Why weren't certain figures released?

I'm sure this issue has come up before, but I am wondering why the following figures weren't released

Willa
Mandora
The Demolisher
Wizz-Ra

There's more I had in mind but can't think now.

I'm assuming the first two are because LJN were aiming towards the boys market rather than girls, but I question then why Willa and Mandora would feature in so many episodes without a figure, I know Lee Dannacher had a big part in pushing female characters, didn't her influence stretch to the toy-line

Wizz-Ra would have made a cool figure, and his status, appearing in one episode in season 1 is exactly like Hachiman and Turmagar. The same applies for the Demolisher, why did Mongor, Cracker, Shiner and Safari Joe get a figure, but no Demolisher, the logic is baffling. Especially Mongor who never appeared again. Was Safari Joe included in Fond Memories just to promote the forthcoming toy? Also, all the characters in Thundercats Ho! had figures created for them around that time?

I too always wished that LJN had made a lot more figures as there were so many great characters in the cartoons. The characters you mentioned would have made great additions to the LJN line. :thumbsup Coming to your question of why LJN never made toys of these or any of the other characters? Based on what I know and a little bit of educated guesswork, I'd say two reasons:

1. For most toy makers of the 80s, the choice of which toy to make was based mainly on which looked "cooler" or would appeal to a majority of kids. This meant picking toy designs that had bold, bright colors or unique designs or some form of gimmick/action. Back then nobody cared to take a poll to find out which character was most popular among kids and then make a figure of it. So perhaps LJN didn't deem someone like Wizz-Ra to appeal to kids? Maybe they just watched the cartoons and picked the characters which they thought might translate well into an action figure?

2. Many of the action LJN TCats toys were actually made first and then inserted into the cartoon. I don't remember exactly which (more about this can be found in "Hear the Roar"), but the Tongue-A-Saurus for example was first made into a toy and then included in the cartoon, and not the other way around. The same thing with many of the vehicles as well as figures with "cool action features" like the Driller, Berserkers etc.. So it's possible that someone like a Safari Joe or Mongor may have been first designed and made as a toy and then later on turned into a cartoon character.

P.S: I had created 3D digital sculptures of what I thought the LJN Mandora, Willa, Claudus and Bruteman would look like if they were ever made. I posted the pics here but can't remember in which thread. If I find the thread I"ll post a link here. :)

Here's the thread. I want these figures!:
http://thundercats.org/forums/index.php?threads/wilycubs-virtual-custom-figures.8452/

"Wilycub, post: 124091, member: 25043" said:

I too always wished that LJN had made a lot more figures as there were so many great characters in the cartoons. The characters you mentioned would have made great additions to the LJN line. :thumbsup Coming to your question of why LJN never made toys of these or any of the other characters? Based on what I know and a little bit of educated guesswork, I'd say two reasons:

1. For most toy makers of the 80s, the choice of which toy to make was based mainly on which looked "cooler" or would appeal to a majority of kids. This meant picking toy designs that had bold, bright colors or unique designs or some form of gimmick/action. Back then nobody cared to take a poll to find out which character was most popular among kids and then make a figure of it. So perhaps LJN didn't deem someone like Wizz-Ra to appeal to kids? Maybe they just watched the cartoons and picked the characters which they thought might translate well into an action figure?

2. Many of the action LJN TCats toys were actually made first and then inserted into the cartoon. I don't remember exactly which (more about this can be found in "Hear the Roar"), but the Tongue-A-Saurus for example was first made into a toy and then included in the cartoon, and not the other way around. The same thing with many of the vehicles as well as figures with "cool action features" like the Driller, Berserkers etc.. So it's possible that someone like a Safari Joe or Mongor may have been first designed and made as a toy and then later on turned into a cartoon character.

P.S: I had created 3D digital sculptures of what I thought the LJN Mandora, Willa, Claudus and Bruteman would look like if they were ever made. I posted the pics here but can't remember in which thread. If I find the thread I"ll post a link here. :)

Wasn't Mongor in the final wave of figures? Long after the episode had aired? I'm guessing there wasn't scope for the character to return (IE, entombed as he was) but they still made a Grune...

As far as I know Stephen Perry came up with the character and LJN decided to make a toy of him.

"Captain Shiner, post: 124094, member: 25266" said:

Wasn't Mongor in the final wave of figures? Long after the episode had aired? I'm guessing there wasn't scope for the character to return (IE, entombed as he was) but they still made a Grune...

Yes, he was. But (and I'm merely speculating here), it is quite possible that LJN had designed the toy first, sent it to the writers to be turned into an animated character and the cartoon came out first while LJN may have decided to make the figure later. For example, the Driller was also a figure that was invented by the toy makers (and not the cartoon writers) and yet he made his cartoon appearance in the first season while his toy came out in wave 3. It's the same story for the vehicles (produced and unproduced) which were conceived by LJN but their toys came out much later after their cartoon appearance.

It's a darn shame that the LJN line was discontinued in '87 and some figures and vehicles that year were left unproduced. I believe that if it were allowed to continue for at least two more years, we would've gotten more characters like the ones Captain Shiner mentioned above as well as more vehicles.

"Wilycub, post: 124131, member: 25043" said:

Yes, he was. But (and I'm merely speculating here), it is quite possible that LJN had designed the toy first, sent it to the writers to be turned into an animated character and the cartoon came out first while LJN may have decided to make the figure later. For example, the Driller was also a figure that was invented by the toy makers (and not the cartoon writers) and yet he made his cartoon appearance in the first season while his toy came out in wave 3. It's the same story for the vehicles (produced and unproduced) which were conceived by LJN but their toys came out much later after their cartoon appearance.

Seems a bit disjointed to me, especially since Tcats Ho! Is a figure fest and all those toys came out at that time too.