Overcracker wrote:S.H. Figuarts, Robot Damashi are collector aimed lines. You are comparing apples to pears.
I don't expect to see that type of figure for an American based cartoon. Look at Power Rangers for a closer approximation of what the line is probably going to be like.
They may of course put out some Thundercats Figuarts versions also. But we'll likely see less figures than say Kamen Rider. Simply because Kamen rider uses the same base body and they just sculpt things on to it. With Thundercats body types are clearly different. Meaning they'd need to design a different body pretty much for every character. Probably the most use of a body would be the Panthro, Lion-o and Tigra body. Other than that the bodies are just too different.
Still if they did decide to do a line in Figuarts style I'd be all for it. But I'm expecting lots of accessories and alternate hands.
Collector aimed lines or not, they're still toys, they're still action figures. My point is that Bandai is capable of producing action figures with a great range of articulation, which is counter to the statement that the company simply has experience with making action figures with vehicles that aren't particularly poseable.
I don't expect high end figures for Thundercats but the McFarlane Toys Halo figures, especially the Spartan variations and figures from Series 7, show that affordable action figures can offer good sculpting and articulation.
The Kamen Rider SHF figures use base bodies but there are numerous base molds used. Also, there are SHF figures of Dragonball, Futari wa Pretty Cure, and Kakugo no Susume characters. Each branch of figures have different body types. There's also a Luffy SHF figure coming out in the near future.
At any rate, I think Bandai would create a new line specifically for Thundercats, even if they used engineering from SHF. SHF is mainly devoted to Kamen Rider and other Japanese entertainment properties.
I don't know much about the Power Rangers/Super Sentai toys except Bandai normally makes vinyl figures and smaller scale figures for the Sentai franchise and doesn't normally make action figures with a lot of articulation. However, I've seen figures for the later PR shows(I don't know if Bandai produced them) and while they are missing some key points of articulation(in my opinion) like the wrists, waist, and ankles, the joints that are there have a good range of articulation.
I don't expect SHF level toys for Thundercats but I would like to see toys that are at least equivalent to the current Marvel and DC figures.