double thumbs-up Those Dealer Catalogues pages look amazing, and it’s excellent to see the Paul O’Grady clip hosted on the site!
BTW, looking at the Paul O’Grady article, Neil, are you able to take screen grabs from videoclips? I could do with a couple of good screen shots from the ThunderCats PSA video that we’ve had donated to this site - with the HTML skills I’m slowly building up, with those screen shots I reckon I could complete that article myself, then it would just be up to someone to show me how you add the link to the video clip itself!
Also Neil, I have managed to get pictures of all 3 of the LJN Puzzles and can make a page and place it as Misc on the toy guide. It was an official toy released with an assortment number so i think it is worthy of mentioning it
The first 4 and all the thumbs are excellent Manny. However the last 2 images (22-back Toy Options and Companions Toy Options have been resized too small)
Could you resize those 2 again so they are the same full size as the other 4?
Then all 6 full size pics need watermarking. The thumbs (as usual) do not need a watermark.
Definately make the page for the puzzles and then it can be our first entry into the Merchandise section as we can have a category for non action LJN toys. Thinking about it, would Plush Snarf be better suited in Merchandise?
Perhaps we should think about coming up with an index page for Merchandise soon. Although can we get the index image on the Variations page nailed down first? I will be making a start on the pages for variations as soon as my final article is made into a webpage (Thundercats at UK Retail)
I hope that Kyle won’t mind me linking you, it’s in his staff folder - http://www.thundercatslair.org/staff/kyle/ - I believe the file is called “Thundercats PSA Announcement commericial”! In terms of images, if you could grab maybe a couple of good ones each of Lion-O and Snarf, from the animation that is unique to that video? (When you watch it it will become obvious which footage is unique, as I believe the rest all comes from the opening titles.)
As ever, Neil, you’re a legend - thank you!
I was going to say about Merchandise, I would have thought that a hell of a lot of those pages should be quite simple to create, given that you guys have a lot of images that should need only simple text to accompany them. At the moment I’m a bit tied-up with the Comic & Cartoon Sections, but once those are a bit further down the road in a couple of months, I’d be happy to help with anything I can for that section if you guys would like. Would you like me to photograph that ThunderCats jigsaw you helped me aquire?
Also, Kyle made a suggestion to me some while ago about items in the Merchandise Section that might also qualify for inclusion in another section, or vice versa, that what you could do is create a page for that item in either the Merchandise area or another area, and then link to that same page from elsewhere in the site. The reason why this came up is because I know that MannyF was working on a page for the Cartoon Section about the ThunderCats DVD releases, and both Kyle & I felt that this should be kept together with the info about the official VHS releases from back in the day. If the VHS releases go into the Merchandise Section as you suggest (which is probably the appropriate place for them I agree), I think the DVD releases should go in the Merchandise Section too - and, I’d like the Cartoon Section to link to those pages! What do you think? I’d be interested as always to hear your views, my friend!
ok, I’ve upload all those pics and now they are showing on the Card Backs page
However some of my scans are a but blurry close up I had noticed Unfortunately they were the best I could do as some of the cards won’t lay completely flat on the scanner.
We could leave them as is or reduce the size of the main pic more so it isn’t as evident when someone clicks to enlarge it. What do you guys think?
Ideally I wanted to scan all the cards, but the bigger ones (Lion-o, Mumm-Ra, Stinger etc..) are too big to fit on my scanner
Well depending on what you guys think about the above, Card Backs should be ready.
and then the text content copy and pasting into Word Pad and saving as a Word pad file so I can open it my end.
Unfortunately I don’t have a program on this new pc to open Word documents. If someone can do this for me I’d be ever so grateful. I don’t need the images contained in that Word file so please delete them off and just paste all the text.
I agree! I think collectors will likely realise the difficulties of getting high-quality pics of the cardbacks given that the most common examples of same are from carded figures (given that most kids when they purchased a figure and opened it up would probably throw the packaging away!) - at the same time, I know if I was looking at that page, I’d be appreciative of seeing as detailed a scan of a cardback as I could. So, I say leave it as it is!
Here is the UK sales you needed Neil…
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[FONT=Arial] UK Sales[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Thundercats toys sold in the UK……[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Within the UK, Thundercats toys were sold in a number of stores including Woolworths, Argos, Toymaster, Hamleys and Harrods to name but a few. The line was around a year behind the US, as the UK got series 1 in 1986, series 2 in 1987 and finally series 3 in 1988. However, perhaps due to the fact that the cartoon series was still airing into the early 90’s on BBC1, Thundercats toys were still on the shelves as late as 1992. In most cases the pricing for the toys were as follows:[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Regular figures = £3.95-£3.99[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Companions = £2.49-£2.99[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Small vehicles (Skycutter, Hovercat etc.) = £6.95-£6.99 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Thundertank and Fist Pounder = £14.95-£14.99[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Light up Sword of Omens = £3.95-£4.95[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]I have never saw the two play sets, Astral Moat Monster, Tongue-A-Sauras, Berserkers or Ram-Pagers for sale in the UK and I don’t have any written information on their pricing at this time. If that changes, I will of course update this page.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]UK released figures can still be found attached to their original cards and unopened on sites like Ebay. Sometimes you will find examples with the price sticker still attached to the top right hand corner of the card. The stickers can also be found on boxed Thundercats toys as well, such as the Thundertank and Skycutter.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Below are price stickers taken from cards and boxes that were sold in UK Woolworths stores. So if you see cards with these exact stickers on, you will know exactly where they were sold at retail![/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]£2.49 sticker taken from a Wilykat card, £2.99 sticker taken from a Snarf card, £6.99[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]sticker taken from a Hovercat vehicle box and the £14.95 sticker is from a Thundertank [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]box.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Thundercats in Retail Catalogues[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Not only did stores sell Thundercats toys, but home shopping catalogues did as well, such as Kays and Littlewoods. Unfortunately we don’t have any scans from these catalogues yet, but we will hopefully one day have some images from those vintage catalogues to show on this page.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Thundercats at Argos stores[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Although strictly speaking it wasn’t an home shopping catalogue, the catalogue shop Argos (recognized as the UK’s no.1 toy retailer) sold the Thundercats toys. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Argos 1986[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]The Thundercats toys debuted in the autumn/winter catalogue of 1986 and the page featured Lion-o and Mumm-Ra action figures, the Thundertank, Skycutter and Nosediver vehicles along with the child size light up Sword of Omens toy. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Please click the scans below of the pages taken from the 1986 Argos autumn/winter catalogue. Note that the description for the Lion-o action figure can be seen on the second page (it’s item 10)[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]UK 8-back cards[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]From what I remember (though I was very young at the time) on the toys 1986 debut, I think we only got the Lion-o and Mumm-Ra action figures and I believe these were the only Thundercats figures ever released in the UK on 8-back cards. I believe the rest of series 1 as well as the 6 new figures from series 2 appeared months later in 1987 on 14-back cards. However I could be wrong, so if I get information on 8-back UK releases of other series 1 figures I will update this page accordingly. However my thoughts on this do fit with the fact that Argos clearly only sold Lion-o and Mumm-Ra in 1986. Please click see images below of an 8-back Rainbow Toys Lion-o:[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Argos 1987[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Following on from the Argos 1986 catalogue, Thundercats figures continued in the 1987 spring/summer and autumn/winter[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Catalogues with a couple of additions. Unfortunately I do not have a scan of the Thundercats page from spring/summer catalogue yet, but below you can find a scan from the autumn/winter catalogue![/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial] Picture Here[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Just like the 1986 catalogue, very strangely the only regular figures available were still just Lion-o and Mumm-Ra. Though the Hammerhand figure was added from the Berserkers sub series of figures. With the vehicles, the Fist Pounder, Thunderclaw and Hovercat were now for sale in Argos. A thing to note here is that the Thundertank and Sword of Omens toy had both gone up in price by 50 pence. The page also featured misc items of a Satchel and VHS cassette containing 2 episodes from the cartoon series. The videos description in the catalogue was for the VCI (Video Collection International) release Thundercats Volume 4. However the catalogue image pictured the cover for Thundercats Volume 3 instead! [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Well I can confirm that a copy if Thundercats Volume 4 was issued, if you had ordered this video via Argos because my copy of Volume 4 actually has the Argos catalogue number sticker on it! See image below:[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial] Picture Here[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]I have no idea whether or not the Volume 3 VHS was also sold at Argos. I’m assuming the Volume 3 being pictured was simply just an error by Argos by the time the catalogue went to print.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Argos 1988[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Hopefully a scan from the 1988 Argos catalogues will be included here, once one becomes available.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Thundercats toys return in 1998! (a scalpers dream come true?)[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]The last time (I personally) saw Thundercats toys for sale in UK retail stores was winter 1992, when Woolworths were selling the figures they had left. It has recently come to my attention that during 1998, the UK retailer £Stretcher imported left over LJN toy stock from the USA. This stock comprised mainly of series 3 figures such as Jaga, Lynx-o and Bengali. £Stretcher sold these figures for just £1.99 each! I’m sure you’d agree that price is a collectors dream come true. Sadly for the collector it seems dealers snapped up most of the stock clearing out £Stretcher stores of all the Thundercats figures they had. These particular figures popped up at regular intervals on Ebay.co.uk a couple of years back. I noticed a certain seller, sell multiples of Jaga, Bengali and Lynx-o for as much as £100 each! Back then, like a lot of other Ebay bidders I had no idea about these originating from £Stretcher for just £1.99 each.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]When you pick up a series 3 carded figure, if the card back has not been tampered with, it’s quite easy to recognize if it was sold in a £Stretcher store. It will have the following age warning sticker pictured below on the back of the card. For it to be legally sold in the UK, it had to have this sticker put on it, as the cards did not display age warnings in the 80’s and it had been made law since then.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial] Picture Here[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial] Image above taken from a US LJN headed Jaga card that includes the [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial] Text ‘Requires one AAA alkaline battery’ at bottom of the card.[/FONT]
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The 1988 catalogue scans might need cropping slightly to remove the scanner background, but non of the main catalogue pics need resizing. However I do need all 5 scans making into thumbnails (same size thumbnails as the Dealer catalogues)
The price stickers only need resizing. Perhaps to the size of being slightly bigger than our avatars. They don’t need watermarking.
The Jaga card back needs watermarking, but not resizing. It also needs thumbnailing to around the size of the Card backs thumbnails we just did for the Card Backs page.
Then the £stretcher price sticker I’d like to be resized to the same size as the Jaga cardback thumbnail and then watermarking. It doesn’t need thumbnailing.
That should pretty much cover all the images for that article. Please let me kniw if this is ok. Thanks Manny
[B]EDIT:
Also need the Lion-o (8-back) and Volume 4 VHS pics editing as well, though I need to load them into that folder.
I’d like the Lion-o pic watermarking and then thumbnailing to the same size as the Jaga cardback. The volume 4 VHS pic needs resizing only to about double the size of the catalogue thumbnails.[/B]
I will have them done for you before the weekend is over and perhaps we can announce everything by Monday? How does that sound. I’m spending time with my wife and the girls (Gwenn and Alina…my Chihuahua) right now. Once done i will post it
Though could you change just one thing? Remove the watermark from the £Stretcher sticker? I’ve changed my mind and feel the watermark just impedes the pic. Could you also make the pic slightly bigger?
You did it exactly to how I had asked, but seeing it in finished form I think these changes will make it look better.
I’ll start integrating the images into the site now
Unfortunately they were the best I could do as some of the cards won’t lay completely flat on the scanner.