Thundercats Bandai Line Continued! (Part 4)

 Hello! If you've read the previous posts in this series then you can just skip down to the next paragraph now. If you haven't read the rest of the posts in this series you may want to catch up first. Part 1 picks up where Bandai left off, with Wave 4. Part 2 covers Wave 5 and as you can probably guess, part 3 covers Wave 6. Enjoy!

(From Actionfigureinsider.com)

Before you read the list of guesses for wave 7 there's something that needs to be mentioned. In previous posts in this series, I've mentioned that there was a pattern Bandai seemingly followed when deciding when to release which characters and when. Based off of this pattern, the 7th wave of figures would mainly have been based off of the first half of the final quarter of the show ( roughly episodes 14-20 of season 2). Because of this, it needs to be brought up that between episodes 13 and 14 of season 2 there was going to be a time jump. A ten year time jump. At the end of episode 13 Lion-O would have gone back into the book of omens to train some more and wouldn't have come out again for a whole decade. With that being said, here's the list of guesses for wave 7!


Wave 7---Spring 2015
Basic Figures:
-Lion-O v.4
-Bengali
-Tygra v.3
-Cheetara v.2
-Panthro v.4
-Mandora
Deluxe Figures:
-Astral Plane Grune
-Cruncher
Basic Vehicles:
-Thunderwings with Lion-O variant
Deluxe Vehicles: 
-Mutant Fist Pounder with Monster Soldier
Playset:
-Mumm-Ra's Pyramid with Classic Mumm-Ra


Just like in previous posts in this series, I'll be explaining my reasoning for each item on the list, starting with the basic figures.
 

-Lion-O v.4
Like I mentioned above, Lion-O would have spent ten years training in the book of omens. When he came out he would have been much stronger and had gigantic muscles. I believe Dan Norton once referred to this version of Lion-O as "The Conan of the Thundercats world". Bandai most likely would've wanted to cash in on Lion-O in this new form.

(From JoeShiba at Deviantart.com)

-Bengali 
When Lion-O came out of the book of omens in the fourteenth episode of season 2, Tygra and Cheetara would have had a child together: Bengali. Yes, he only would've only been 10 years old, and no, I'm not making this up as I go along. Although he might not have gotten a ton of action in the series while being protected by his parents, he'd still be the last Thundercat needed to complete the original gang, so getting him would be a definite.

(From Tumblr.com)

-Tygra v.3
While Lion-O was away, Tygra would have finally gotten to be king of Thundera, and just like in Trials of Lion-O he wouldn't have been very good at the job. Like Lion-O and the others, Tygra probably would've gotten a figure to represent his more grown up version.

(From Tumbler.com)

-Cheetara v.2 
Just like with Lion-O and Tygra, we likely would've gotten a Cheetara variant to represent her "10 years older" version. Although Dan didn't talk about Cheetara and Tygra's appearences in the final thirteen episodes, I've heard it theorized that she would have had short hair to reflect her 80s figure.

(From Tumblr.com)

-Panthro v.4
Since Panthro was far older than the rest of the core team, he probably wouldn't have looked too different when Lion-O came back. However, Dan mentioned in the podcast that early on in the final quarter of the series, the Thundercats would have gone back into the astral plane for a final showdown with Grune. During this adventure, Panthro would have finally gotten his arms back. However, they would have looked somewhat like they were made out of shadows now. Based off of the description from the podcast, the arms on this figure would have probably been made out of translucent black plastic.

-Mandora 
After the Lunatakks, Mandora is probably the most famous Thundercats character to not get a figure in the original series. All we know about Mandora in the 2011 series is that she would've appeared at some point, so we're not sure how she would've played into the plot, or even which half of the season she would have been in. I put her in this spot since she would add some variety to this wave's line up as she'd be a heroic character who isn't a cat.

(From ElMatiusdibujando.com)

-Astral Plane Grune
For those of you who don't remember, Grune got trapped in the astral plane in the season one episode Between Brothers. In the fifth episode of season 2, he was going to appear again in what sounded like a remake of the original series episode The Ghost Warrior.  He would've appeared a final time somewhere between episodes 15-20 of season 2 when the Thundercats go into the astral plane to get the blue power stone from him. In the astral plane, Grune was going to become "a more monstrous version of himself with Panthro's arms attactched to him". Bandai made quite a few variant figures, and getting a Grune in this form would be a fun addition to the line as well as a breath of fresh air to get a variant of someone besides the core Thundercats or Mumm-Ra.

-Cruncher
In part 3 of this series of posts, I talked about the Berserkers and getting Hammerhand, Top Spinner, and Ram Bam in wave 6. As the only Berserker still needed to complete the group, Cruncher would've been perfect for wave 7.  

(From Toyarchicve.com)

-Thunderwings with Lion-O variant
As I've mentioned before, we don't know much about what vehicles would've been in season 2, just that some from the original series would have appeared. When Lion-O came back from the book of omens, Thundera probably would've had a few new rides; the Thunderwings would be a neat inclusion to the line, even if they are more of an accessory than a vehicle. We could also get a fun variant of Lion-O in his appearance from the final thirteen episodes.

(From Thundercats-ho.fandom.com)

-Mutant Fist Pounder with Monster Soldier
 The Thunderians probably wouldn't have been the only ones with new vehicles. I suspect that Mumm-Ra's forces would also have boosted their tech. The Mutant Fist Pounder is one of the more famous vehicles from the line, and is also one of the largest, so a deluxe vehicle would work perfectly. In season 2, Mumm-ra was going to use the tech stone (The green one) to give his pyramid the ability to turn sand into a black sand that when breathed in would turn somebody into a monster. Mumm-Ra was going to turn quite a few (if not all) of his soldiers into these monsters this way, so getting a figure of one of the monsterised lizards would be very possible.


-Mumm-Ra's Pyramid with Classic Mumm-Ra 
A major plot point from the final thirteen episodes would have been Mumm-Ra powering up his pyramid so that it was mobile and could float. We probably would've gotten a playset every odd numbered wave and with what would've been going on in the show, the pyramid seems like the prime candidate. Since it was probable that "Classic" 4" versions of Lion-O, Cheetara, and Panthro were going to be out at this time, we could've gotten Mumm-Ra as the figure included (and eventually Tygra) to complete this set of the main characters.
 

(From Thundercats-ho.fandom.)

Next week will be the final post in this series in which I talk about the 8th and final wave of the line! Thanks for reading!