 pounds i think i read somewhere the price range was at £100..scandalous really considering the design and poor eletrical work..a very bad thumbs down with LGN on the Cats lair..maybe because it was released in the last series of the toy line, the producers i think just wanted to get this playset out of the way and get it out there released to the fans and make alot of money from it.
I’ve seen photos of the Cats’ Lair toy. You’re right, it looks so little like the cartoon version that I wonder why anybody would bother to buy it in the first place. And poor electrical wiring in the toy? Why am I not surprised?
It’s because of such things that I purchased so few of the toys. I have three T-Cats: Lion-O, Bengali, and Pumyra. That’s all the LJN figures I ever bought. I also have a little Snarf straw holder, but that was a promotional item from Burger King back in 1986.:bengali:
Ha! I remember that straw holder! Wish I still had it…
well as far as the lair goes, I never had one as a kid and if i did I probably would have gotten board with it (i did that alot needless to say I didnt have many toys as my parents learned very fast after dropping 50 bucks on a GI Joe rolling Thunder vehicle). I dont like how you cant fit any vehicles in it, ie the thundertank, hovercat etc. I have owned 1 that was scrapped together from other ones. I looked terrible I had to super glue everything and eventually I sold it. Needless to say im not in a hurry to find another one any time soon (maybe when I get some extra room).
Im having the same thoughts about my Sectaurs Hyve (its huge and might be going soon, im thinking about it)
anyway after rambling on here about nothing for awhile. I dont feel the need for it and its by far not my favorite playset (its a tie between the technodrome and a knockoff he-man one), but then again being a completist for this line I will eventually have to get one.
I love the Cats Lair! I think LJN did an amazing job as they couldn’t realistically make it like it was in the cartoon. It would have been huge! My Cats Lair is one of my favourite pieces from my collection and it’s in perfect working condition. If you look after a toy, then in most cases it will stay in a working condition.
The doors are my favourite feature as you can use the cannon that comes with the lair as the Thundranian cannon Vultureman has in The Astral Prison episode! I love how it can blast the doors open.
My only nit pic is that it would have been better for the light thing to come from the eyes rather than the mouth on the cats head, which would have been realistically possible.
As for the price, I heard from a good source it was £79.99 in UK Toys R Us stores. I know John Menzies and Woolworths sold it for £99.99! :jaw:
I do find some beauty on Cats Lair even if you can’t put any vehicle on it (it would have to be huge). In Brazil there weren’t any playsets but the minis, so I had my “Cats Lair” made of pillows and I even played with one made with Polystyrene that was rented for my 7th birthday!
I loved it a lot, but sadly it had to be returned! It’s a common practice in Brazil to make thematic Birthday parties to kids and there’s a lot of small business that craft those pieces, to create beautiful sets.
You also have to think that when it was sold, it probably appealed a LOT to kids in the 80’s. It is superior to Castle Grayskull and other playsets we had then (it even had lasers!). I’d loved to have one when I was a kid and even today, if I had room for it! 
The only problem I have with the Cats Lair playset is the size, too small. When it comes to design though Lion-O is the figure that upsets me the most…The LJN figure is horrible and looks nothing like the cartoon. In fact til this day I have never even seen a custom Lion-O figure that I like…its very hard to make him just right…I think its because of the hair >.<
We just found one at a yard sale this past summer. Decent shape and only 5 cents !!
eBay (US) is chock full of the Snarf pencil/straw holders. You can almost always find one or two up for auction. They don’t usually go for more then a few bucks.