ThunderCats have had many types of toy figures and statues based on the original series. The toylines for the original series were produced and distributed in the US by LJN and Kidsworks.
List of Toylines and Statue Series[]
This list goes in first released order, then followed by distributors.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Rainbow Toys (Toy Options) 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. 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.
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 specializing 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 "Toy partners", 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.
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.
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 other countries or had a localized distributor do it. Very much like "LJN".
Bandai, along with creating toys for the 2011 series, also created some eight inch scale figures based on the original show in the "ThunderCats Classic" series. Bandai also made cars in their SuperCarz line based on both the 2011 series and original show.
Mezco had released a line of 14" figures based on the ThunderCats.
Mattel under their collector service "Matty Collector" had released a small number of ThunderCats based figures. Since then Super7 has picked up the line re-releasing all but the "WilyKit And WilyKat" two pack.
Super7 Toyline currently has the license and began off by restarting Mattel's line classics with re-issuing a number of them in the first two waves rebranded ThunderCats Ultimates. They also have released a number of ThunderCat action figures in their "ReAction" brand.
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