In the year 1994, a runaway planet (planet? which one? don't ask) passes between the moon and the Earth, throwing civilization into a long dark time. Two thousand years later, the world is populated with mutant monsters and evil sorcerers, and Thundarr and his peeps are keeping it real.

Toynami is producing a series of action figures based on the old show. Current plans include Thundarr of course, and his two sidekicks, Princess Ariel and Ookla the Mok. The figures are scaled around 7", and feature great articulation and accessories. These are just starting to hit the states, first at on-line retailers. Specialty stores and comic shops will also carry them.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can always reach me at mwc@mwctoys.com. If you enjoy this review, take a minute to check out my other site at Michael's Review of the Week, and let me know what you think. Now on to the review!

"SDCC/WW Thundarr the Barbarian"

Today's review is of the exclusive Thundarr figure from either the San Diego Comic Con or the Wizard World Chicago show. I picked mine up at SDCC, but you still have a chance to buy yours this weekend in Chicago. He was $15, a good deal for a convention exclusive. He also has the cool glow-in-the-dark sword, especially important since that was actually a feature of Thundarr's sword on the show!

Packaging - ***

It's not collector-friendly, but it sure looks good. The graphics and text are great, with the feel of the show and an eye-catching design. It's a tad large to store easily, but looks great on the peg, and the design should allow for little opportunity for shelf wear.

Sculpting - ***1/2

This is an ‘80s cartoon. As such, the detail on the show was not the most extreme. The figures match the show perfectly though, and have just the right amount of detail to look accurate without looking silly. The majority of the sculpting detail is in the fur clothing, which is made from a softer rubber. It looks great and doesn't restrict the movement of the arms and legs. And no, he's not going commando.

Paint - ***1/2

Let's reiterate - this is an `80s cartoon. It lacks the bold, bright, primary colors that most modern cartoons flash at us. Instead the colors were muted and basic, and that's reflected in the figure. While he's not the brightest colors, all the paint apps were clean and neat. Colors were consistent, and the detail work on the face and smaller areas was solid. There's not a ton of detail, but what is here is clean.

Articulation - ****

This is easily the category where this figure shines. He has a ton of articulation, and all of it useful. There's neck, ball jointed shoulders, elbows, cuts at his arm bands, wrists (pin joints, so that the wrists turn AND move forward and back), waist, ball jointed hips, knees, cuts at his boot tops, and ankles. All the joints were tight, with a good range of motion. The clothing was pretty unrestrictive, and I was able to put the figure in a ton of cool poses with great success.

Accessories - ***
Thundarr (in his exclusive version) has one accessory - his glow-in-the-dark sword. The GITD feature works well, and he holds the sword nicely in his right hand. Word was that in the normal version, the sword will light up when put in his hand, but that's not the case here, but you can remove the sword from the hilt, and it attaches to the band on his left arm through the use of magnets.

The sculpt on the sword is good, and although the paint ops are basic, it looks fine. The GITD aspect is nice, but another accessory or two would have been great.

Value - ***
At $15, he's a good convention exclusive value. They only produced 1000 of these, and each are individually numbered on the back. Overall, that's a pretty sweet price for a show exclusive, but the same cost of the regular releases - around $15 so far - will hurt this score for them.

Overall - ***1/2

I'm not a huge Thundarr fan, since the style of animation reminded me of such a silly time. Still, the nostalgia factor and show accuracy of these figures can not be denied. This is a figure that really needs to be opened up and played with to appreciate, with some great, imaginative articulation. If you're a fan of the show, you want to try to snag one of these at next week's convention, and keep your eyes peeled for the release of the rest of the figures at a specialty retailer near you.

Where to Buy -
Most comic shops and specialty stores will have the regular series soon. On-line options include:

- Action Figure Express has the set in stock for $45. Search under the Toynami section.