Why Thundercats will have a hard time making a comeback

[JediTricks]

It's long been discussed among forums such as these that MOTU shouldn't be the only '80s action figure line to return from the dead in the 21st century, and one of the top lines that always seems to come up is Thundercats. I've long speculated that Thundercats would have a hard time coming back because the company that held the license and made the toys, LJN, went out of business a decade ago and the license may have gotten bought or lost in legal mumbo jumbo.

Well, it turns out I was wrong and Thundercats will have a very hard time making a comeback because LJN wasn't the license-holder, they INVENTED the license to ride the popularity of MOTU! This is super-bad news because LJN went under hard and was torn asunder in bankruptcy issues, so for another company to bring Thundercats back to market, they'd have to track down ALL the creators and owners of the concept and get them to sign off allowing someone else to make these toys.

I am bummed, this line deserves to live again and it doesn't seem like it can.

[sith_killer_99]

That is too bad.

I was looking forward to a new Mum Ra figure.

I bet these would have been done similar to the new He-Man figures.:crazed:

[QLD]

I thought the cartoon was OK. I never liked the toys at all. I had some friends who did, and I never understood it.

[TheFrankEinstein]

Well there's a new comic book series, so would that lead to the conclusion that someone sought out the rights? Or would that be a seperate matter from the toy line/cartoon?

[pthfnder89]

Thundercats would definitely be an awesome liscense to see make a comeback. But considering it was really a clone of He Man (although a really good one) in so many ways, I'm not really missing it.

[evenflow]

I still thank that i can happen. Some one could try to pick up the rights. I can hope.

[JediTricks]

Originally posted by TheFrankEinstein
Well there's a new comic book series, so would that lead to the conclusion that someone sought out the rights? Or would that be a seperate matter from the toy line/cartoon? It depends on the original comic license. It's possible the original license holder for making the comics never lost the license and pulled a Hasbro '95. ;) (a reference to Hasbro, who had bought Kenner only a few years before, starting a new Star Wars line before their license w/ LFL expired)

But it's also entirely possible that someone out there DID track down the LJN license holders and pulled a few teeth, which would be a tiny sliver of a ray of hope. :D

[Beast]

I was reading around on the net the other night JT, and saw somthing intresting on He-Man.org's forums. I wish I would have bookmarked it. But apperantly when LJN liquidated their properties and holdings, the rights to Thundercats was sold to Hasbro. They held the rights until late 2001, when it was purchased by another company that requested to not be revealed. That could be McFarlane, since he's always so secretive about the things he purchases. Though seeing how Mattel is handling the new He-Man line, I pray that it's them. :)

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[Patient Zero]

Hell, If McFarlane is going to produce them all buy em' all. Gotta collect them all!

[JediTricks]

CRAP! I totally missed an opportunity, all I had to do was flip open the copy of Thundercats I saw in the comic shop today (Wildstorms, right?) and look, but I was too distracted with other stuff. That will probably tell us in the credits or legal stuff where it came from.

[El Chuxter]

If it's possible, Four Horsemen Thundercats would rule! :D

[RooJay]

According to the legal indicia on the front page of the comic, Thundercats is apparently now jointly owned by Warner Bros. and some guy whose name I can't recall at the moment. All hope is not lost! I'm still hoping that Mattel will be able to pick up the toy license and will have the Four Horsemen help produce a MOTU compatible Thundercats line. If I had the energy I'd start a petition for it.