Thundercats

Thundercats Action Figures

Thundercats was a popular cartoon that aired from 1985 to 1989.  Fans of this cartoon will remember that it was about a group of humanoid cats that were forced to relocate to a planet called Third Earth after their home planet, Thundera, was destroyed.  During the escape to another planet, the Thunderean fleet is attached by the Mutants of Plun-Darr, who destroy every ship except the flagship, which is thought to contain the mystic Sword of Omens, which holds the “Eye of Thundera” (which gives the ThunderCats their power).  Eventually they make it to Third Earth, setting up a new home, but the Mutants manage to track them there, where they team up with an evil sorcerer on the planet, named Mumm-Ra, who wants the Eye of Thundera for himself.

From 1984 to 1987, a company called LJN released the Thundercat action figures.  Characters included Lion-O, Panthro, Jaga, Tygra, WilyKat, Bengali, Cheetara, Snarf, Pumyra, Lynx-O, Mumm-Ra (bad guy), and more.  Each figure had a little laser that would allow the characters to interact with each other and some of the play sets (Mumm-Ra and Lion-O’s eyes would light up when a key was placed in a slot in their backs).  The show was popular enough to warrant a number of other merchandising items, like video games, TV trays, lunch box, clothes, a racing set, and much more.