Mattel character reference requests

Hey guys, I'm in touch with Brandon from Mattel who works with the four horsemen on designing figures. I've offered that we'll supply him with reference materials and be available to answer character related questions that he and the team has. We need to keep the specifics of their plans confidential and so what you read in this thread should not be discussed or mentioned to anyone outside of our site staff team.

Mattel likes to carefully manage their announcements of their plans and line-up and we need to respect that if we're to build a good relationship with them during the life of the line.

SOOOO...

Brandon has asked me for input on what additional accessories would make sense to include with Panthro.

This does mean that Panthro is being considered in the early lineup which is awesome (and which again, we need to keep confidential)

So I'm posting this as a request for input...

If you could have any accessories added to the Panthro figure, what would they be? Besides his nunchucks of course. They can be anything that came up in the show or comics, you can suggest features for his costume armour etc.

Please mention the reference for your suggestion (ie: was it shown in the cartoon, can you mention the episode(s), was it from a comic series? Which one? Was it mentioned in the series bible? etc. etc. If you have images or reference materials on Panthro that illustrate the accessory or ability you have in mind pls load that up here too.

Cheers!

While many of my other fellow TC.org teammates are no doubt much more knowledgeable in the matter than me, I'd just like to throw in my two cents. :)

As far as I can remember, Panthro never really used any weapon other than his trusty Nunchucks. However, since he was the inventor of the group, he did create quite a bit of gadgets and gizmos. Perhaps one or more of those could be included as an accessory with the figure? Here are some of them:

1. Time Capsule (appeared in episode "The Time Capsule" and "Return to Thundera") - While it wasn't created by Panthro, he was the one shown carrying it when the TCats fled from Thundera and he fixed it after it was found on Third Earth. So might look like a nice accessory to go with the figure.

2. Thundrillium Detector/Thundrometer (appeared in episodes "Trouble with Time" and "Micrits") - A small handheld device invented by Panthro which helped the TCats to locate Thundrillium. Strangely enough, it also beeped when near Thundrainium! :confused:

3. Underwater Breathing Device (appeared in "The Spaceship Beneath the Sands") - A portable SCUBA gear mouthpiece, kind of like what James Bond uses.


Another idea I had was perhaps each of the main ThunderCats figures could also have one item of the "Treasure of Thundera" included with the figure. That way, collectors would want to buy all the figures in order to have a complete set of the Treasure of Thundera. The Items of the Treasure included the following:
Book of Omens, Bracelet of Power, Chain of Loyalty, Mirror of Truth, Key of Thundera, Totem of Dera, Magical Flute, Jade Dragon


As far as the outfit is concerned, well if the Panthro's shoulder spikes could be made to extend and retract like in the cartoons (episode "Mongor") that would be awesome! But I can imagine that that would require a considerable amount of mechanics to be incorporated into the figure and so might not be feasible at this time.

Another possible addition to the costume could be a removable "Thermal Catsuit", "Cats Eyes", and "Anti-Gravity Boots" (seen in episodes "ThunderCubs - Part 1- 5"). Of course, these were created for each of the ThunderCat in the cartoon so not really specific to Panthro.

Awesome suggestions Wilycub!

These are all awesome suggestions! Thank you for putting this together. For the Treasures of Thundara i love that idea. Would there be other characters that those might also make sense coming with? Like if they were spread out Randomly in the line, what other characters would they make sense to come with.

Book of Omens: Could come with any of the good ThunderCats (Lynx-O)
Bracelet of Power: Could come with Snarf as he uses it in the episode.
Chain of Loyalty: Any good ThunderCats (Tygra)
Mirror of Truth: Any good Thundercat (BenGali)
Key of Thundera: This should go with Panthro as he finds it on New ThunDera.
Totem of Dera: Any of the good ThunderCats (Pumyra)
Magical Flute: Could go with Cheetara as she uses it in the show
Jade Dragon: Should go with Hachiman, it originally belonged to him.
The Jade Dragon was transformed into the Double-Headed Dragon of Doom, which was found by the ThunderKittens' & their mechanical dog Scooper.

There is also an item called "The ThunderScope" which can be used to find lost ThunDerians and their possessions. It can be used to find all the lost pieces of the Treasure of Thundera. This could go with any good ThunderCat. I say Jaga or Lion-O
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I have to say its great that you (Matty/Mattel) want our imput and suggestions. I couldnt dream that 25 years after I started collecting ThunderCats merch. we are getting these figures! Thanks guys!

This is a great idea! I agree with many of these pairings (the Key with Panthro definitely, the Flute with Cheetara, the Bracelet with Snarf), but I do have some tweaks.

I would pair the Thunderscope with Lynx-O, since he's the one who identifies it, and also recommends that Snarf use it to enter the Book of Omens.

I would prefer the Mirror of Truth paired with one of the Cats that it saved (i.e. not Bengali, Lynx-O, Pumyra, or Lion-O), which leaves only Tygra.

The Totem of Dera would make sense with Snarfer or WilyKit.

This moves us away from proper ThunderCats' accessories, but the Chain of Loyalty could come with Snarf Egbert and the Locket of Lies with Snarf Oswald.

There's also the Treasure Casket, which would make sense with Young Jaga or Ratilla.

As for the Book of Omens, since it probably can't come with Lion-O, I think it would go best with Jaga.

It's not a quite an official Treasure of Thundera, but the Golden Sphere of Seti might be a neat accessory for the ThunderKittens.

On the topic of Hachiman, I don't know if it would be too many accessories, but in addition to the Dragon, his helmet (or helmeted head), and the ThunderCutter, it would be great to have his bear armor chestplate from "The Jade Dragon". A boy can dream! :)

Hey Guys! All of these suggestions are awesome!!!! Thank you so much.
On another note, if we were say to do a (TOP SECRET) 2 pack of Wily Kit and Wily Kat, would you want that to look like the rest of the line, or would you want some kind of cool scene/diorama?

Oh my gosh, you're so welcome. Beyond happy to help!

I'm going to counter this question with another question. Why not do a cool scene or diorama? :-)

Brandon, would the scene / diorama mean there'd be different articulation to the two characters? Would they be posed for a specific scene?
I guess it'd help me to understand how they'd be different from the rest of the line.

Cant say about the articulation, more of a packaging execution.

If we're talking about packaging artwork or the inclusion of a packaging backdrop like Icon Heroes did with the Mumm-Ra SDCC exclusive, I'd be more likely to buy the two pack personally, if it had this kind of feature. Have you decided against including the twins with Tygra and Cheetara, the way LJN packaged them?

The twins are known for their wicked hoverboards, so this question has got me visualizing them posed like surfers on them.

"Mattel, post: 102864, member: 25924" said:

Hey Guys! All of these suggestions are awesome!!!! Thank you so much.
On another note, if we were say to do a (TOP SECRET) 2 pack of Wily Kit and Wily Kat, would you want that to look like the rest of the line, or would you want some kind of cool scene/diorama?

I'm so happy you chose those for the SDCC exclusive! When the ThunderCats license was first revealed at SDCC 2015 I didn't think we'd ever get to the Thunderkittens being made! Even if this is the end after 2016 wraps up, Mattel has still given us a much better collection than Bandai did. The Wilykat and Wilykit figures look amazing and you did fantastic work taking the sculpts and turning them into action figures. Thank you Brandon :)