When Masters of the Universe Classics was launched in 2009, the collecting world changed for me. I suddenly realized that what I really craved was modern interpretations of my most beloved nostalgic properties. Before this, I was buying vintage product on eBay (with modern expectations) and regularly being disappointed. Things didn't feel the way I remembered, the characters never really looked like their cartoon counterparts and the prices were too high overall. But then I realized that there could (and would) be modern figures custom-made for collectors like me. Specifically when Adora was released in Jan 2010, I knew this market would eventually give me all the characters I wanted. It would just take patience. And a mere twelve years, a few false starts, and a handful license transfers later, I have the character that was Number One on my list for years, Cheetara. And I think she's perfect. Super7 has captured the essence of her animated look better than I dreamed possible. Let's check her out below!
All of the ThunderCats Ultimates releases come with a black slipcase embossed with the ThunderCats logo in metallic red.
Then the whole thing comes in a brown shipper box.
One thing I always loved about Cheetara was her hair. It's not cut like a mullet, but it is styled like one.
This is the first time I've seen it represented accurately.
I love her face deco. I know this has been a point of contention in the collector community. However, I personally thought the paint master looked too sultry (but still amazing) so when the simplified production samples hit the internet I was that one lonely nerd applauding.
The only choice I questioned with this figure was the orange paint wash in her cleavage. It doesn't look bad necessarily, but I just don't understand what it's supposed to represent. Perhaps it's to level-out the different fur tones between her chest and exposed arm, but her entire dorsal side is supposed to be darker. You can see it all the time in the cartoon that her shoulders and sides of her neck are darker (and her chest and face were always paler in comparison). Oh well. It's not a big deal.
Cheetara comes with a ton of accessories: Four sets of hands, a long bo staff, a short bo staff, a flute, a mirror, a closed communicator, and open communicator, and a flame effect.
But most importantly, she comes with three heads:
Her Standard Head (Left), Glowing Eyes Head (Middle), and Windswept Hair Head (Right).
Her short bo staff can fit in her Left gauntlet.
I don't really understand the flame effect. And it's really heavy, it could easily permanently warp her staff.
Did her staff have powers like this in the show?
I'm not a talented graphic person in any sense of the word, but I had to attempt a running blur pic. I had fun.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here are the core ThunderCats from the Ultimates line so far. From Left to Right: WilyKat and WilyKit (Technically from the ThunderCats Classics line), Lion-O (Ultimates), Cheetara, Tygra, and Panthro (Ultimates). Once I get my Bengali in hand I will add a photo with all the Cats.
As promised, here is the group shot with Bengali, Pumyra, Lynxo, Jaga, and Grune added.
And here is Cheetara with the Pumyra Ultimates re-tooled figure (I did a rush job touching up her face, it was really sloppy. I'm not finished). I was surprised at how much taller Pumyra was.
And here she is with her Vintage figure and the 2020 ReAction figure.
Cheers!
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