ThunderCats wiki
Advertisement

Template:Character

ThunderCats have had many types of toys and figures based on the original show as well as the new show. The toylines for the original series were produced and distributed in the US by LJN and Kidsworks. The company responsible for making the toyline for the new series is Bandai.

The LJN ThunderCats toys were distributed for sale in other countries by a number of different toy distributors native to that country. Except for the Playful South American toys, all the other toys were pretty much identical for the most part, however there were some production variations, such as different paint jobs and slightly different weapons


LJN

LJN toys logo

LJN Toyline was the official and first major line, which was made during the original 80's show. The toys were released concomitantly with the airing of the show. The line produced action figures of most of the characters from the show as well as a number of vehicles and playsets. LJN also produced a child-size Sword of Omens, a plush Snarf and a Big Wheel Tricycle.


Rainbow Toys

Rainbowtoys1logo

Rainbow Toys were LJN Toyline's United Kingdom production arm, which produced and distributed the ThunderCats toys for the UK and Ireland. They were initially located in Oldham, Manchester, England. Their office was in the same place as "Toy Options" (another toy company) and that is why the Toy Options address appeared figures' packaging.


Rainbow-toys-logo2

Later on, Rainbow Toys company shifted from Oldham to Northampton and even changed their logo so the later released ThunderCats toys had the second logo and address printed on the packages and Mini catalogues. Rainbow Toys produced and distributed the toys until 1992, much later than LJN who stopped their line shortly after the animated show ended. 


Grand Toys

Grandtoyslogo (1)

Grand Toys (Jouets Grand) was a Canadian toy company that licensed the ThunderCats toys in the 1980s and distributed them all over Canada. The company was located in Dorval, Quebec.

The toy cards and packaging had both English and French text written on them. The company also made toys, stationary and other accessories based on other popular brands that it had licensed.


ChildBro

Childbro

ChildBro was a Hong Kong-based toy company that was founded in 1989. They distributed the ThunderCats toys in Asia. The company was dissolved in 1991 after running for twelve years. Some of the ChildBro toy cards also had the "Otto Simon" logo on the back and the text on them written in both English and German. While the majority of the ThunderCats figures produced by ChildBro were identical to the LJN figures, there were some interesting variations produced as well such as the "Olive Green" Lion-O, the unpainted legs Grune and the black handle Bolo whip Tygra to name a few.

Otto Simon

Otto Simon Logo

Otto Simon is a toy company based in Holland and Belgium that distributed the ThunderCats toyline in Eastern Europe on behalf of Childbro in the 1980s. Otto Simon Ltd. was founded by Mr Otto Simon in 1911. After the 2nd World War the company began specialising in toys and it grew to be one of the largest importers and toys wholesale business in Western Europe. In 1997, Otto Simon started its own retail concept and merged with Toypartners, a sister company and retail organisation which had been operating in the market independently until then with the toy formulas Speelboom, Wigwam, Techno Hobby and Early Learning Centre. It also distributes toys of many popular brands such as Lego, Hasbro and Mattel.


Glasslite

Glasslite Logo

Glasslite was a Brazilian company that distributed LJN ThunderCats toys for the Brazilian market. The company also produced a line of Miniature ThunderCats figures apart from the standard sized figures. These miniatures were about the same size as the Kidworks Miniatures but most had a different mold. Also part of the toyline was the child sized Sword of Omens. Glasslite produced figures packaged on both blister cards as well as in special boxes with open fronts.  The company also produced toys from other well known American brands in Brazil.


Playful

Playful Logo

Playful was an Argentinian-based toy company that produced and distributed ThunderCats toys in South America. Playful did not simply re-package the LJN toys onto their cards like most other companies. Instead the company actually produced the figures themselves using the LJN molds. However, the plastic that was used by Playful to manufacture their toys was of a much cheaper quality than that used by LJN. 


Macplay

Macplay Logo

Macplay was a Mexican toy company that produced and distributed the ThunderCats toys in Mexico. Just like "Playful", Macplay did manufacture some of the ThunderCats toys in their own factories. Because of this, there was quite a noticeable difference between these figures and their "LJN" equivalents especially in their colors. However, Macplay also distributed some of the toys that were produced by "Rainbow Toys" by placing stickers of the Macplay logo as well as their address on the Rainbow Toys figure's package. 


Kidworks

Kidworks Logo 3

Kidworks Toyline consisted of Mini-figures of the Thundercats line released in the US in the 80's.  Kidworks also distributed the Miniature line in Canada with a slightly different packing. The figures were much smaller in size than the LJN figures and didn't have any points of articulations making them essentially mini statues. The figures came with their own mini weapons and accessories. The line also comprised of miniature playsets. 


Bandai

Bandai currently has an active line of toys. So far there are three sizes (4", 6", and 8") and most are based on the 2011 TV Series.

Mezco 

Mezco has so far released four 14" figures based on the ThunderCats (original series)

Advertisement