Icon Heroes Thundercats Minimates and Thundertank

This is a guest review from Ayeffkay. If you are a fan of the Thundercats Minimates, be sure to check out the exclusive Thundercats Minimates set coming to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

I have always been a huge fan of the Thundercats. Sure I had most of the Masters of the Universe and I picked up G.I. Joe a little late around 1988, but Thundercats was my show. Alas, after two seasons and a hundred and fricken thirty episodes, the series ended and the property has languished in the shadows since, save for a very short-lived reboot in 2011. While the reboot produced a decent cast of action figures, they did not have the charm of the barely articulated behemoths of the 80s. Not one set of glowing eyes among them sadly.

Fortunately, Icon Heroes has been releasing Minimates of the classic Thundercats at Comic Con for the last few years. Ron was nice enough to pick some up for me, although now I suspect he was angling for me to write an article for AFP. I nearly foiled his plot by simply hanging them on the wall, unopened, but then something magnificent happened: they released a Minimates-scale THUNDERTANK! How could I not buy that? How long could I resist opening it and driving it around my living room?

I don’t know, I bought it a while ago and just opened it today. I’ve been busy, sue me.

As you can see, the box it comes in is shaped like the claw of Cats’ Lair, under which they store the Thundertank when they’re not driving it all over Third Earth, jumping over chasms and diving under the sea.

The details are true to the show, down to the lines on the arms and the weird design on the axles. It even looks a little grungy, like it’s been driven to Dark Side and back chasing those blasted Lunataks. Something the original toy didn’t have was the shield over the cockpit, necessary when going aquatic or fighting off the chill of Hook Mountain. I had to build a cover out of cardboard for mine.

The cockpit opens to show not one but two seats! That’s precisely the same number as in the show and twice as many as the 80s toy. The dashboard shows some kinda weird nonsensical readouts which is pretty much what it did in the cartoon, and it even has that weird circle thing that Panthro would twist when it wasn’t working right. Geez, that’s probably the ignition switch. That did not occur to me until just now.

And yes, the Minimates fit perfectly in two wonderful seats. Lion-o is reaching to change the station, and Panthro is all, “Don’t you EVER touch a black man’s radio boy!” But he has to let him, because Lion-O is only 12 and some music just isn’t appropriate for children. Plus Lion-O is in charge anyway.

Here we see all the Thundercats posing with their tank. Wily-Kit and Wily-Kat on their hoverboards, and Lion-O, Panthro, Cheetara, and Tig-

Where’s Tigra?

Sorry Jaga, I was invisible.

Sword of Omens! Give me Sight Beyond Sight!

It’s Mumm-ra! He’s going to release the dam and drown the Ro-Bear Berbils. Or electrocute them. Whatever, we have to stop him! Lion-O is the only one with the sword, and Panthro has to drive the tank, so everyone else, go warn Ro-Bear Berbil Bill, Ro-Bear Berbil Belle, and Ro-Bear Berbil Bert to evacuate Ro-Bear Berbil Village!